Tennessee in the American Civil War

Tennessee
Nickname(s): The Volunteer State
Proposed flag (de facto)[a] Great Seal Map of the Confederate States
Capital	Nashville
Largest city	Memphis
Admitted to the Confederacy	July 2, 1861 (11th)
Population	1,109,801 total  • 834,082 (75.15%) free  • 275,719 (24.85%) slave
Forces supplied	- Confederate soldiers: 135,000[1] - Union soldiers: 51,000 (31,000 white; 20,000 black)[2][3] total
Governor	Isham G. Harris (1861–1862)
Senators	Landon Carter Haynes Gustavus Adolphus Henry
Representatives	List
Restored to the Union	July 24, 1866

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The American Civil War significantly affected Tennessee, with every county witnessing combat. During the War, Tennessee was a Confederate state, and the last state to officially secede from the Union to join the Confederacy. Tennessee had been threatening to secede since before the Confederacy was even formed, but didn’t officially do so until after the fall of Fort Sumter when public opinion throughout the state drastically shifted. Tennessee seceded in protest to President Lincoln's April 15 Proclamation calling forth 75,000 members of state militias to suppress the rebellion.^[4] Although Tennessee provided a large number of troops for the Confederacy, it would also provide more soldiers for the Union Army than any other state within the Confederacy.

In February 1862, some of the war's first serious fighting took place along the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, recognized as major military highways, and mountain passes such as Cumberland Gap were keenly competed-for by both sides. The Battle of Shiloh and the fighting along the Mississippi brought glory to the then little-known Ulysses S. Grant, while his area commander Henry Halleck was rewarded with a promotion to General-in-Chief. The Tullahoma campaign, led by William Rosecrans, drove the Confederates from Middle Tennessee so quickly that they did not take many casualties, and were strong enough to defeat Rosecrans soon afterward. At Nashville in December 1864, George Thomas routed the Army of Tennessee under John Bell Hood, the last major battle fought in the state.

In 1862, Lincoln chose to use his power as commander in chief to appoint Andrew Johnson as the military governor of Tennessee.^[5] Two years later, Lincoln selected him as a Southerner to balance the ticket in the 1864 general election. On Lincoln's assassination, Johnson was sworn in as president.

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