Category Archives: Gen. William P. Sanders

Those sharpshooters

Sharpshooters, like the unknown Rebel one who felled Fort Sanders’ namesake, General William P. Sanders, from more than a mile away, were special troops with their own drill and esprit. It helped that they often had special arms such as … Continue reading

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Was The South Ever Confederate, Anyway?

The old arguments over the Confederate battle flag (pride or racist symbol, or both), intensified after a photograph surfaced of a mass murderer in Charleston, South Carolina, holding one. This war retrospective, by contemporary Knoxville journalist Jack Neely, whose title … Continue reading

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Where Union Gen. Sanders died

There aren’t many places in Knoxville today reminiscent of the Battle of Fort Sanders. The fort itself disappeared long ago, unless you count the neighborhood and hospital that later assumed its name. There’s Bleak House, of course, Gen. Longstreet’s headquarters. … Continue reading

Posted in "Knoxville 1863", Bleak House, Gen. Ambrose Burnside, Gen. James Longstreet, Gen. William P. Sanders, Knoxville | Leave a comment

Own Your Own Whitworth, part 2

There’s another opportunity to own a rare English Whitworth rifle, the preferred sniper rifle of the Confederacy. It begins on September 12th through the 14th online at the Rock Island Auction Company. The Rebs fatally sharpshot Fort Sanders’ namesake Union Gen. William … Continue reading

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Sharpshooter glasses

You can buy these orange-colored, nickle-plated wire-frame glasses on eBay with the assurance of several books that they were worn by sharpshooters in the Civil War. Ahem. One sharpshooter (today he would be called a sniper) played a prominent role in the 1863 siege … Continue reading

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Reprise: Honors for Gen. Sanders

In addition to having the earthwork the Rebels dubbed Fort Loudon named for him, Union Gen. William P. Sanders has had other honors since—including a curious juxtaposition of his historical marker with his onetime burial place. “Knoxville’s Fort Sanders neighborhood and Fort Sanders Presbyterian Hospital, both … Continue reading

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Memorized poetry

The Civil War was fought at the beginning of an age in which memorizing and declaiming popular poetry was fashionable among even those with minimal educations. This was, after all, a time of limited entertainment when, as an ancestor of … Continue reading

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Own your own Whitworth

The Rebs fatally sharpshot Fort Sanders’ namesake Union Gen. William P. Sanders, with a thirteen-pound English Whitworth rifle like this one. It was fired more than a mile away, from the tower  of the Bleak House mansion, Gen. Longstreet’s headquarters. … Continue reading

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