By the election in June it was decided that the state should send representatives to the Confederate Congress. The election of these representatives was set for the first Thursday in August, the day on which foremerly Federal Congressmen had been chosen. In the four districts of East Tennessee the people would not vote for the Confederate candidates, but nominated and elected men to go to Washington. In the First District Thomas A. R. Nelson was elected, but on his way to Washington he was captured by Virginia Home Guards and taken to Richmond, where he was induced to swear to do nothing against the South if allowed to remain at home unmolested. Horace Maynard was elected in the Second District by a large majority, said to be 10,000,' and was promptly admitted to a seat at the opening of Congress in December. The Confederate candidates in these two districts acknowledged their defeat and declined seats in the Confederate Congress. The Union candidates in the Third and Fourth Districts, Mr. Bridges and Dr. Clements, were opposed by Messrs. Welcker and De Witt respectively. Here the vote was more equally divided. Welcker and De Witt claimed that they were the only candidates legally before the people, and they were admitted to seats in the Confederate Congress. Dr. Clements made his way to Washington and his case was referred to the committee on elections, which reported unanimously that they found in it the essentials of an election. The House adopted the report without debate and Dr. Clements was qualified January 13, 1862. Mr. Bridges presented his credentials to Congress Feb. 23, 1863, within a week of the close of the session. For a year and a half he had been a prisoner in his own house and escaped to Washington by means of the underground railway. The House admitted him to a seat without referring his case to the committee.*

The action of the people of East Tennessee so alarmed Governor Harris that he requested. President Davis to send 14,000 additional troops into that part of the state. time Union men were suppressed into silence or hunted from

From

this

the state. Many thousands left the state and joined the Union army in Kentucky.

So much of the history of this movement in East Tennessee has seemed necessary to an adequate understanding of the subsequent history. But it would lead us too far from our present purpose to go into the reign of confusion and terror which prevailed in that section during the next two years. The Confederates held the region till the fall of 1863. How they were finally dislodged will be referred to in a subsequent chapter.

The remaining history of Tennessee under the Secession Government is military rather than political. The Legislature which met in adjourned session June 20, suspended the civil courts and the sale of property under execution, made it a crime to hold Federal office, wiped from the statutes all reference to the United States, and all penalties for offenses against the same; authorized the enrollment in the state militia of all free colored males between the ages of 15 and 50; placed the resources of the state, both men and money, in the hands of the Governor, and adjourned sine die July Ist. The Secession Legislature, elected in August, held three short sessions, but did nothing of a political nature.*

2

6

Military preparations were in the hands of Governor Harris, who bent every effort toward the organization of the army and the collection of stores. By July 20, the state had expended $2,225,890," and had equipped 22,000 troops. The command of this force was turned over July 31 to General Leonidas Polk, C. S. A.,' then in command of the Confederate forces in the state. By September the state had already spent $5,000,000 on the army and had received nothing from the Confederacy," and this is only the beginning. On September 21, General A. S. Johnston made a requisition on Governor Harris for 30,000 additional troops equipped for the Con. federate service.10 The Governor immediately issued his proclamaFor an account of these events see Hume's Loyal Mountaineers, also Brownlow's Book, pp. 258-370.

I.

2.

Acts 2d. ex-sess. '61, p. 73.

Oct. to Nov., '61; Jan. 20 to Feb. 10, '62; Feb. 20 to Mar. 20, '62.
R. R. S. I., Vol. IV., p. 367.

Ibid, p. 373.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Ibid, p. 372.

7.

Ibid, p. 368 and 385.

8.

Ibid, p. 431.

9. Ibid, p. 402.

IO.

Ibid, p. 417.

tion for the mobilization of the militia and the purchase or seizure of all the arms in the state.

The active preparations of Tennessee and the presence of large armies on the border greatly alarmed the people of Kentucky, and the Governor of that state asked Governor Harris for some assurance that Kentucky would not be invaded. Accordingly a treaty was made between the states, in which Governor Harris promised that no troops should cross the line except by the invitation of the Governor of Kentucky. But the Confederate Government denied the power of Governor Harris to make such a treaty, and overrode the 'sovereignity” of Tennessee.' The reason for this was soon seen when Gen. Polk was ordered to seize and fortify the Kentucky towns on the Mississippi. In September, Bowling Green was captured by General Buckner, and in October General Zollicoffer was ordered to advance into Kentucky from East Tennessee. In the same month Forts Henry and Donelson were fortified and garrisoned. Up to the beginning of 1862, all efforts to dislodge the Confederates from Columbus had failed, and at that time Tennessee lay seemingly secure behind a line of Confederate defences extending from Cumberland Gap to the Mississippi River. On January 18, however, this line was broken by the defeat of General Zollicoffer at Mill Springs. February 6, Fort Henry was evacuated and ten days later Fort Donelson surrendered. The Confederate forces hastily evacuated Kentucky and Middle Tennessee, and the State Government fled to Memphis. Governor Harris, calling the Legislature to meet there, made a great effort to arouse the people to repel the invaders. General Grant advanced up the Tennessee River and General Buell occupied Nashville, and advanced southward to Alabama. The Legislature fearing capture adjourned sine die, March 20, and took refuge with Governor Harris in Mississippi behind the Confederate lines. The Secession Government of Tennessee was at an end. I. Louisville Journal, July 20, 1861.

CHAPTER II.

MILITARY GOVERNMENT.

With the retreat of the Confederate army after the surrender of Fort Donelson, and the fight of the State Government from Nashville, a territory embracing 30,000 square miles was opened to Federal occupation, and a population of 1,000,000 souls was left without government and in imminent danger of a slave insurrection. The establishment of some sort of government was absolutely necessary. To meet the emergency, President Lincoln, March 3, appointed Senator Andrew Johnson, a former governor of Tennessee, Military Governor, with the rank of brigadier-general. The military title was to indicate the nature of his appointment as well as the character of his work. His government was to be a military government, which was at that time a term unknown to the history and laws, both of the state and of the nation.

In international law the right to institute a military government is a right of every nation making war.' It is the exercise of hostilities without unnecessary force. But the government established in Tennessee and other Southern States was not exactly of the sort contemplated by international law. It was a quasi-civil government intended to show the people that the object of the war was to maintain the national supremacy, and that all measures were being used to facilitate the return of the people to their former allegiance. To this end the Federal Government sought so far as possible to treat all persons as citizens of a common country. The character of the government, both in theory and practice, was as mild as circumstances would permit. To permit a people in such a condition to be governed in a regular manner by statutes and codes, to give them officers able and willing to abide by existing laws, made by those whom they were to govern, was an act of magI. 4 Wall, 142.

2.

3 Coldwell, 554.

3. Letter of Lincoln to Johnson, Nicholay & Hay, Vol. VI., p. 350. 4. R. R. S. I., Vol. VI., p. 717.

nanimity on the part of the Federal Government. Such a government, although founded on military power, conferred rights upon the people which they would not otherwise have enjoyed, and protected them from unnecessary hardships. But, it required two sets of officers with overlapping powers which often led to conflicts and delays, and from a purely military point of view, the Military Governor could well have been dispensed with. The purpose of the government, however, was largely political. A helping hand was thereby to be given to the people to return to their allegiance under civil government. Besides, though the Governor was at times an embarrassment to the generals, he was, as a rule, useful to them in relieving them of civil duties.

The appointment of Governor Johnson, although based on the laws of war, was in strict accord with the Crittenden resolutions of July 22, 1861, which were supposed to embody the wishes of Congress on the subject.' It was an important step in a consistent policy which these resolutions set forth and whose success many things favored so long as President Lincoln lived. Perhaps, also, the appointment of a Military Governor was not an extra-constitutional act. The Constitution makes it the duty of the President to suppress insurrection, and guarantees to every state a Republican form of government. The first object had been accomplished by the army. The second could only be performed by a union of civil and military powers in one person.

It was the wish of President Lincoln that Governor Johnson should be as far as possible a real governor. In all ordinary cases he was to govern by the laws of the state. Only in extraordinary cases was he to use his military power. In not a few cases, however, he was compelled to use force, but usually with such moderation and discretion as greatly to strengthen the Union cause. His duties were manifold, as may be seen from the following summary: He put the press and pulpit under military supervision, required all municipal officers to take the oath of allegiance, levied contributions on the wealthy for the benefit of the poor, levied and collected taxes for the benefit of the state, took military control of certain railroads and built others for military purposes, raised and equipped troops, issued military proclamations, declared the civil law in force in certain parts of the state and appointed officers of all grades to execute it, issued proclamations for elections, and gave advice to the people on all sorts of questions touching the re-organization of the state.

The appointment of Governor Johnson to this important office Crittenden Resolution, July 22, 1861.

I.

2.

U. S. Const., Art. IV., Sec. 4.

3. Letter to Johnson, Oct. 21, 1862, Nicholay & Hay, VI., p. 350.