Knoxville. Thanks to Almighty God—and
General Grant the crisis is passed. General Sherman arrived on the 5th inst.,
but Longstreet had fled, and he returned immediately to Chattanooga. Nobody
seems to know the exact date of Longstreet's withdrawal. Our forces were sent
out in pursuit yesterday, the 7th inst., but no enemy could be found. We have
passed through a terrible ordeal. Twenty days and nights under fire. Twenty
days with death or surrender staring us in the face and surrender meant
Andersonville, a fate worse than death. On our retreat from Lenoir we were
compelled to leave most of our wounded. We have recovered our own and about
three hundred wounded Rebels.
SOURCE: David Lane, A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a
Volunteer, 1862-1865, pp. 130-1
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