Existing comment:
"Tennessee will not furnish a single man for the purpose of coercion, but 50,000 if necessary for the defense of our rights and those of our Southern brothers."
-- Tennessee Governor Isham Harris to US Secretary of War Simon Cameron, April 17, 1861
Raising Local Troops:
Even before Fort Campbell, Montgomery County had a long history of training troops. Tennesseans trained at Camps Duncan and Quarles, while Kentucky Confederates trained at Camps Boone and Burnett. In April 1861, volunteer companies formed to protect Clarksville and the state. Captain William A. Forbes formed a company from Stewart College, which became part of the 14th Tennessee Infantry. Other companies joined that regiment as well as the 49th and 50th Tennessee Infantry. The Montgomery Heavy Artillery defended Clarksville's forts. Area troops fought from Gettysburg to Atlanta to Vicksburg. William A. Quarles and William McComb, two Clarksville men, became Confederate generals. |