“That night General Howard repaired and planked the railroad-bridge, and at daylight the army passed the Hiawassee and marched to Athens, fifteen miles. On the 2d of December the army hurried thence toward London, twenty-six miles distant, and the cavalry pushed ahead to save the pontoon bridge across the Tennessee, held by Vaughn’s brigade of the enemy. They moved with such rapidity as to capture every picket, but found Vaughn posted strongly in earthworks containing artillery in position. They were forced to wait till night, when Howard’s infantry came up. During the night the enemy retreated, destroying the pontoons, running three locomotives and forty-eight cars into the Tennessee, and leaving for Howard to capture at daylight a large quantity of provisions, four guns, and other material.
“The bridge was gone, and but one day of the allotted three remained. The same night, therefore, Sherman sent word to Colonel Long, commanding the cavalry brigade, that Burnside must know within twenty-four hours of his approach—ordering him to select his best material, to start at once, ford the Little Tennessee, and push into Knoxville, ‘at whatever cost of life and horse-flesh.’ The distance to be travelled was forty miles, and ‘the road villanous.’ Before dawn they were off. At daylight the Fifteenth Corps was turned from Philadelphia to Morgantown; but even at this place the Little Tennessee was found too deep for fording. A bridge was skilfully extemporized by General Wilson—‘working partly with crib-work and partly with square trestles made of the houses of the late town of Morgantown;’ and by dark of December 4th the bridge was down and the troops passing. Next morning came the welcome message from Burnside, dated December 4th, that Long’s cavalry had reached Knoxville on the night of the 3d, and all was well. Just before this news, the diagonal bracings of Wilson’s bridge had broken, from want of proper spikes, and there was delay. But the bridge was mended, and the forced march continued, till, at Marysville, on the night of the 5th, a staff officer of General Burnside rode up to announce that Longstreet had raised the siege the night before. Sending forward Granger’s two divisions to Knoxville, General Sherman at once ordered the rest of his gallant army to halt and rest; for their work was done.