“That the Legislature of the State, without having first obtained the consent of the people, had no authority to enter a ‘Military League’ with the ‘Confederate States’ against the General Government, and by so doing to put the State of Tennessee in hostile array against the Government of which it then was and still is a member. Such legislation is in advance of the expressed will of the people to change their governmental relations, was an act of usurpation, and should be visited with the severest condemnation of the people.”
This report was unanimously adopted by the Convention and ordered to be printed, so that it might be circulated among the voters of the State. Before the Convention adjourned it was addressed by Andrew Johnson. According to a contemporary report, “he spoke for three hours and commanded earnest attention throughout his entire speech.”
In the election of June 8th, the vote of East Tennessee stood: 14,780, separation; 39,923, no separation; 14,601, representation; 32,962, no representation.
Nine days after the election, a second Convention of Union men assembled at Greenville. Two hundred and ninety-nine delegates were present. Many of them were in favor of forming at once a Provisional Government and organizing an army, but after a heated discussion more moderate counsel prevailed. A Declaration of Grievances was drawn up by the same committee that had prepared the address to the people adopted by the Knoxville Convention. A new committee was appointed to prepare and present a memorial to the State Legislature, asking its consent to the formation of a new State to be composed of East Tennessee and such counties in Middle Tennessee as desired to coöperate to that end. But before this committee had an opportunity to present the memorial to the Legislature the Confederate Government had put it beyond the power of Tennessee to act in the matter by organizing East Tennessee into a military department, and placing General Zolicoffer in supreme command. His presence in Knoxville with several regiments of soldiers prevented any further steps towards the formation of a new State hostile to the Confederacy.
There was at first no disposition on the part of the Confederate authorities to deal harshly with the loyal inhabitants of East Tennessee, or to coerce them into the Confederate army. They were allowed to remain undisturbed in their ordinary occupations. The general leniency with which they were treated is shown by the fact that Mr. Brownlow was allowed to continue the publication of the Knoxville Whig, although every issue contained editorials denouncing the action of Governor Harris and the Legislature as treason and rebellion. This peaceful policy was rudely disturbed by an act of the Union men themselves. On the night of the eighth of November, an organized conspiracy was partially carried out by the bands of Union men, to burn the bridges of the East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Railway. The bridges over the Hiwassee River, Lick Creek, and three other streams were destroyed. That one over the Holston River at Strawberry Plains was saved by the bravery of the watchmen.
This attempt at bridge-burning created the utmost alarm and excitement. The East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Railway was the main artery which connected Richmond with the southwest. Thousand of troops were being hurried over it daily in order to reach Richmond in time to defend it from McClellan’s advances. The road traversed the whole eastern part of the State, and on account of its extent could not be properly patrolled. Extraordinary measures must thereupon be resorted to, in order to keep open this important line of communication, and protect the lives of the soldiers from the terrible disaster which would have resulted from the secret destruction of the bridges.
On the 25th of November, the Confederate Secretary of War, Mr. Benjamin, sent the following orders to Colonel Wood, who was in command of the troops at Knoxville:
“All such as can be identified in having been engaged in bridge-burning are to be tried summarily by drum-head court-martial, and if found guilty, executed on the spot by hanging. It would be well to leave their bodies hanging in the vicinity of the burned bridges.”
This order was vigorously executed. A number of persons suspected of complicity in the bridge-burning were seized, and after a summary trial were executed in the manner suggested by the Secretary of War. Martial law was proclaimed, and the meetings of Union men forcibly dispersed.
As a result of these measures there now began a general exodus of the able-bodied Union men. In small bands they crossed over the mountains into Kentucky. Many of them joined the Federal army, and rendered valuable service. Others formed camps safely within the Union lines, and quietly awaited the termination of the war. Their most prominent leaders made tours of the Northern cities, and raised funds for their support. Boston alone contributed over one hundred thousand dollars to this purpose.[8] Vast crowds listened to the eloquent appeals of these exiled loyalists, and the impression became general in the North that the Southern authorities were treating the loyal mountaineers of East Tennessee with the most savage cruelty. Edward Everett, in a brilliant oration, compared them with followers of William Tell and the slaughtered saints of Piedmont.