From the wikipedia entry on the History of Tennessee
[Why the hell didn't they teach us this in school?]
East Tennessee was a stronghold of Unionism; most slaves were house servants--luxuries--rather than the base of plantation operations. Dominant mood strongly opposed secession.[17] Tennesseans representing twenty-six East Tennessee counties met twice in Greeneville and Knoxville and agreed to secede from Tennessee. They petitioned the state legislature in Nashville, which denied their request to secede and sent Confederate troops under Felix Zollicoffer to occupy East Tennessee and prevent secession.
East Tennessee thus came under Confederate control, 1861-63. Neverthelless it supplied significant numbers of troops to the Federal army. (See also Nickajack). Many East Tennesseans engaged in guerrilla warfare against state authorities by burning bridges, cutting telegraph wires, and spying for the North.[18] East Tennessee became an early base for the Republican Party* in the South. Strong support for the Union challenged the Confederate commanders who controlled East Tennessee for most of the war. Generals Felix K. Zollicoffer, Edmund Kirby Smith, and Sam Jones oscillated between harsh measures and conciliatory gestures to gain support, but had little success whether they arrested hundreds of Unionist leaders or allowed men to escape the Confederate draft. Union forces finally captured the region in 1863.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_in_the_American_Civil_War
*At that time, the Republican party was federalist and anti-slavery, pro-civil rights, and in general very progressive.
East Tennessee was a stronghold of Unionism; most slaves were house servants--luxuries--rather than the base of plantation operations. Dominant mood strongly opposed secession.[17] Tennesseans representing twenty-six East Tennessee counties met twice in Greeneville and Knoxville and agreed to secede from Tennessee. They petitioned the state legislature in Nashville, which denied their request to secede and sent Confederate troops under Felix Zollicoffer to occupy East Tennessee and prevent secession.
East Tennessee thus came under Confederate control, 1861-63. Neverthelless it supplied significant numbers of troops to the Federal army. (See also Nickajack). Many East Tennesseans engaged in guerrilla warfare against state authorities by burning bridges, cutting telegraph wires, and spying for the North.[18] East Tennessee became an early base for the Republican Party* in the South. Strong support for the Union challenged the Confederate commanders who controlled East Tennessee for most of the war. Generals Felix K. Zollicoffer, Edmund Kirby Smith, and Sam Jones oscillated between harsh measures and conciliatory gestures to gain support, but had little success whether they arrested hundreds of Unionist leaders or allowed men to escape the Confederate draft. Union forces finally captured the region in 1863.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_in_the_American_Civil_War
*At that time, the Republican party was federalist and anti-slavery, pro-civil rights, and in general very progressive.