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Ridge to the tunnel of the Knoxville and Chattanooga railway, not far from the Chickamauga River.
While the two armies are thus confronting each other, with a space of only three or four miles between them at furthest, let us see what was going on between
Burnside and
Longstreet in the great Valley of
East Tennessee.
We have observed how little difficulty
Burnside encountered in throwing his army into the
Valley of
East Tennessee, and taking position at
Knoxville.
It was because the
Confederates were then moving to re-enforce
Bragg at
Chattanooga.
Halleck ordered
Burnside to concentrate his forces in that direction, but circumstances prevented his strict obedience, so he set about the task of keeping the valley clear of armed and organized Confederates, who were threatening it at different points.
In this business his forces were, for awhile, considerably diffused, and had many lively experiences.
Colonel Foster encountered
a considerable force near
Bristol, on the eastern border of the
State; and a little later there was a smart but desultory engagement during two days at
Blue Springs, not far from
Bull's Gap.
To that point the
Confederates had pressed down.
Burnside then had a cavalry brigade at
Bull's Gap, supported by a small force of infantry at
Morristown.
He dispatched
a body of horsemen, by way of
Rogersville, to intercept the retreat of the
Confederates, and advanced with infantry and artillery to
Bull's Gap.
Cavalry were then thrown forward to
Blue Springs,
where the
Confederates, under
General Sam. Jones, were in considerable force.
After a desultory fight for about twenty-four hours,
the
Confederates broke and fled, leaving their dead on the field.
They were pursued and struck from time to time by
General Shackleford and his cavalry, and driven out of the
State.
The latter captured a fort at
Zollicoffer, burned the long bridge at that place and five other bridges, destroyed a, large amount of rolling stock on the railway, and did not halt until he had penetrated
Virginia ten miles beyond
Bristol.
In the battle of Bluer Springs, and the pursuit, the Nationals lost about one hundred men in killed and wounded.
The loss of the
Confederates was a little greater.
When
Shackleford returned from the chase, he took post at
Jonesboroa with a part of his command, while another portion, under
Wilcox, encamped at
Greenville, and two regiments and a battery under
Colonel Garrard of the Seventh Ohio Cavalry, were posted at
Rogersville.
There, at daybreak on the 6th of November,
Garrard was attacked by a portion of
Sam. Jones's, troops, under
General W. E. Jones, almost two thousand strong.
It was a surprise.
The
Nationals were routed, with a loss of seven hundred and fifty men, four guns, and thirty-six wagons.
This disaster created great alarm at,
Jonesboroa and
Greenville, and
Shackleford's troops at those places fled back in great haste to
Bull's Gap.
At the same time,
Jones's troops, not doubting
Shackleford's horsemen would be after them in heavy force, were flying as swiftly toward the
Virginia line, in the opposite direction.
In a short space of time there was a wide space of country between the belligerents.
While
Burnside was thus engaged in spreading his army so as to cover many points southward of the
Holston and
Tennessee rivers,
Longstreet was ordered to make his way up the line of the
East Tennessee and Georgia railway, to seize
Knoxville, and drive the Nationals out of
East Tennessee.
