The Lewis County Historical Society was given an interesting talk by Doug Dewitt, a military historian, about Lewis County’s involvement in the Civil War. He asserted that there were no more dedicated and brave soldiers than those from Lewis County who contributed mightily to the cause. Of all the states in the South, Tennessee sent the second most number of people to fight- 135,000. At the beginning of the war there were 518 voting age men in the county, 400 volunteering to go, but by the end there were no men of voting age.

Tennessee was mixed in the decision to leave the Union. The East vot...