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Enough has been said in former
chapters to refresh the memory of those
living during the period of the Civil
War, and the younger generation who have
read the history of these events,
concerning the causes of the war and its
progress so far as it related to East
Tennessee tip to the time the State was
voted out of the Union, to give them a
general idea of the state of affairs at
this time. It might be well, however, to
make a brief recapitulation so that the
reader may have a clearer conception of
the events that follow. From the very
beginning of the talk about secession
during the presidential campaign of 186o
and up to the inauguration of President
Lincoln, March 4, 1861, the majority of
the people of the State of Tennessee,
including the slave owners, were loyal
to the Federal Government. This fact was
emphasized by the election of February,
1861, when the State voted against
secession by a majority of 68,000. In
this election all former party lines
were ignored ; men voted without any
thought of party, whether Whig or
Democrat. The sole question with all was
: "Shall the Union of the States be
preserved?" At the same time, and from
the beginning of this discussion, Isham
G. Harris, the Governor of the State,
and those in authority in Nashville were
in sympathy with the South and bending
every energy to destroy and change the
public sentiment of the people of the
State. We place on record our candid
opinion that if Andrew Johnson had been
Governor of Tennessee in 1860-61—the
State would never have seceeded from the
Union.
Now that the State had (at least upon
the face of the returns) voted for
secession, the wrath of the State
Administration was turned upon Johnson,
Nelson, Brownlow, Temple and all those
who had fought secession at the
Knoxville and Greeneville Conventions,
and on the stump throughout the State.
The proclamation of Mr. Lincoln calling
out troops and his well-known
anti-slavery sentiments were used by the
advocates of secession to alarm the
slave-holders of the State, and many of
those who were loyal to the Government
were driven into secession by this false
alarm. No sane man now believes that Mr.
Lincoln would have freed the slaves had
not the Southern people gone into
rebellion. He did it, at last, with much
hesitation, believing it the only means
of preserving the Union. In all of Mr.
Lincoln's political career, while he had
expressed his disapproval of human
slavery, he did not believe in any
radical or hasty measures of
emancipation. He believed in the
agitation of the question from a moral
standpoint and educating the public
sentiment to a sense of justice that
would lead to a gradual and peaceable
emancipation of the slaves. Had the
Southern people awaited the action of
Mr. Lincoln upon this subject instead of
precipitating the Rebellion and forcing
upon him the necessity of freeing the
slaves to save the Government, doubtless
African slavery would have still been in
existence.
We have seen that while Governor Harris
was using every effort in his power to
take the State out of the Union the
loyalists of East Tennessee were equally
strenuous in their efforts to remain in
the Union. Their efforts proving
unavailing, and yet believing, as their
1elegates declared in the Greeneville
Convention, that the `military league"
entered into with the Southern
Confederacy was illegal and wrong, and
that the election was unfair, and did
not reflect the true sentiments of the
people, their leaders determined to
ignore the State and Confederate
authorities and adhere to their
allegiance to the Federal Government.
This was a bold and most hazardous
position to assume when we take into
consideration the fact that at this time
the State was overrun by Confederate
troops, and the Unionists could expect
no aid from the Federal army at least
for some time to come.
Bitter feelings between those of
opposing sentiments had been aroused,
and crimination and recrimination was
freely indulged. The Union men were
accused of disloyalty to the South and
called "Lincolnites," "Abolitionists"
and "Thugs." They in turn accused those
in sympathy with the South of treason
and disloyalty to the Government,
calling them "rebels," "traitors" and
other epithets.
After the two conventions had been held,
the one at Knoxville and the other at
Greeneville, and the Union leaders had
exhausted every expedient available to
retain the State in the Union, or form a
neutral State of 'East Tennessee, seeing
that arguments, memorials and
resolutions were of no avail, and
believing they had a right to their
opinions as freemen, and believing the
action of the State Government
fraudulent and illegal, they boldly
ignored its authority. Having done this
the bitter feelings of the authorities
became more pronounced, and the Union
people began to secretly arm and drill
with the intention of protecting
themselves and rendering such aid as was
possible to the Union cause, which they
believed to be right.
The only hope of the Unionists now was
in receiving aid from the Federal
Government, and their leaders turned
their attention to imploring aid from
that direction. The authorities at
Washington were asked to send assistance
to the people who had so nobly stood by
the Union cause. It was represented to
them that an army of invasion sent into
East Tennessee would be largely
augmented by loyal volunteers, and that
the East Tennessee and Virginia
railroad, so important to the South for
transporting troops and materials of war
from the Southwest to Virginia, which it
was now evident was to be the great
battlefield of the war, could be
destroyed, and the "backbone" of the
Southern Confederacy broken.
The Confederate authorities were greatly
alarmed by the situation, and General
Zollicoffer, with two regiments of
Confederate troops, was sent into East
Tennessee in the latter part of July,
1861, to keep the Union men in
subjection. Governor Harris was kept
constantly advised of the situation in
all the counties by the local
disunionists, and the names of the
prominent Union men were reported to the
military authorities.
The firm and decided stand taken by the
Unionists, their bold and outspoken
sympathy for the Union cause and the
defiant attitude they had assumed
towards the Confederate authorities,
while it gave the latter much
uneasiness, also increased their hatred
and vindictiveness towards the
Unionists.
At first those in Johnson and Carter
Counties who favored the South were so
greatly in the minority they had little
to say at home but kept the authorities
fully posted regarding every act and
movement of the Unionists. Every
unguarded word and act was duly reported
by them to headquarters, and this
becoming known the most bitter feelings
were engendered, and threats were freely
made. Thus the strongest friendships
were broken and the closest ties of
kindred were severed. Fathers, and sons,
and brothers, became estranged, and
joining different armies, were arrayed
in deadly hostility to each other.
Confidence was lost and men knew not
whom to trust. Suspicion and distrust
ruled the hour. Then began the exodus to
the North of the more prominent Union
leaders, while others remained at home,
but were compelled to be more guarded in
their expressions.
The prominent Union leaders who had gone
North renewed their appeals to the
Government at Washington to send relief
to East Tennessee. and the people were
continually expecting that the army now
forming in Kentucky would advance
through the Cumberland Gap to their
relief.
The Union men had refused to muster or
take any notice of the proclamation of
Governor Harris calling out the militia,
but on the contrary continued to muster
and drill for their own protection and
with a view to aiding the Federal army
that was expected to redeem their homes
from the authority of the Confederate
Government. Additional Confederate
troops were sent into this part of the
State, and an effort was made to enforce
the "militia law," bringing about
frequent clashes between the Union
people and Confederate soldiers.
In the meantime W. G. Brownlow, who had
suspended the publication of the
"Knoxville Whig," found it necessary to
take refuge with an old friend in the
mountains of Roan County about November
1st, 1861. He received a note from the
Confederate authorities at Knoxville to
return to his home and he would not be
molested. Relying on the good faith of
the authorities he returned to his home
on December 4th. but was immediately
arrested, put in jail and treated with
the greatest indignity. After remaining
in jail for sometime, owing to his very
feeble health, he was allowed to be
removed to his home, where he was kept
under close guard until sent through the
Federal lines under military escort.
Other prominent leaders,—Johnson,
Nelson, Carter and others from the upper
counties had gone North previous to this
time. But there were still left in East
Tennessee a large number of capable
Union men, who, though silenced, were
not subdued.
As our history will now be confined
largely to the transactions in Carter
and Johnson Counties we will mention
only those who were more or less
identified with the movements in this
locality.
The Union men in Carter and Johnson
Counties directed by such true and
faithful local leaders and advisers as
R. R. Butler, Daniel Stover, Samuel E.
Northington, Dr. Abram Jobe, Samuel A.
Cunningham, Hawkins P. Murphy. John K.
Miller, Frederick Slimp, Harrison
Hendrix, Abram Tipton, Joseph H. Wagner,
Albert J. Tipton, John K. Miller, J. W.
M. Grayson, Alex. D. Smith, Samuel
Howard, A. G. Shogun, Dr. David
Smithpeters, J. H. Vaught, Rev. Lewis
Venable, Jas. P. T. Carter, James L.
Bradley, Thos. M. Hilton, Jas. P. Scott,
B. M. G. O'Brien, J. G. Lewis, Col. J.
G. Fellers, John W. Cameron, Rev. J. H.
Hyder, Hamilton C. Smith, C. P. Toncray,
Robert Williams, James J. Angel, Hon.
John W. Hyder, Elijah Simerly, Lawson W.
Hampton, Richard C. White, William J.
Folsom, Nat. T. Williams, S. W.
Williams, M. M. Wagner, C. C. Wilcox,
Landon Carter, Kendrick Donnelly, M. L.
Cameron, William J. Toncray, D. P.
Wilcox and many other brave leaders. and
followers were constantly on the alert,
and ready at any time to seize an
opportunity to perform whatever service
that would aid the Federal Government or
discomfit the Confederates. They were
secretly planning and ready at any time
to strike any blow, however hazardous.
that gave promise of aiding the cause of
the Union. |
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