The
Tennessee Civil War experience
On
October 7-9, 1890, thousands of Union and Confederate veterans
from across the nation thronthe streets of Knoxville. Putting
the bitterness of the Civil War behind them, the former soldiers
celebrated their unity as citzens of one nation.
It was appropriate that Tennessee should be
the site of the nation's first Blue-Gray Reunion. The last
state to join the Confederacy, the first to rejoin the Union,
Tennessee furnished more men to the Union army than all other
southern states combined and was second only to virginia in
the number of men who fought for the confederacy. more battles
were fought on Tennessee soil than in any other state (except
virginia), with some 66,000 Confederates and 58,000 Federals
killed or wounded here and many more dying of disease and
malnutrition.
The Tennessee Civial War experience was as varied
as igeography. From raging battles and occupying armies to
bushwhakers and divided families, the stories of Tennessee's
Civil War families mirrored the national tragedy. Equally
dramatic were the stories of the hundreds of thousands of
solfiers from other states who fought here. Thankfully, most
survived the conflict to return to their homes in New York,
North Dakota, Alabama, and elsewhere, but others lost their
lives here; many are buried here.
From the Tennesseeans who defended their native
land and those who fought in distant battles, to the hundreds
of thousands of solidiers from other states who fought in
Tennessee, each is an essential part of the Tennessee story.
Individually and collectively, they comprise the state's Civil
War history, one family at a time.
"Their memories we hold in equal reverence
whether they died beneath the beloved banner of the south
or fell under the shadow of the stars and stripes. Those who
returned we hold in equal honor whether they marched home
with shouts of victory or plodded their weary way with their
paroles in their pockets."
-Knoxville Daily Tribune, October 7, 1890
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