The Battle of Blountville

from Discover Sullivan County 2020

Tim Stafford

THE BATTLE OF BLOUNTVILLE “a shell from the federal guns entered the courthouse, setting it on fire, and soon the best portion on the town was destroyed.”

The quiet little town of Blountville was nearly destroyed in a four-hour period on September 22, 1863.

Blountville found itself prized by both the Union and Confederate armies on this day late in the Civil War. Union General Ambrose Burnside had led an expedition into east Tennessee with the objective to clear the roads and gaps into Virginia and to eventually secure the salt works in southwestern Virginia.

The Virginia and Tennessee railroad was located just east of Blountville. The Union needed the railroad as a supply line to Knoxville, and the Confederacy wanted it as a supply line into Virginia.

After several days of skirmishing in the area, the two armies converged in Blountville. At the start of the battle, Confederate forces led by Colonel James E. Carter occupied the town. Union forces under Colonel John W. Foster held the south bank of the Watauga River. The Confederate forces numbered 1,257, with the Union forces more than twice that number. Foster attacked at noon, his artillery shelling the town. Foster initiated a flanking maneuver and the battle ended after about four hours. The Confederates retreated, giving Foster and the Union army the victory.

The Battle of Blountville was the first step in driving Confederate Major General Sam Jones from east Tennessee. Much of the town of Blountville was destroyed, including the Sullivan County courthouse. A “Civil War Trails” marker at the courthouse (rebuilt in 1866) says that after the war, Mrs. Walter E. Allen wrote: “a shell from the federal guns entered the courthouse, setting it on fire, and soon the best portion on the town was destroyed.”

— By Randy Ball