The devastation of the
Civil War in Tennessee was profound. The economic gains of the 1850s
were erased, and farm production and property values would not reach
their 1860 levels again until 1900. Tennessee never regained its former
economic importance or its foremost place in the nation’s councils
of power. At war’s end, on the other hand, 275,000 Tennesseans
formerly enslaved were no longer anyone’s property.
The human costs
of the conflict were considerable. The ‘butcher’s bill’
for battles fought on Tennessee soil came to approximately 66,000
Confederates and 58,000 Federal soldiers killed and wounded. Many
more than these 124,000 died of disease, malnutrition, or other causes.
Two of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War (Shiloh and Stone’s
River) were fought in Tennessee, and a third (Chickamauga) took place
just over the state line. In 1870, the state’s population of
young men had remained static or even declined from prewar levels
due to war-related mortality.
For the many
Tennesseans in the Army of Tennessee, the phrase "defending your
homes" was taken quite literally. Most of Tennessee’s Confederate
enlistees had the distinction of fighting on home soil to contest
the invasion of their state. This may account for the extraordinary
tenacity with which this army fought.
Tennessee experienced
the nineteenth century version of ‘total war,’ in the sense
that all the resources and people of the state – civilians and
soldiers alike – were engaged in or affected by the war. The
civilian populace was subjected to military rule by both sides, with
its attendant burdens of foraging, loyalty oaths, and stealing. A
vicious cycle of bushwhacking and hanging characterized martial law
in some areas. Animosities engendered by four years of military occupation
and guerilla fighting ensured that Tennessee would go through a long,
contentious recovery from the war.
Tennessee’s
divided character made it a laboratory of political reform after the
war. Her strong Unionist faction, which had been nurtured under Federal
occupation, proceeded to abolish slavery, ratify the Reconstruction
amendments to the Constitution, and return Tennessee to the Union
earlier than any other ex-Confederate state. The state also served
as an arena of social experimentation. The widespread conversion of
Tennessee freedmen into soldiers of the USCT was a key element in
dismantling the prewar system of slavery. The sacrifices of African-American
troops legitimized the former slave’s claim to a full share in
postwar society. These first steps toward emancipation and citizenship,
along with the place of honor accorded veterans in their communities,
were the most hopeful legacy of the Civil War in Tennessee.
