University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 3-1963 Unconventional Warfare in East Tennessee, 1861-1865 Paul A. Whelan University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Whelan, Paul A., "Unconventional Warfare in East Tennessee, 1861-1865. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1963. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/1479 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Paul A. Whelan entitled "Unconventional Warfare in East Tennessee, 1861-1865." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in History. LeRoy P. Graf, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: S. J. Folmsbee, Ralph W. Haskins Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) March 6 � 1963 To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Paul Ao Whe lan entitled "Unconventional Warfare in East Tennesseei l861=1865o00 I recom= mend that it be accepted for nine quarter hours of credit in partial fu lfillment of the requirements for the de gree of Master of Arts� with a maj or in Historyo We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Accepted for the Council: \ De'/f{d.l�an of the Graduate School dc��7/ UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE IN EA ST TENNESSEE. 1861-1865 A Thesis Presented to the Graduate Council of The Univers ity of Tennessee In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Paul A. Whelan March� 1963 PREFAC E President John Fo Kennedy, in a speech to the 1962 graduating class at West Point, mentioned a type of warfare which has become partie- ularly important todayo He observed: This is another type of warfare==new in its intensity, ancient in its origin--war by guerrillas � subversives, insurgents D assassins=­ war by ambush instead of by combat, by infiltrat ion instead of aggression--seeking victory by eroding and exhausting the enemy instead of engaging him. l This study proposes to examine the Civil War in East Tennessee in the light of what we know about unconventional warfare todayo As the name unconventional would imply, the records of such activities are scarce. As a result, many of the facts have had to be pieced together from local histories, memoirs, letters, newspaper accounts� and stories told by the descendants of a number of the participants. Most of their stories have lost nothing in the retelling over the several generations which have elapsed since the Civil War; verification is impossible o Use of such stories has been limited to assisting the author in attempting to get a feeling for the timeso " This study wilt employ some terms and ideas which are specifically the tools of the military historiano These are likely to be unfamiliar to the reader not intimately associated with them" Hence it seems advis- ab le to have available definitions of some of the more important terrnso ! Ex tracted from a speech by President John F. Kennedy, West Point , June 6, 196 2o Cited in Mi litary Review, United States Command and General Staff School, XLII (November0 l962) � ll3 •. ii iii Appendix I contains a glossary of these termswhich are especially re lated to unconventional warfare and which will be used in this study. There is still a controversy among historians as to the type of conflict that was fought between 1861 and 1865. But there is no doubt about the fact that it was a ware and» for the purpose of this study0 war may be defined as " •••a violent interaction between two organized pol itical groups (governments or otherwi se) . "2 Warfare is a particular variety of military activity involving specific forces0 weapons . or tac- tics. It need not emp loy all of a participant9s capability, nor is it necessary for that part which is employed to conform to any specific pro- portion or to be used according to any set pattern. Any war may be fought by using any form of warfare to the degree which each antagonist assumes will result in victory for his particular cause. Unconventional warfare may be defined as that method of warfare used by the indigenous 3 people of an area in opposition to an enemy occupying fo�ce. The effort is usually supported and directed from outside the zone of conflict by a government friendly to those who are resisting. In unconventional war- fare there are three major components: guerrilla activities. evasion and escape, and subvers ion. The technical re quirements of all three have a 2samuel P. Huntington» "Guerrilla Warfare In Theory and Policy0" in Modern Guerri lla Warfare0 Frank Mark Osanka (ed.) (The Free Press of Glencoe , New York, 1962)0 xv-xvi. 3 nepartment of the Army0 Special Warfare u.s. � (U.S. Govern­ ment Printing Office0 Washington0 1962), 8; Air TinTvers1ty, USAF Counter­ insur ency Course, Selected Readin�s (Maxwell Air Force Base�62)0 1-�; �,e ter Paret and John W. Shy , Gue rrilla Warfare and u.s. Military Policy: A Study," The Airman , IV (May • 1962), 11. Also helpful is U.s. Air Force Manual 1r:T, Glossary of Standard Terms (GPO, Washington0 1962). iv common basis p and in Appendix II are discussed in detail from the point of view of guerrilla operations. This study is divided into six chapters . In the first� unconven= tional warfare is re lated to the Civil War background with attention to the problem of its legitimacy as a method of warfare . In the succeeding three chapters � unconventional warfareD as it unfolded in East Tennessee between 1861 and 1865 , is presented in some detail. Chapter two sets the background and ends with Colonel s. P. Carter9s raid in early 1861. Ch apter three continues the narrative through General Amb rose Burnsidevs successful occupation of Knoxville in late 1863. The fourth chapter considers the remaining years of the war. Chapter five is devoted to escapes involving East Tennessee throughout the war. The concluding chapter summarizes the war in East Tennessee from the viewpoint of unconventional warfare. I wish to express my sincere thanks to all of those who have helped and encouraged me in this undertaking. My special thanks to Professor LeRoy P. Graf who directed this study and to Professors Stanley J. Folmsbee and Ralph w. Haskins who patiently gave their time and valuable suggestions . However, for the final product I must assume full responsibility. TA BLE OF CONTENTS CHAP TER PAGE I, A CO NSIDERATION OF UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE 0 0 • 0 0 Q 0 0 0 0 1 II. THE KEY ELEMENTS CC»iBINE e 1860=1861 OOOOC000000f)0 18 III. THE APEX--OPEN WARFARE BY INDIGENOUS PER SONNEL • 0 (100000 59 o o o 88 IV, THE CL IMAX o o • o o o o o o o o o o o • 0 0 000000 v. 0 0 0 0 ORGANIZED ESCAPE o 0 • 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 114 VI. SU �R Y AND CONCLUSIONS 00000000 0 • 0 0 0 oooaoo 143 BIBLIOGRAPHY • • • • • o o 0 • 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ooooeo 152 Primary Sources oooooooooooooooooooooo 153 Secondary Sources o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o •• o 157 Studies on Unconventional Warfare 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 c 0 0 166 o 170 APPENDIX I. Glossary o • • o o o o o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 APPENDIX II. Guerri llas� Their Doctrine and Tactics o o o •• o • o 172 v CHAPTER I A CONSIDERATION OF UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE The twentieth century, marked by the Communist Revolution, by two world wars , and by the advent of nuclear power, has produced a renewed interest in all aspects of unconventional warfare . In fact, the interest has been so universal among military forces that perhaps it is losing the 1 distinction of being considered unconventional. Widespread considera- tion of this type of warfare really began with the World War II resist­ ance movements.2 The Russian peasants resisting Hitler's drive to the heart of Russia gained international acclaim . As fascinating and coura- geous as their efforts were , it was left to a little-known Chinese Communist leader� Mao Tse-Tung, who stunned the Western world with a strategic guerrilla victory over the Nationalist government in 19481 to 3 focus attention upon the importance of irregular forces in warfare. I. Unconventional warfare is no substitute for the orthodox 1 John Forth Am ory, Around .!l!!. Edg\2.!, �. ! � Approach � the Problems £! American Foreign Policy (C lar son N. :ott�r, New York , 1961), 7-8. The same not1on is held by c. M. Woodhouse 1n h1s foreward to Otto Heilbrunn 's Partisan Warfare (Frederick A. Praeger, New York , 1962) . 2Most useful studies of unconventional doctrine , strategy, and tactics have appeared after this period .