r/Appalachia • u/p38-lightning • 22h ago
I see your Craig County Confederate statue and raise you the Union soldier statue in Greeneville, Tennessee.
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u/downtotech 20h ago
What’s wild is how many East Tennessee natives don’t know this.
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u/828jpc1 19h ago
Ain’t it? I got a great great great grandfather buried in Nashville national cemetery that was part of the Tennessee 4th Calvary Regiment…Sullivan County TN. Died in Gallatin…fighting for the union.
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u/Eyore-struley 11h ago
Got ancestors on both sides. They resided in the mountains and the valleys. You can guess which residents joined which sides.
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u/CraftFamiliar5243 21h ago
Northeast Tennessee wanted to secede from the secession. Mountain people had no money for slaves and have always just wanted to be left alone. They still do.
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u/taynhill26 18h ago
There was a larger slave population than you think in the mountainous regions of east TN & western NC. Most slaves in the region weren’t working large-scale farming that we associate with the South because the terrain doesn’t really permit it. They were poorer on average, yes, and the slave population was lower than elsewhere, but they were here.
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u/serious_sarcasm 12h ago
That is why a lot of the area had more casualities from locals fighting each other than were lost in campaigns elsewhere.
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u/Stardust_808 18h ago
A brief stroll through the 1850, 1860 census records shows how disturbingly commonplace it was for many small households to have at least one slave. census policy in those days required listing any slaves residing on the property.
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u/Eyore-struley 13h ago
“Commonplace”? You really ought to caveat that by explaining which county’s census records you strolled through. In my ancestors’ neck of the woods folks were struggling with just feeding themselves, much less servants and slaves.
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u/serious_sarcasm 12h ago
Even in the counties (which where still be created) there was often drastic differences between valley towns and surrounding high country.
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u/CraftFamiliar5243 9h ago
I found a source online for Johnson County TN. There were a few slaves. Some farmers had 1-6 slaves who worked alongside them. Most farms had none.
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u/ivebeencloned 3h ago
Sevier County had at least two opium growing forced labor camps (plantations) with hostage labor with stolen wages (slaves).
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u/taynhill26 3h ago
Huh, interesting! I’d never heard about that one, I’m gonna have to look that up.
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u/ivebeencloned 2h ago
You may not be able to find it. I met descendants of one family years ago, in a house full of Chinese decor items. Relative of that family clued me to the second, which has a huge chunk of the Bar Association in TN and neighboring states to keep their asses covered.
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u/g1Razor15 21h ago
This is cool, if anyone is wondering why, Appalachia typically did not support succession as their economies did not rely on slave labor. They were called "Southern Unionists" this can also be reflected in voting patterns throughout history. Even when Democrats dominated state politics the mountain regions supported Republicans. 1892 presidential election in Tennessee county map
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u/serious_sarcasm 12h ago
A good portion of the underground railroad was through appalachia.
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u/g1Razor15 12h ago
I didn't know that but it makes sense
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u/ivebeencloned 3h ago
Athens and Friendsville, TN. Friendsville was Quaker and slept the escapees in a cave.
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u/Maryland_Bear 12h ago
I have East Tennessee roots that go back before the Civil War. My ancestors fought on both sides, with those who fought for the Confederacy mostly conscripts. I think the one of whom I’m most proud was drafted into the Confederate Army, deserted, joined the Union cavalry, and gave his “last full measure of devotion” at a battle in late 1864.
A friend of mine has similar deep roots in East Tennessee. His ancestors include a father and son who fought for the Union. Both were captured and one buried the other at the infamous Andersonville prison camp.
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u/From-628-U-Get-241 22h ago
I lived in Knoxville (and Farragut!) most of my life. So I'm correct in saying that most toothless rednecks in East TN and WNC think that those areas were/are the Heart of Dixie. But, no. East TN and WNC were strongly Union overall.
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u/serious_sarcasm 12h ago
Not to mention the atrocities and massacres perpetrated by the Confederate Home Guard. Even General Vance was disgusted by what the Home Guard did in Madison County, NC.
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u/larkspurrings 9h ago
Some of the most prominent Confederates in East TN were Cherokee who remained in the region following Indian Removal in the 1830s. The history of the CW in this region is wild lol
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u/FrayCrown 20h ago
My hometown!
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u/NuttNDButt 10h ago
same. no longer live there, but am always delighted to visit and reminisce. downtown has so much untapped potential.
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u/FrayCrown 9h ago
Yeah, I moved away several years ago, but always nice to see the Union history represented.
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u/t4skmaster 20h ago
Bit of change in campsite for the army and there might have been an East and West Tennessee instead of Virginia
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u/serious_sarcasm 12h ago
State of Franklin. But would Knoxville or Asheville be the capital?
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u/Eyore-struley 10h ago
Great question! From a military standpoint, between the two, Knoxville might’ve been the better location initially. Due to secured river and rail to support logistics and commerce. The intervening mountains makes it difficult to imagine the two towns existing within the same geopolitical unit, despite their similarities.
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u/waterloo2anywhere 21h ago
this is much more my style as a pennsylvanian with a however many great uncle that fought for PA and the union in the war 🙂↕️🙂↕️
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u/PoemAgreeable 9h ago
Way down yonder, in the land of traitors, rattle snakes and alligators... ...where cottons king and men are chattel, Union Boys will win the battle!
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u/TheArmoredGeorgian 1h ago
Tennessee sent around 30,000 troops to the Union side. I say sent, but most men had to find their own way to the north, avoiding any confederates. The “History Of The First Regiment Of Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry In The Great War Of The Rebellion: With The Armies Of The Ohio And Cumberland, Under ... Thomas, Stanley And Wilson. 1862-1865.” Starts by describing pro Union sentiments in Tennessee during the secession crisis, and tells about the men who snuck north avoiding prison and possible conscription by the confederacy.
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u/serious_sarcasm 12h ago
Mitchell County, NC has a "Civil War Monument" at the historic court house which only lists confederate veterans despite the county electing a local union veteran to the state legislature after the war.
The monument was built in 2011.
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u/MeaningNo860 20h ago
Dude, Newton, NC still has an active and beloved Confederate Memorial Day holiday.
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u/grondfoehammer 22h ago
Tennessee sent 31000 soldiers to the Union side, mostly from East Tennessee. Greenville is best know as the home of Davy Crockett of Alamo Fame. Andrew Johnson spent most of his life there.