Research has shown stable high gravimetric capacity lithium ion battery anodes can be made from silicon deposited on carbon nanotubes (CNTs). High stability operation however requires nanostructuring of the silicon to alleviate stresses caused by the large expansion of the silicon upon Li alloying. At high silicon loadings even nanoscale layers of silicon result in stresses large enough to cause mechanical damage to the electrode. Here we present work on a hierarchical approach to structuring carbon nanotube based carbon monoliths that provide for electrode stress management on multiple scales.