BATTLEFIELD ASSESSMENT

Athens

January 28, 1865

McMinn

Confederate cavalry under Brig. Gen. John C. Vaughn and Maj. General Joseph Wheeler attacked Athens capturing 24-25 prisoners with the 7th Tennessee Mounted Infantry and burned several buildings in the outskirts of town

HISTORICAL THEMES

Guerilla Warfare

PRESERVATION OPPORTUNITY INDEX

LOW

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BATTLEFIELD IMAGE

Athens Battlesite

SITE DETAILS

County

McMinn

Date

January 28, 1865

Preservation Opportunity

LOW

Confederate Units

3 rd TN Mounted Infantry (Vaughn)

Union Units

7 th TN Mounted Infantry 2 nd Ohio Heavy Artillery

Athens

Account of Engagement

January 28, 1865 – Action at Athens JANUARY 28, 1865.-Action at Athens, Tenn. REPORTS. No. 1.-Lieut. George W. Ross, Seventh Tennessee Mounted Infantry. No. 2.-Capt. Thomas A. Stevenson, Second Ohio Heavy Artillery. No. 1. Report of Lieut. George W. Ross, Seventh Tennessee Mounted Infantry. ATHENS, January 29, 1865—3.30 p. m. GEN.: We were attacked yesterday by 300 rebels of Vaughn’s, Wheeler’s, and bushwhacker commands and repulsed them from town, but they captured some twenty or twenty-five our of men, including Maj. John McGaughey. They retreated from town in the evening and remained all night seven miles from here, and rumor says they are going to make another attack in connection with about the same force that came to Madisonville yesterday. We have not the horses to follow them, there and if we only had two pieces of artillery we could have killed or captured half of them, as they would not come in range of either the court-house or our fortifications. If you have them to spare we would be pleased to have two companies of the Second Ohio Heavy and two pieces cannon; them we are all right here, but we will have to have cavalry to follow them and capture them. They burnt one stable and one outhouse and robbed all the houses in the outskirts of town. I am, very respectfully, yours, GEO. W. ROSS, Lieut. and Regt. Quartermaster. KNOXVILLE, TENN., January 29, 1865. Lieut. GEORGE W. ROSS, Quartermaster, Athens, Tenn.: Your dispatch received. I congratulate you upon your success, but regret very much the capture of Maj. McGaughey. What were the casualties to the enemy, and among our forces? DAVIS TILLSON, Brig.-Gen. of Volunteers. ATHENS, January 29, 1865—7 p. m. Brig. Gen. D. TILLSON: We killed 12 or 15 and they took their wounded, some 30 or 35, off with them; some of them very badly. Our loss is some 15 or 20 prisoners and mules killed. GEO. W. ROSS, Lieut. and Regimental Quartermaster. No. 2. Report of Capt. Thomas A. Stevenson, Second Ohio Heavy Artillery.

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Terms Legend

Historical Themes:  Topics and subject matter that characterize the battlefield including Control of Tennessee’s Resources, Crucible for Leadership, Guerilla Warfare, Transformation in Warfare, Enslaved People, and Influence on Campaign.  Sites are identified that exhibit themes at moderate to high levels, and some sites may contain one or more Historical Themes.
 
Preservation Opportunity Index (POI):  A rating assigned for each battlefield to indicate relative opportunity and potential for successful site preservation.  The Index is generated by a model that evaluates ratings assigned for site significance, condition, risk of loss, protection potential, and opportunities for interpretation.  Based upon the POI values for each region in Tennessee (West, Middle, East), sites are indicated as having High, Medium, or Low opportunity.
 
Geo-coordinates: General/central location of the battlefield area per latitude and longitude coordinates utilized in Google Earth