Civil War

Civil War. Brief Background: After Abraham Lincoln, who was against slavery, became President in 1860, eleven southern states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America. In 1861, after a decade of simmering tension between the northern and southern states over slavery, states' rights, and westward expansion, the War Between the States broke out with the Confederate attack on Ft. Sumpter., What was the Impact? The Civil War was the deadliest war ever fought on American soil, with some 620,000 of 2.4 million soldiers killed. Millions were injured and much of the South left in ruin., What about Jackson County? The Courthouse and several homes in Bellefonte were burned by Union troops, and combat took place at the Battle of Bridgeport and the Scottsboro Skirmish., Did you know? If the Union army failed to take what you had, the Confederate army took it. Also, General Sherman's army wintered in our county, and it was his policy to cripple the enemy by taking enemy property to support the war and burning what he had to leave behind., Factoid: Bridgeport's storage and transfer depot complex and railroad were critical assets during the war - supplies from Nashville were transferred by railroad to steam transports on the Tennessee River to both armies at times., More than 2,000 Jackson County residents served in both the Union and Confederate regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county.