on the west bank. On December 3, Spears reached Kingston where he incorporated Byrd's and Mott's troops into his command. The Federals bumped into a Confederate cavalry brigade which soon retreated and joined Longstreet's command. Spears' brigade occupied Loudon while Mott's brigade continued moving toward Knoxville, reaching there on December 9. After acquiring the message announcing Sherman's approach, Longstreet determined to retreat northeast toward Virginia. The mountainous route to join Bragg's army near Dalton, Georgia was regarded too difficult to travel. Longstreet refused Wheeler's request to return his cavalry corps to Bragg's army; he needed Martin's cavalry to form a rearguard. Law's and Robertson's brigades were moved to the north bank on December 3. That day, the Confederate wagon train started moving away from the city. On the evening of December 4, Longstreet's troops began to march away from Knoxville. Moody's battery of 24-pounder howitzers was the last artillery in action. It was a difficult march; it rained, and then the temperature dropped below freezing, cutting the feet of soldiers without shoes. By December 9, Longstreet's troops reached Rogersville. The Confederates left behind men who were too wounded or sick to march, and numbers of stragglers were also captured. Aftermath By the evening of December 5, Howard's troops reached Louisville (Tennessee), while the soldiers of Granger, Blair, and Davis arrived at Maryville. After receiving news that Longstreet's forces retreated, Sherman ordered only Granger's IV Corps to continue marching to Knoxville. Sherman, Granger, and Howard reached Knoxville on December 6 where they were treated to dinner at Burnside's headquarters. Sherman was annoyed because he had been led to believe that the garrison was starving. Satisfied that Knoxville was safely in Union hands, Sherman ordered Howard's XI Corps, Blair's XV Corps, and Davis' division to immediately march back to Chattanooga, which they reached December 16–18. Since the Federal forces remaining in East Tennessee needed cavalry reinforcements, Brigadier General Washington Lafayette Elliott's 2,500 cavalry and six guns were ordered to march from Alexandria, Tennessee. Elliott's force reached Kingston on December 11, bringing a wagon train with fresh clothing for Burnside's troops, who were still wearing their tattered summer uniforms. Granger's divisions stayed in Knoxville to reinforce Burnside's forces; the IV Corps rejoined the Army of the Cumberland for the Atlanta campaign in spring 1864. The XXIII Corps also served in that campaign. Beginning on March 17–23, 1864, the IX Corps was transferred to