On the eve of Tennessee's secession from the United States in June 1861, future President Andrew Johnson visited Huntsville, Tennessee to urge Scott Countians to remain loyal to the Union. They did, by the largest percentage of any county in the Volunteer State. Then they declared their own secession from Tennessee, proclaiming themselves the Free and Independent State of Scott, and sent hundreds of their fighting-age men north to join the Union army.
Scott County was a haven for lawlessness during the war, a remote and rugged corner of the Cumberland Plateau that held no great significance for either side. Instead, it was left to the mercy of guerrillas bent on making the people pay for their anti-secession stand. But by the end of the war, this seemingly unimportant place had played a distinct and unique role in the outcome of the bloody conflict.
These are the stories of the South's Union enclave: a teenage girl who lost an eye and a finger defending her family home. A famous Welshman who narrowly escaped a hangman's noose. An ill-fated Union regiment. The murders. The prayers. The sacrifices.
