The United States General who was the intended victim of that undertaking was not blind to the possibility that his military occupation of East Tennessee would shortly be brought to an end by a hostile force from the southwest. The bare thought of such an event deeply grieved him, not only as a disaster to the Federal Government, but also as a great calamity to the Union people of East Tennessee. A short time before Longstreet’s march upon Knoxville began, Burnside in private conversation with a citizen-friend, spoke with strong feeling of the possibility that he would not be able to continue to those people his protection. Had they known that not without reason he thought such a contingency existed, they would have been as deeply pained as he was, at the idea of his departure. He had been among them only about ten weeks, but in that brief time he had won their hearts. He had made good use of his opportunities to establish the military supremacy of the United States, to extend its area in East Tennessee and to hold it in possession against enemies. He had also, without putting aside the dignity becoming his official position, manifested the kindly sympathy he sincerely felt for the Union people who had suffered for more than two years under Confederate rule, he had permitted a healthy freedom of approach to his presence, had listened when at leisure to their griefs and wrongs, had now and then, as his public duties permitted, partaken of their hospitalities, and in a word, had in various ways showed that he was their friend. Everywhere he was looked upon with respect and affection. Even among citizens, at heart hostile to the flag he defended, were some who admired and liked him. They could not well be otherwise than content with him, for he visited them with no needless severities and his judgments were reasonable. His native magnanimity of soul would have lifted him above seeking revenge for his private wrongs suffered from the conflict, but he had no such wrongs. The bitterness and animosities which he found the war had produced among neighbors in East Tennessee, met with no favorable response from his own heart. He could not fully understand them, and spoke of their existence with mingled surprise and regret.