Appalachian History Series
On December 14, 1863, in the hills where Hawkins County meets Grainger County, Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet tried to spring a trap at Bean’s Station. His infantry struck hard at Brigadier General James M. Shackelford’s mixed force of Union cavalry and mounted infantry, but darkness, rain, and missed connections let most of the Federals slip away toward Blain’s Cross Roads. The National Park Service classifies the result as a Confederate tactical success, with estimated casualties of 115 Union and 222 Confederate, 337 total.
Where Bean’s Station fit in the Knoxville campaign
After the failed assault on Knoxville’s Fort Sanders on November 29 and Longstreet’s withdrawal on December 4, the war in East Tennessee did not end. The Official Records’ Knoxville Campaign summary shows a string of December skirmishes in the Clinch and Holston valleys, culminating in “Engagement at Bean’s Station” on December 14 and renewed fighting on December 15 as Union forces fell back toward stronger ground.
Longstreet’s plan
With his infantry concentrated around Rogersville, Longstreet aimed to punish Shackelford’s advanced command before the rest of the Army of the Ohio could close up. In his official report he wrote that orders went out for a December 14 march, “with the hope of being able to surprise and capture the enemy’s force at Bean’s Station,” while Confederate cavalry moved to seal the roads and the gap behind the Federals. Heavy rain slowed the columns and muddied the fords, but Bushrod Johnson’s and Joseph Kershaw’s divisions reached the ground and pushed the action into the buildings around the station.
What Shackelford and Parke saw
On the Union side, dispatches in the Official Records show IX Corps commander John G. Parke and Shackelford watching the approaches and calling troops to arms as word of Confederate movements filtered in. Messages collected in the Knoxville Campaign section place alarms and deployments around Bean’s Station in the days just before the fight, which lines up with the quick clash that unfolded when Longstreet’s infantry closed late on the 14th.
How the fight unfolded
Confederate infantry pressed Shackelford’s line through the afternoon and into evening. Johnson reported steady driving attacks toward the buildings at the station, and Kershaw extended on the right to threaten the gap and the valley road. Martin’s cavalry was late at the Holston crossings and W. E. Jones’s mounted column never fully closed the northern exit, which limited the payoff from Longstreet’s design even as the infantry made ground. Nightfall ended the heaviest fighting and the Federals fell back several miles to a stronger position, where the campaign continued the next day. Longstreet’s report and the NPS summary track these movements and the missed encirclement.
What the newspapers said at the time
Home-front readers followed the news by telegraph. In Virginia, the Alexandria Gazette carried a Cumberland Gap dispatch on December 19 reporting “fighting … near Bean’s Station, and Blain’s Cross Roads.” The Richmond Daily Dispatch ran items during and after the affair, including a December 14 column on operations in East Tennessee and a December 28 note from Bristol that mentioned prisoners taken at Bean’s Station. These brief notices mirror the Official Records’ picture of sharp blows followed by a Union withdrawal to stronger works.
Maps and ground
The Atlas to Accompany the Official Records places “Bean’s Station, Tenn.” on Plate 142, grid O-1, a helpful locator for the campaign’s roads and gaps. Modern preservation write-ups by the Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association and the state’s heritage program summarize the terrain and the tactical problem both sides faced where valley, ridges, and river converge. Local tradition holds that portions of the wartime ground were later inundated by Cherokee Lake, though modern, OR-based casualty figures are far lower than some site signage suggests.
Engineers’ eyes on the scene
Union chief engineer Capt. Orlando M. Poe assessed defensive work in the area during the campaign. A Tennessee State Library and Archives note preserves his December 14 correspondence from Tazewell to Maj. Gen. John G. Foster about fortifying near Bean’s Station, a reminder that earthworks and road control mattered as much as any single afternoon’s volleying.
Aftermath and meaning
By December 16, Parke’s main body and Shackelford’s command were secure near Blain’s Cross Roads. Longstreet probed but could not force the position and soon went into winter quarters around Russellville. The fighting at Bean’s Station cost roughly 337 casualties in all, about 115 Union and 222 Confederate, figures drawn from the Official Records and repeated by the National Park Service. The blow was sharp at the tactical level yet failed to deliver the operational prize Longstreet wanted. East Tennessee remained in Union hands, which mattered politically and logistically for the rest of the war.
Visiting the site today
Modern Bean Station sits along US-11W where travelers still funnel through the old crossroads. State and local heritage stops interpret the action and the campaign. As with many Civil War places in East Tennessee, development, reservoirs, and changing roads have altered portions of the ground, so carry period maps or the OR Atlas references when you walk the story.
Sources and further reading
Official Records, Series I, Vol. 31, Pt. 1 (Reports), Knoxville Campaign section. Parke and Shackelford dispatches around Bean’s Station appear in this section. The Portal to Texas History
Official Records, Series I, Vol. 31, Pt. 1 (Reports). Longstreet’s report of the Bean’s Station operation (pp. 463 ff.). The Portal to Texas History
Atlas to Accompany the Official Records (OR Atlas), index entry “Bean’s Station, Tenn.” Plate 142, O-1. Internet Archive
Richmond Daily Dispatch, “From the army of Tennessee,” Dec. 14, 1863; and “From East Tennessee,” Dec. 28, 1863. dispatch.richmond.edu+1
Alexandria Gazette (Va.), Dec. 19, 1863, wire noting fighting near Bean’s Station and Blain’s Cross Roads. virginiachronicle.com
Tennessee State Library and Archives note referencing Capt. Orlando M. Poe’s Dec. 14, 1863 engineering report from Tazewell about fortifying near Bean’s Station. sharetngov.tnsosfiles.com
National Park Service, CWSAC Battle Summary: “Bean’s Station (TN026).” Concise overview and OR-based casualty totals. National Park Service
Spurgeon King, “Battle of Bean’s Station,” Tennessee Encyclopedia (Tennessee Historical Society). Solid state-level synthesis with citations. Tennessee Encyclopedia
Earl J. Hess, The Knoxville Campaign: Burnside and Longstreet in East Tennessee (University of Tennessee Press, 2012). Standard modern monograph; see ECWC resources list. Colorado Christian University+1
Essential Civil War Curriculum, “The Knoxville Campaign,” overview and bibliography. essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com
Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association, battlefield profile: “Bean Station.” Preservation and terrain context. tcwpa.org
State of Tennessee, heritage brief: “Battle of Bean’s Station,” Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. Site context for visitors. TNVacation
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