Blue Springs TN020

supportedunresolved Burnside says he had his chief engineer, Captain Poe, reconnoitre the Confederate position before the attack, as the frozen description also says. Williams says he stayed at Blue Springs expecting news that Cumberland Gap had fallen, learned only that night that the Cumberland Gap expedition had been abandoned, and later judged that he had greatly underestimated the enemy.

Attributed knowledge from interested accounts; no message log inspected.

supportedunresolved Burnside says his army had great difficulty getting supplies across the mountains and many men lacked clothing, and that Foster's intercepting brigade met serious difficulty on rough roads. Williams says that after routing Foster's brigade at daybreak on October 11, outside the frozen date, he passed on without losing a wagon or a single head of beef cattle.

Supply statements from interested accounts; no return inspected.

disputedunresolved Burnside says he meant first to clear his left flank, destroy the railroad and prevent any large movement from Virginia, and sent Foster around to the Confederate line of retreat. The frozen description says Williams set out to disrupt Union communications and wished to take Bull's Gap; Williams describes his advance as a diversion in favor of Ransom's movement on Cumberland Gap.

Stated aims from interested accounts and a summary; the frozen description and Williams frame his purpose differently.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen and live results read Union victory. Burnside says the attacking division drove the Confederates from their first line and that they retreated precipitately in the night, leaving their dead and most of their wounded. Williams says the assault on his batteries was repulsed with heavy loss before dark, and that he then withdrew. The frozen description says Ferrero's men broke into the Confederate line and advanced almost to the Confederate rear before being checked.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit. The two accounts of the evening assault conflict.

supportedpost_outcome The frozen and live casualty fields give 316 (US 100; CS 216). Burnside gives his loss at Blue Springs and in the pursuit as about 100 killed and wounded, the enemy's as considerably greater, and about 150 prisoners taken.

Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap. Burnside's 100 includes the pursuit beyond the frozen date.

supportedunresolved Burnside says he ordered Potter to move up and endeavor to break through the Confederate center, that by 5 p.m. Potter had formed Ferrero's division for the attack, and (in his October 17 dispatch) that he sent in a division of infantry on the infantry's arrival about 5 p.m.; he says that during the pursuit on the morning of October 11, outside the frozen date, the intercepting force at Henderson's withdrew through some misunderstanding. Williams credits Colonels Carter and Giltner with his wings and says he approved the retreat they arranged. The frozen commanders are Major General Burnside and Brigadier General John S. Williams; the live heading gives 'Colonel John Williams'.

Command roles from interested accounts; the frozen commanders do not receive automatic sole credit, and the live rank is not adopted.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. The frozen side-specific numerical strength bounds are blank (missing_numeric_strength). No figure in this pass is adopted as a simultaneous opening force.

disputedunresolved The frozen force field names the Department of the Ohio and the 1st Tennessee and 4th Kentucky Cavalry with home guards and artillery, without counts; the live field is blank. Williams says he told Jones the enemy in his front was at least 5,000, later wrote, on the basis of subsequent information and Burnside's report, that he had greatly underestimated the enemy and that Burnside was present with nearly his entire army, which did not fall far short of 15,000 men, and says the center that broke was a battalion of 75 to 100 men. Burnside says the Ninth Corps numbered about 6,000 on arrival at the end of September.

Williams's own estimates conflict; Burnside's figure is a corps arrival count, not engaged strength. None is adopted as matched opening strength. The live blank is not measured absence. Williams's revision depends partly on Burnside's report and is not independent of that family.

supportedunresolved Burnside says the Confederates were posted in heavy force and a strong position between the wagon road and the railroad to Greeneville. Williams says he had to lengthen his front to more than 2 miles until it was nothing but a line of skirmishers, and cites the undulating and wooded ground. The frozen description places Blue Springs about nine miles from Bull's Gap on the railroad.

Positions and ground from interested accounts on both sides; no map verification.