Category Archives: Orlando Poe

Orlando Poe’s map

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Dick Stanley

Topographical map of the approaches and defenses of Knoxville, surveyed under the direction of Union Capt. O.M. Poe, dated November 14, 1863, provided his commanding general Burnside with unequaled decision-making information. “In his official report Poe stated, ‘And here I … Continue reading →

Posted in Fort Sanders, Gen. Ambrose Burnside, Orlando Poe, Parthenia Leila Ellis | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The very ancient design of Fort Sanders

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Dick Stanley

Fort Sanders was the combined work of (first) Confederate engineer  Danville Leadbetter and (second) Union engineer Orlando Poe, with impromptu assistance from Union artilleryman Samuel Nicoll Benjamin. But the overall design, from the fort’s earthen ramparts to the dry ditch surrounding … Continue reading →

Posted in Fort Sanders, Gen. Danville Leadbetter, Orlando Poe, Samuel Nicoll Benjamin, The Northwest Bastion | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Contraband of War

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Dick Stanley

To get around the problem of having to return self-emancipated (i.e. escaped) slaves to their Confederate owners, Union Gen. Benjamin Butler dubbed them “contraband of war,” i.e. captured property that didn’t have to be returned. Later, Congress made the term … Continue reading →

Posted in "Knoxville 1863", Orlando Poe, Parthenia Leila Ellis, Slavery | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

New history: an error and an argument

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Dick Stanley

There’s a new history on the Battle of Fort Sanders, one of the few ever written. It’s Lincoln Memorial University historian Earl J. Hess’s 2012 The Knoxville Campaign: Burnside and Longstreet in East Tennessee. I bought a copy to see if … Continue reading →

Posted in "Knoxville 1863", Disputes and errors of fact, Fort Sanders, Gen. Lafayette McLaws, Orlando Poe, Samuel Nicoll Benjamin, Seventeenth Mississippi, The Phillips Georgia Legion, Thirteenth Mississippi | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Reprise: Captain Orlando Metcalfe Poe

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Dick Stanley

Captain Poe, Gen. Burnside’s chief engineer, worked with Lieutenant Benjamin in preparing some of the innovative defenses at Fort Sanders. (No spoilers; read the book.) Poe (West Point, Class of 1856) rose to colonel of volunteers, then was appointed brigadier … Continue reading →

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The Contrabands

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Dick Stanley

Captain Orlando Poe insists, to Parthenia Leila Ellis’s irritation, upon calling the slave/servants he conscripts for work on Fort Sanders and other parts of the Union’s defensive perimeter “contrabands.” It had been common usage in the Union army from the … Continue reading →

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Ambulances

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Dick Stanley

Easily the most popular conveyance of the war, among officers and privates alike, because of its suspension system, was the two-mule ambulance. Captain Orlando Poe used one to deliver his volunteer and conscripted “contraband” servant/slaves back to their owners— including … Continue reading →

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Captain Orlando Metcalfe Poe

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Dick Stanley

Captain Poe, Gen. Burnside’s chief engineer, worked with Lieutenant Benjamin in preparing some of the innovative defenses at Fort Sanders. (No spoilers; read the book.) Poe (West Point, Class of 1856) rose to colonel of volunteers, then was appointed brigadier … Continue reading →

Posted in "Knoxville 1863", Gen. Ambrose Burnside, Orlando Poe | Tagged , , | Leave a comment