The Civil War At A Quick Glance:
Like many other areas across the South, Northeast Tennessee was torn over the issue of slavery and secession. The Presbyterians were among the earliest denominations to reach the region and ministers like Samuel Doak and Hezakiah Balch preached against slavery. The first periodical exclusively on abolition was published in Jonesborough, TN by a Quaker named Elihu Embree who also happened to be a slave-owner (through inheritance & did free). Both Jonesborough and Bristol had slave markets.
A majority in the region supported staying in the Union, while a significant minority supported secession. When Tennessee seceded and Confederate officials took over positions of power, abuses were committed against Union supporters. The actions of the Confederacy were in part fueled by the anti-secession population's use of guerrilla tactics against their traitorous brethren, for instance waging a campaign to destroy bridges in order to disrupt Confederate supply lines.
Among the abuses committed by the Confederacy regionally were two massacres, one known as the Shelton Laurel Massacre and the other as the Limestone Cove Tragedy. Additionally, the AT crosses by three tombstones not far from Jerry's Cabin Shelter. Two of these tombstones are military-issued belonging to the Shelton Brothers who are rumored to have been ambushed and killed for being Union recruiters.
After the Civil War, the North remembered East Tennessee's loyalty to the Union and sought to uplift an area already reputed as being impoverished. Among those attempting to uplift and educate the people of this area, religious institutions built schools like Milligan College and King University. Prior to the Civil War the region had already begun to be heavily invested with railways, esp. as a portal to nearby natural resources such as lumber and coal. Other economic ventures were also attempted but many of the ventures, like a health spa-based tourist trade for the most part became victims of one of the many economic downturns since the Civil War.
Despite there being many descendents of the 13th Volunteer Calvary (United States) here locally, this region like the rest of Tennessee adopted a series of laws collectively known as "Jim Crow" laws in order to hinder and undo Black empowerment. Johnson City did not desegregate its public schools until 1965, the first black students to integrate East Tennessee State College (what is today ETSU) occurred in 1956 and 1958.
*Please Note: I am not a professional historian or subject-matter expert, I am an enthusiast. The above work is not properly cited or peer-reviewed and is not an academic work (best to read it here, than in red ink from a professor or teacher). The time periods described by this site were researched from a variety of sources linked below and on the additional resources page. I think the information is accurate as a general history and a good starting point in understanding the region and providing a bit of context to the area's hikes.
Further Links:
Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial: Timeline of Civil War Events
Civil War Traveler: East Tennessee
Greene County Civil War Bike Trail
"Heroic Courage and Unfaltering Devotion": A Gathering of East Tennessee Veterans by Melanie Story at Academia.edu
The Valley of East Tennessee in the Civil War by Ernest I. Miller published by Cincinnati Civil War Round Table
Like many other areas across the South, Northeast Tennessee was torn over the issue of slavery and secession. The Presbyterians were among the earliest denominations to reach the region and ministers like Samuel Doak and Hezakiah Balch preached against slavery. The first periodical exclusively on abolition was published in Jonesborough, TN by a Quaker named Elihu Embree who also happened to be a slave-owner (through inheritance & did free). Both Jonesborough and Bristol had slave markets.
A majority in the region supported staying in the Union, while a significant minority supported secession. When Tennessee seceded and Confederate officials took over positions of power, abuses were committed against Union supporters. The actions of the Confederacy were in part fueled by the anti-secession population's use of guerrilla tactics against their traitorous brethren, for instance waging a campaign to destroy bridges in order to disrupt Confederate supply lines.
Among the abuses committed by the Confederacy regionally were two massacres, one known as the Shelton Laurel Massacre and the other as the Limestone Cove Tragedy. Additionally, the AT crosses by three tombstones not far from Jerry's Cabin Shelter. Two of these tombstones are military-issued belonging to the Shelton Brothers who are rumored to have been ambushed and killed for being Union recruiters.
After the Civil War, the North remembered East Tennessee's loyalty to the Union and sought to uplift an area already reputed as being impoverished. Among those attempting to uplift and educate the people of this area, religious institutions built schools like Milligan College and King University. Prior to the Civil War the region had already begun to be heavily invested with railways, esp. as a portal to nearby natural resources such as lumber and coal. Other economic ventures were also attempted but many of the ventures, like a health spa-based tourist trade for the most part became victims of one of the many economic downturns since the Civil War.
Despite there being many descendents of the 13th Volunteer Calvary (United States) here locally, this region like the rest of Tennessee adopted a series of laws collectively known as "Jim Crow" laws in order to hinder and undo Black empowerment. Johnson City did not desegregate its public schools until 1965, the first black students to integrate East Tennessee State College (what is today ETSU) occurred in 1956 and 1958.
*Please Note: I am not a professional historian or subject-matter expert, I am an enthusiast. The above work is not properly cited or peer-reviewed and is not an academic work (best to read it here, than in red ink from a professor or teacher). The time periods described by this site were researched from a variety of sources linked below and on the additional resources page. I think the information is accurate as a general history and a good starting point in understanding the region and providing a bit of context to the area's hikes.
Further Links:
Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial: Timeline of Civil War Events
Civil War Traveler: East Tennessee
Greene County Civil War Bike Trail
"Heroic Courage and Unfaltering Devotion": A Gathering of East Tennessee Veterans by Melanie Story at Academia.edu
The Valley of East Tennessee in the Civil War by Ernest I. Miller published by Cincinnati Civil War Round Table
First Abolitionist Publications
1819-1820: The Emancipator was the first newsletter published in the United States exclusively on the issue of Abolition. The newsletter was published in Jonesborough, TN by Elihu Embree and Benjamin Lundy.
Despite Greeneville and Jonesborough's brief stint at the heart of the Abolitionists movement, most East Tennesseans remained loyal to the United States for reasons other than Abolition. From the Emancipator (31 May 1820): 'Slavery is contradictory to that relation which man bears to man, in the scale of being, that was fixed by the Almighty Creator: and can never be rendered justifiable by any law, usage or custom of man, either in a religious moral or political point of view. This relation was founded upon the principle of inflexible justice, which is an attribute of the Godhead, and from which the moral obligations of equal right to be performed by man to man, take their rise. Upon this principle or attribute, all governments are, or ought to be founded, whether in nations, communities, or private families, and will be required for the safety & well being of each, while Jehovah presides over the affairs of men. It was upon this principle that the declaration of rights, and American Independence were established; and in the very instant the declaration was published, and adopted by the states thro their delegates, was there a slave within the limits of the United States? Were not all then free? and although it has been alleged that they had no voice in the national compact, and of consequence were left in the state of slavery in which they were found, yet if they had not an active, had they not a passive voice in it, as fully, and as truly, in the scale of justice, as had the unborn posterity of the framers of that declaration? and were they not equally comprised in the words "ALL MEN," which are found in that instrument? If the declaration of rights was only intended as an unmeaning preamble, and not to be considered as the great pillar and foundation of the federal constitution, then we cannot so much wonder at present appearances; but if that declaration formed the broad basis for the security of national and individual rights, the reducing the people of colour to their former state of servitude, was certainly a violation of it, and forever irreconcilable with the principles of justice and sound policy. It would certainly be insulting to the character of the worthy fathers of the revolution, who were the authors of the declaration of rights, to suppose that they, or at least, a majority of them, did not intend the benefits of it to be universal in the United States, and which could only have been prevented by a party that were clamorous for the continuance of slavery, (that previous relict of old monarchical despotism) and which the other party could only have acceded to from a desire to preserve and consolidate the infant republic, and to prevent anarchy and confusion, till a time of permanent settlement should take place, when the black stain should finally be washed away.' -Elihu Embree Further Links: Tennessee Encyclopedia: Manumission Intelligencer & Emancipator University of Tennessee Digital Library: The Emancipator Newsletter Tennessee Encyclopedia: The Emancipator |
President Andrew Johnson
1808-1875: In 1861, then Senator Johnson remained loyal to the Union as Tennessee seceded the United States. Johnson was appointed to Military Governor of Tennessee in 1862. Then in 1864, he was elected Vice-President. After Lincoln's assassination, Johnson became President in 1865 and was responsible for the beginning stages of Reconstruction. As a Southerner who sided with the Union and as a Democrat surrounded by Republicans, Johnson found himself with too few political allies.
Further Links: Andrew Johnson National Historic Site Millercenter.org: Andrew Johnson |
Confederate Training Ground
1861: Near Carver's Park, a historical marker notates the area near brushy creek was not only a site of Methodist camp meetings but also a site where young Confederate troops learned to drill.
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Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site
1862-1865: A home of Confederate Senator, Landon Carter Haynes. Haynes was a strong proponent of slavery & secession even before Lincoln was elected.
After Tennessee seceded, Landon Haynes became a Senator to the Confederacy where he was very active, to include being a major contributor to the Confederacy's first conscription law. The enacted law exempted slave-holders owning 20 or more slaves from military service. For a brief time during the Civil War, Johnson City was known as Haynesville, named for the Confederate Senator. His brother Matthew Haynes was a Confederate official notorious for collecting seized property from those who opposed seceding from the United States. Matthew's home in Blountville bares the scars of artillery and small arms fire from the Battle of Blountville and is known today as the Cannonball House. A majority of East Tennesseans opposed seceding the United States but their opposition was not enough to prevent it. However, as has often been the case on every issue faced by America, the vote did not conclusively resolve the issue, with many a East Tennessean dreaming anew of a separate mountain state. The Confederacy held East Tennessee through military force and then the Union would also require military force, as both sides faced guerrilla warfare. Further Links: Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site Tennessee.gov: Tipton-Haynes Historic Site Tipton-Haynes Historic Site: Landon Haynes TNVaction: A State Divided NY Times: When Tennessee Turned South by Dwight Pitcaithley Tennessee Encyclopedia: Civil War |
The Lost Sea
During the Civil War, the Confederacy mined saltpeter from Craighead Cavern and other caverns for the manufacture of gun powder. Saltpeter was created from nitrates found in certain caves, in particular caves rich with bat guano. The South also got nitrates for the production of ammunition from underneath outhouses. The Confederacy had more raw product than the United States but lacked the industrial capacity of the North to make ammunition. The United States imported nitrates from Europe.
Further Links: CivilWar.org: Small Arms of the Civil War Geology and History of Confederate Saltpeter Cave Operations in Western Virginia by Robert C. Whisonant at Virginia.gov |
The November Uprising
November 1861: The Bridge Burnings
Nobody likes to be occupied militarily, even leniently. Both the Confederacy and the Union learned this fact the hard way in the Appalachian Mountains. Early into the Confederate occupation of East Tennessee, initially under the command of General Zollicoffer, a Unionist by the name of Reverend William Blount Carter of Carter County had a meeting in Washington DC with President Lincoln and General George McClellan. In that meeting, Rev. Carter convinced Lincoln to conduct a joint operation between Union forces and East Tennesseans loyal to the Union in order to expel Confederate forces from East Tennessee. The Army under the command of General Sherman were to invade from Kentucky while the Lincolnites would destroy nine bridges, as well as telegraph lines along the East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad, hindering Virginia's supply line and communications to the deep South. The execution of the operation was commanded by General Samuel Carter, brother of Rev. William Blount Carter. Five of the nine bridges were destroyed, including one over Lick Creek in Greene County and another over the Holston River near modern day Bluff City in Sullivan County. At best, General Carter executed the bridge-burnings uncertain if the Union Army would be playing their part. Reluctant from the get-go, General Tecumseh Sherman decided against the invasion, deeply skeptical of the value of taking East Tennessee as a part of the greater strategy in defeating the Confederacy, with the mountainous terrain bordered by Confederate States being too tough to hold. The bridge-burnings ended the Confederate command's policy of leniency to those who opposed secession. However, the leniency of Confederate forces on the ground and the pro-secession citizenry had actually ended long before. Many suspected Unionists were jailed for suspicion of participating in the uprising and five men from the Pottertown area were executed by hanging and left out for five days to be made an example of. Further Links: NY Times: Article from the Knoxville Register on the Bridge Burnings published in Nov 1863 NY Times: The Conspiracy at Lick Creek by Aaron Astor Knoxville Sentinel: Unionists Tried to Burn Bridges, take Tennessee in 1861 by Amy McRary "Heroic Courage and Unfaltering Devotion": A Gathering of East Tennessee Veterans by Melanie Story at Academia.edu |
The Shelton Laurel Massacre
19 January 1863: While East Tennessee's population was mostly against secession, the people of western North Carolina were largely in favor of seceding from the Union. Support for the Confederate cause was not universal, with pockets of Unionists to be found throughout many of North Carolina's western counties, often in the more remote valleys and hollows nestled up against the Tennessee state line.
These pockets of Unionism became important safe havens for escaping Union Prisoners-of-War, as well as for deserting Confederate Soldiers and those avoiding conscription. They were also used as corridors of attack and retreat by Unionist freedom-fighters, sometimes referred to as Bushwhackers, involved in an asymmetrical war fought by both sides in the mountains of western North Carolina. In the shadow of the Bald Mountains in Madison County, fifteen members of the known-unionist Shelton family and their kin were arrested on 19 January 1863 for suspicion of participating in a previous raid. They were arrested by a Confederate unit comprised mostly of their neighbors from western North Carolina and while in transport, two escaped before the remaining 13 were summarily executed near where modern-day NC-208 and NC-212 intersect. Further Links: North Carolina History Project: Shelton Laurel Massacre Learn NC: The Shelton Laurel Massacre |
Cumberland Gap National Historic Park
07-09 September 1863: Control of the Cumberland Gap was exchanged four times, with limited confrontation between the two armies. Federal forces were the last to hold the "Gibraltar of America" after a much smaller Union Army led by Major General Ambrose Burnside managed to get Confederate Brigadier General John Frazier to surrender on 09 September 1863 with minimal confrontation, because Frazier was not prepared for a long siege and he had misdiagnosed Union troop strength.
Further Links: Cumberland Gap National Historic Park AmericanCivilWar.com: Cumberland Gap American Civil War History CivilWar.org: Cumberland Gap National Historic Park |
Action at Limestone Station
10 September 1863: Nick-named Mudwall as a contrast to the legendary Stonewall, Confederate Brigadier General Alfred Jackson of Jonesborough, Tennessee was not reputed for being an effective battlefield commander, even his success at the brief Battle of Limestone Station has been often accredited to his subordinate commanders.
Besides being a farmer and a slave-owner, Alfred Jackson was a wealthy businessman invested in the railroads. After the Civil War, the former Confederate General was involved in the creation of the East Tennessee & West North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC) going from Johnson City to nearby iron mines in Cranberry, NC. A portion of the old ET&WNC has become the Tweetsie Trail, a hiking and biking trail. For the significant minority of people in East Tennessee who supported secession, like Alfred Jackson, slave-ownership may not have been their principle reason for supporting secession. Slavery caused the Civil War but individuals who fought on either side of the conflict, did so for a variety of reasons. In research on East Tennessee conducted by W. Todd Groce and others, those who supported secession lived mostly in urban areas and along the railway. Many of the officers who initially joined the Confederate ranks from this region consisted of young professionals, owners of few slaves (if any) whose economic ties were to States pushing for secession. Their economic success and maybe even their social identity were tied closer to those in Nashville, Charleston, and Richmond. Jackson did not escape the war unscathed. The federal government confiscated a large portion of his land and he found himself often in Knoxville, being sued by Unionists. At the war's conclusion and during Reconstruction, East Tennesseans who supported secession were coerced, often violently to leave the region. Further Links: NY Times Article originally published in 1863 Tenn Genealogy Web Article 'Will the Real "Mudwall Jackson" Please Stand Up' by Geoffrey R. Walden at Blue Grey Magazine Article |
Battle of Blountville
22 September 1863: Confederate Forces and sympathizers were forced to retreat from Blountville after a four hour siege by Union Forces led by Col. John Foster. Artillery was used in the assault and caused severe fire damage to many buildings including the Sullivan County Courthouse.
Further Links: Sullivan County Archives: War Between the States Battle of Blountville Civil War Reenactment & Military Park |
Limestone Cove Tragedy
November 1863: East Tennessee supplied approximately 30,000 Soldiers to the Union Army, but those numbers could have been even higher if the journey to Kentucky to enlist was far less perilous.
With limited manpower, Confederate commanders such as Gen. Felix Zollicoffer and Gen. Edmund Kirby-Smith had to make tough decisions on where their forces were most needed. Each decided defending against Union invasion, most likely from the Kentucky border was priority one; but another key concern was to stop East Tennesseans loyal to the Union escaping to Kentucky in order to enlist. The treacherous journey to enlist required pathfinders called Pilots to navigate a route, avoiding the attention of Confederate patrols and those who supported secession. Many were arrested, beaten, and even killed en route, as was the case for nine Lincolnites who were summarily executed by Confederate Cavalry at Limestone Cove in November 1863. Daniel Ellis, a veteran of the 1861 Bridge-Burnings and well-reputed pilot, wrote an account of his exploits titled, The Thrilling Adventures of Daniel Ellis. The account is described as being exaggerated but still gives one the sense of danger involved. Additionally, Noel C. Fisher wrote an excellent book on the often violent struggle for power between East Tennesseans during the decade encompassing the Civil War entitled, War at Every Door. Further Links: Appalachian Treks: The Limestone Tragedy Archive.org: Thrilling Adventures of Daniel Ellis |
Battle of Dandridge
17 December 1863: Maj. Gen. John Parke was in command of Federal forces conducting a forage mission in the vicinity of Dandridge, TN, when he was intercepted by Confederate forces led by Lieut. Gen. James Longstreet. Fearing Longstreet had the advantage, Parke safely retreated during the night back to Knoxville.
Further Links: Tennessee Encyclopedia: Battle of Dandridge by Spurgeon King CWSAC: Battle Summary - Dandridge AmericanCivilWar.com: Dandridge, Tennessee |
Battle of Kingsport
13 December 1864: After battling along the Holston River near the site of the Rotherwood Bridge, a desperately outnumbered Confederate unit led by Col. Richard Morgan surrendered to Union Forces.
Further Links: City of Kingsport: History |
Raid on Greeneville
04 September 1864: The Confederacy had great Cavalries, whose commanders became legendary figures from Major General JEB Stuart to Fightin' Joseph Wheeler to Lieutenant General Nathaniel Bedford Forrest.
Famed Cavalryman, Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan (CSA), under investigation for pillaging, including a possible bank robbery during campaigns conducted in Kentucky, was maneuvering for an assault on Knoxville. He stopped in Greeneville, staying the night at the Dickson-Williams Mansion. A Greeneville boy who had his horse confiscated by Confederate Soldiers earlier in the day, informed the Union Cavalry staying at Bulls Gap of their enemy's whereabouts. The Cavalry unit at Bulls Gap had been mustered a year earlier in 1863 by Rhoderick Butler at the behest of Military Governor Andrew Johnson and with the approval of the Secretary Edwin Stanton. The 13th Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry was made up mostly of men from Upper East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. After thoroughly questioning the boy, the 13th Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry maneuvered overnight from Bulls Gap to Greeneville through a downpour, conducting an early morning raid, handling the Confederate opposition. Having no desire to be returned to a military prison, BG Morgan was shot and killed attempting to escape capture on 04 September 1864, the morning of the raid. His identity was discovered after the fact. Linked below is a memoir written by two veterans of the 13th Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry on the exploits of the unit, as well as information on the Bridge-Burnings. For those seeking further information on the 13th, I also recommend Melanie Storie's account of the unit titled The Dreaded Thirteenth Tennessee Union Cavalry: Marauding Mountain Men. Further Links: CivilWar.org: John Hunt Morgan TNVacation.com: Dickson-Williams Mansion Archive.org: History of the Thirteenth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry, U. S. A. : including a narrative of the bridge burning; the Carter County rebellion, and the loyalty, heroism and suffering of the Union men and women of Carter and Johnson counties, Tennessee, during the Civil War by Samuel Scott & Samuel Angel |
William G. Brownlow
1865: Tennessee Governor during Reconstruction and passage of 14th Amendment
Nicknamed "The Mad Parson," William Brownlow was born in Wythville, VA in 1805, became a Methodist minister and well-traveled circuit rider before taking over a pro-Whig newspaper initially published in the town of Elizabethton, TN, before moving to Jonesborough and then on to Knoxville. Prior to the Civil War, Brownlow advocated for slavery and against secession. With the dissolution of the Whig Party, he became a member of the Know-Nothing Party, continuing his stance for maintaining the status quo in the compromise between the slave-holding and non-slave-holding states. As secession grew louder, the Mad Parson began to shift his argument toward: a slow dissolution of slavery, reimbursement of losses incurred by property-owners, and repatriating the newly freed population back to Africa. Brownlow at this time did not believe it possible for the two races to live together in harmony. After Tennessee seceded, Brownlow remained a vocal critic against the Confederacy, which got his newspaper shut down. He was also arrested and placed in the Knoxville jail, where he was detained for about three weeks before being ostracized from Confederate territory. In a way, he was lucky, many an East Tennessean died in a Confederate prison. However, the jail time, treatment of his family, and other incidents multiplied a profound and fiery hate for the tyrannical occupier of East Tennessee. While in exile, William Brownlow went on speaking tours to drum-up support and donations for the Lincolnites under military occupation in East Tennessee. He, along with others, were successful in creating the image of Southern Appalachians as being strong abolitionists and staunchly pro-Union, an epic mix of fiction and fact. In 1865, with the conclusion of the Civil War, William Brownlow became Governor of Tennessee and served two terms. By this time, Brownlow had become a staunch Republican, no longer a Whig and his public opinion of the newly freed slaves had made a complete one-eighty. The newly Freedmen became an important voting block in Brownlow's coalition in getting re-elected governor and in getting the 14th Amendment passed which spared Tennessee from the harsher years of Reconstruction and allowed for the state to be readmitted into the Union. However, Brownlow's successes were also based on Ex-Confederates and their families being disenfranchised. The Mad Parson had a vendetta against the Ex-Confederates and his vindictive method of dispensing Reconstruction, esp in enfranchising Freedmen has been cited as a major reason for the formation of the Klu Klux Klan in the state of Tennessee. After becoming an US Senator, his coalition fell apart, a loss felt most profoundly by recently enfranchised Freedmen who returned to being disenfranchised, as those who supported the Confederacy returned to positions of power. The Democratic Party returned to being the dominant party for nearly a century in Middle and West Tennessee, bot not East Tennessee. Since the end of the Civil War, East Tennessee has largely voted for the Republican Party. Further Links: Tennessee Encyclopedia: William G. Brownlow TennesseeHistory.com: The Most Hated Man in Tennessee History Project Gutenberg: Portrait and Biography of Parson Brownlow William G. Brownlow: Fighting Parson of the Southern Highlands by E Merton Coulter "Farewell to All Radicals: Redeeming Tennessee, 1869-1870" a dissertation by William E. Hardy |
Warner Institute
1876: The Warner Institute was originally built in 1854 in Jonesborough as a school for women known as the Holston Baptist Female Institute. The building was purchased in 1876 by Yardley Warner, a Quaker, who created the Warner Institute as a school for African-Americans, as well as a school to train African-American teachers. As segregation set in, the Warner Institute became an African-American public school.
Prior to the Civil War, some communities deemed literate slaves to be a phenomena filled with dangerous possibility. So much so many of the slave states had laws prohibiting slaves from learning to read or write, as well as laws against anyone teaching slaves to read. In some instances the penalties were very harsh, possibly death, esp. for slaves and/or free African-Americans. Further Links: TNGenWeb.org: Schools in Washington Academy Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys by Alyssa Sheehan at Prezi.com |
LT A.M. Ray
1890s: The Buffalo Soldiers and a Segregated Army
Born a child of slavery, Alfred Ray enlisted into a then segregated Army and served in the famous African-American Calvary Units known as the Buffalo Soldiers. His service includes service out West, during a time when the Sioux, Comanche, Cheyenne, and others learned the hard way how insecure their territorial borders truly were. His unit was pivotal in taking San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War in 1898. Ray earned a battlefield promotion to the rank of Lieutenant for the courage of his actions. Despite documented gratitude from Theodore Roosevelt and others, the achievements of Ray's unit have been overshadowed by other units, like Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. A Historical Marker has been placed near Lt. Ray's home he bought after returning to Jonesborough. He is buried in downtown Jonesborough, in the African-American section of a then segregated cemetery. The U.S. Armed Forces did not desegregate until Executive Order 9981 was issued by President Harry Truman in 1948. Further Links: National Archives: Buffalo Soldiers Truman Library: Executive Order 9981 Buffalo Soldier Museum: 9th & 10th Cavalry Regiments Tennessee Encyclopedia: Spanish-American War Spanish-American War: 10th U.S. Calvary Roster (F Troop) |
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Mountain Home For Disabled Soldiers
1903: Championed by Congressman Walter Brownlow, the Mountain Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers was one of two facilities built down South after the Civil War. East Tennessee supplied approximately 30,000 Soldiers to the Union, a preponderance of Union Soldiers who volunteered from the South. After the Civil War, the 1st District represented by Walter Brownlow was home to about 18,000 Union Veterans receiving a war pension. For the above reasons, along with some probable wrangling and a smidgen of tenacity, he won the day for the approval of the Mountain Home, just as he had done for other projects like the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery and the Federal Courthouse in Greeneville. His dedication to the Mountain Home was not forgotten, as both Walter Brownlow and his wife were honored by being buried inside Monument Circle in the National Cemetery.
Further Links: NPS.gov: Mountain Home National Cemetery US House of Representatives History: Walter Brownlow Bob Cox's Yesteryear: Walter Brownlow's 1910 Eulogy NPS.gov: Mountain Branch National Historic Landmark Nomination |
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Langston High School1965: Desegregation
In 1965, Johnson City Public Schools desegregated, closing Langston High School. Langston High School opened in 1893 and was the oldest African-American school in Johnson City. Students from Langston were integrated into Science Hill. Kingsport Public Schools desegregated a year later in 1966. Further Links: SonsandDaughtersofDouglas.org: Douglas High School History Johnson City Press: Langston High School Reunion Held Every Two Years Since 1976 by Jennifer Sprouse Tennessee Encyclopedia: Civil Rights Movement by Jimmie Lewis Franklin Waymarking.com: Langston High School |