Tennessee in the American Civil War
| Tennessee | |
|---|---|
| Admitted to the Confederacy | July 2, 1861 (11th) |
| Population | 1,109,801 total • 834,082 free • 275,719 slave |
| Forces supplied | – Confederate soldiers: 135,000 – Union soldiers: 51,000 (31,000 white; 20,000 black) total |
| Governor | Isham G. Harris (1861–1862) |
How long was Tennessee a part of the Confederacy?
But over six month, as all the Deep South states seceded, Tennessee’s course had not always been certain. At one point, secession seemed unlikely. Tennessee was geographically divided on the issue. The planter-dominated west supported secession.
When did Tennessee leave the Confederacy?
After the war, delegates from across the state met in Nashville to shape a new state constitution, adopted on Feb. 23, 1870. Because Tennessee had ratified the 14th Amendment, it was the only secessionist state that did not have a military governor from Washington during Reconstruction.
Was Tennessee part of the Confederacy?
However, when the American Civil War finally broke out in 1861, Tennessee, like other states in the upper South, voted for secession and joined the new Confederate States of America (Confederacy).
Why did Tennessee join the Confederacy?
They decided to secede from the Union because they feared he would do away with slavery. These states attempted to form a new country called the Confederate States of America. Tennesseans were also divided on this issue. In February 1861, Tennesseans voted against leaving the Union.
When did TN rejoin the Union?
After the war, the state legislature ratified the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on July 18, 1866, and was the first state readmitted to the Union on July 24, 1866.
What was the last Confederate state to rejoin the Union?
On this day in 1870, Georgia became the last former Confederate state to be readmitted into the Union after agreeing to seat some black members in the state Legislature.
Did Kentucky join the Confederacy?
On November 18, 200 delegates passed an Ordinance of Secession and established Confederate Kentucky; the following December it was admitted to the Confederacy as a 13th state.
Was Nashville Union or Confederate?
On February 25, 1862, following the Battle of Fort Henry and the Battle of Fort Donelson, Nashville became the first Confederate state capital captured by Northern forces. For the rest of the war it was a major Union supply depot.
Why was Tennessee important in the Civil War?
During the Civil War, Tennessee’s rivers and rails were critical arteries to the Deep South, and both United States and Confederate forces fought hard to control them in major battles like Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Stones River, Chattanooga, Franklin, and Nashville.
Why was Tennessee not in a military district?
Tennessee was the only state that seceded that did not fall under Military Reconstruction, as it had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment and had been readmitted to the Union. Major General Edward Ord served as the first commander of the Fourth District, based at the headquarters in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Was Kentucky a Union or Confederate?
General Histories. Soldiers from Kentucky served in both the Union and Confederate armies. The state adopted a policy of neutrality until September 1861, when a pro-Union element gained control of the legislature. Though Kentucky never seceded from the Union, there was a sizable pro-Confederate element in the state.
How many states had already joined the Confederacy before Tennessee?
The secession of South Carolina was followed by the secession of six more states—Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas–and the threat of secession by four more—Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. These eleven states eventually formed the Confederate States of America.
What states took the longest to be readmitted?
The Order of Secession
| State | Readmitted to Union 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | South Carolina | July 9, 1868 |
| 2. | Mississippi | Feb. 23, 1870 |
| 3. | Florida | June 25, 1868 |
| 4. | Alabama | July 13, 1868 |
Was Texas in the Confederacy?
Texas had been part of the United States just 15 years when secessionists prevailed in a statewide election. Texas formally seceded on March 2, 1861 to become the seventh state in the new Confederacy. Gov. Sam Houston was against secession, and struggled with loyalties to both his nation and his adopted state.
What was the first state to rejoin the Union?
Tennessee
State Capital
On July 26, 1866 Tennessee became the first state that had seceded, to reenter the Union. On June 22, 1868 Arkansas became the second state to be readmitted. In July of 1870 Georgia became the last state to rejoin the Union.
Were there any Civil War battles in Tennessee?
Shiloh, Fort Donelson, Chickamauga/Chattanooga, and Stones Rivers are significant Tennessee battles now interpreted by the National Park Service as National Military Parks. Tennessee State Parks has preserved the Civil War battlefields at Fort Pillow and Johnsonville.
Did Kentucky fight in the Civil War?
Kentucky was a border state, separating the Confederate States and the Union of the North. Kentucky was highly sought after by both the Union and the Confederacy throughout the war and lead to intense, often bloody, battles to keep or regain control.
Why does Tennessee have 3 divisions?
The physiographic and economic differences between the three regions resulted in major divisions within Tennessee in the Civil War. The plantation agricultural system associated with cotton production meant that slavery was very important to the economy of West Tennessee, where voters strongly supported secession.
Why was Tennessee exempt from military occupation?
The first bill called for 10 of the “rebel States” to be divided into five districts under military control; only Tennessee was excluded because it had already been readmitted.
Were there any neutral states in the Civil War?
In the context of the American Civil War (1861–65), the border states were slave states that did not secede from the Union. They were Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, and after 1863, the new state of West Virginia.
