Chapter 1:
- Formal secession from the United States— Union with the Confederate States -- preparation for war -- organization of troops— General Polk in command -- occupation of Columbus -- battle of Belmont.
In June, 1796, the Congress of the United States passed an act, approved by President George Washington, providing that, ‘The State of Tennessee is hereby declared to be one of the sixteen United States of America.’ The framers of the constitution under which admission to the Federal Union was secured, were such men as Andrew Jackson, James Robertson, William Blount, Archibald Roane, John Tipton and their associate delegates, men who were conspicuous for their love of liberty and who had attested their devotion to it at King Mountain. John Sevier, one of the heroes of that famous battle, was the first governor of the new State. Under the political leadership of these men and their successors, the love of religious and political freedom, and patriotic devotion to the State and to the Federal Union, characterized the people of Tennessee, without regard to party alliance. This devotion found practical illustration in the war of 1812, in the Indian wars, and in the war with Mexico. The people of Tennessee were descended from North Carolina and Virginia families, many of their own descendants had become citizens of Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas, and their kith and kin were in large numbers in all the States of the Union. Their love for the fatherland, for their own children and kindred, grew apace, and in time this became their paramount faith. But aggression followed aggression upon
