Major General Ambrose E. Burnside, commander of the Department of the Ohio, undertook an expedition into East Tennessee to clear the roads and passes to Virginia, and, if possible, secure the saltworks beyond Abingdon.

In October, Confederate brigadier general, John S. Williams, with his cavalry force, set out to disrupt Union communications and logistics.

Gen. Samuel P. Carter's Union Cavalry Division, XXIII Corps, at Blue Springs, about nine miles from Bulls Gap, on the railroad.

Captain Orlando M. Poe, the chief engineer, performed a reconnaissance to identify the best location for making an infantry attack.

Burnside had launched the East Tennessee campaign to reduce or extinguish Confederate influence in the area; Blue Springs helped fulfill that mission.