During the American Civil War no portion of the conflict was contested more savagely or more divisively than that which was fought in East Tennessee. More than any other time in our history truly this was a war of "brother against brother, father against son."

By and large the people of East Tennessee saw themselves as separate from the rest of the state. Few were slave holders or even allied themselves with the South. They had voted heavily against secession. The majority of East Tennesseans were suspicious and resentful of those who did favor the South. Though there were few pitched battles fought in East Tennessee, the savagery of bushwhacking, bridge burnings, lynchings and reprisals proved just as costly in terms of lives lost and property destroyed. In the end, the formerly prosperous country had been devastated by both Union and Confederate armies.

The wounds laid open by the war took many generations to heal.