Dennis Urban steps down after three years as KCWRT president

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Dennis Urban, William P. Sanders

Dennis Urban, who has led the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable for three years, is stepping down as president as of July 1.

John Stegner will be taking Dennis’ place as president.

During the June meeting, Urban was recognized for his service to the organization with a plaque. The plaque was presented by Jim Doncaster, director of programming.

Dorothy E. Kelly: General Who? William P. Sanders

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Ambrose Burnside, Antietam, Battle of Fort Sanders, Belle Boyd, Chattanooga, E. Porter Alexander, Fort Dickerson, George McClellan, James Longstreet, James M. Shackelford, Joseph Kershaw, Joseph Wheeler, Lamar House Hotel, Orlando Poe, Peninsula Campaign, Robert E. Lee, William P. Sanders

By Dorothy E. Kelly

ddkelly@earthlink.net

Civil War historians outside the East Tennessee area know little or nothing about the Federal general who gave his life at Knoxville. But how much do WE know about this man whose name adorns modern buildings, hospitals, and even a neighborhood?

Born under the Southern skies of Kentucky and raised in the humid Mississippi river town of Natchez, William Price Sanders was a young Federal officer on his way up when he died at Knoxville in 1863. He had been a general one month and one day.

Sanders was the sixth child of Margaret and Lewis Sanders, a prominent Mississippi attorney. According to his sister, Elizabeth J. Sanders Haggin, William Price was named for a physician uncle and was known as “Doc” to family and friends, a nickname which was later adopted by his fellow officers.

William Price Sanders

Sanders’ politically connected father secured his appointment to West Point in 1852. His career at West Point was somewhat rocky. A May, 1854 letter from West Point Commandant, Robert E. Lee, announced his impending dismissal for want of application, deficiency in academics and accumulation of numerous demerits. With the aid of a fellow Mississippian—Secretary of War Jefferson Davis— Sanders avoided dismissal and went on to graduate in 1856. In addition to Sanders, two of his West Point classmates played important roles in the Civil War in East Tennessee: Orlando M. Poe, Burnside’s Chief Engineer and designer of the Knoxville fortifications, and E. Porter Alexander, Longstreet’s Chief of Artillery.

Dorothy E. Kelly: The Civil War in Blount County

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Ambrose Burnside, Blount County TN, Fort Sanders, James Longstreet, Joseph Wheeler, Maryville TN, Rockford TN, William P. Sanders, William Tecumseh Sherman

By Dorothy E. Kelly, Knoxville Civil War Roundtable

Copyright 1998 by Dorothy E. Kelly. All rights reserved.

The Civil War brought division, dissension and hardship to Blount County, but no major battles. At one point in the War, however, Blount County found prominence thrust upon it as blue and gray cavalry wrestled for access to the “back door” to Knoxville.

William Price Sanders

Shortly after the September 1863 Confederate victory at Chickamauga, Confederate Major General James Longstreet moved from Chattanooga toward Knoxville with orders to capture or drive the Federals under Major General Ambrose E. Burnside out of East Tennessee. Longstreet’s cavalry under Major General Joseph Wheeler was ordered to push through Blount County to claim the heights on the Holston (now Tennessee) River opposite Knoxville. For several weeks prior to Longstreet’s advance in November of 1863, Blount County played host to Union cavalry under the command of Brigadier General William P. Sanders. Sanders’ assignment was to guard the Little Tennessee River fords against roving bands of Confederate cavalry and to notify the Federal authorities of any Confederate advance through Blount County. Blount County Unionists and Home Guards served as guides and scouts for the Federal cavalry, collecting information and reporting on Confederate activity in the area.