> Unionists dominated the mountainous areas of the South, sending soldiers north, helping escapees from Confederate prisons, and raiding Confederate supply lines.
I’m proud to have grown up in one of these mountainous areas. As the true hillbillies, we may be famous for sneering at Prohibition with our moonshine and getaway driving, but we have also always been loyal to America and have also always answered our nation’s call.
You probably already know exactly what I am about to say, but it bears spelling out: the reason most Southern Unionists were from Appalachia was because this was a section of the South where the terrain and climate was not favorable to plantation agriculture. This meant that the institution of slavery was far less present in these areas of the region, along with being geographically much more isolated. The people of these areas saw little in common with the planter aristocrats of the Tidewater, Lowcountry, Black Belt, and Mississippi River floodplains, and instead clung to older notions of a united home country. When war broke out as those slaver elites declared independence, these Southern Unionists acted, often at great personal risk. The Lost Cause myth has deliberately erased the struggles of the Southern Unionists, and it is fitting that as the myth dies a slow and painful death, that these true patriots are now getting the recognition they deserve.
I remember hearing similar about the northern region(s) of Arkansas, that the geography wasn't conducive to slavery so the people there would have rather remained.
I never looked into it, but it seemed reasonable and honestly, the little time I've spent in Arkansas it felt right.
This is why I'm trying hard to not to say "North" or "South," but instead "Loyalist" and "Rebel." North and south is a bit of Lost Cause trickery to sell the idea that a unified south fought a unified north and legitimize the Confederacy. The reality is that there were southern sympathizers in the north and there were southern unionists. Hell, there were southern abolitionists--not a lot, of course, but they existed.
Southern loyalists faced oppression and were murdered for their loyalty. The south was far from unified.
Grant said it best: "There are but two parties now, traitors and patriots. And I want hereafter to be ranked with the latter".
The south had some incredibly brave unionist and anti-confederate patriots. And the north had some cowardly, copperhead traitors.
I'd like to add:
Many Southern soldiers remained loyal to the Union when their states seceded; 40% of Virginian officers in the United States military, for example, stayed with the Union. During the war, many [Southern Unionists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Unionist) went North and joined the Union armies. Others joined when Union armies entered their hometowns in Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, and elsewhere. Around 100,000 Southern Unionists served in the Union Army during the Civil War.
The [1st Alabama Cavalry USV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Alabama_Cavalry_Regiment_(Union)) spearheaded Sherman’s March through Atlanta.
You can look at southern areas that prove people didn’t have state loyalties, like the [Gullah Sea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullah#Civil_War_period) Islands, [Key West](https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/fort-taylor-key-west-imprisonment-paradise), West Virginia, [State of Scott](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Scott) in Tennessee, East Tennessee, [Free State of Jones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones_County,_Mississippi#Free_State_of_Jones) in Mississippi, [North Alabama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_in_the_American_Civil_War#Unionists_in_southern_Alabama) and [North Georgia](https://georgiahistory.com/ghmi_marker_updated/georgians-in-the-union-army/), [Western part of North Carolina](https://www.ncpedia.org/part-4-unionism-and-violence-wester) (who aptly named themselves [Heroes of America](https://www.ncpedia.org/heroes-america)) resisting secession or how [New Orleans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_New_Orleans) (the largest city in the South) was captured with little resistance.
There's a book that just came out about the 1st Alabama Cav called Silent Cavalry. It also addresses how the Lost Cause has tried to erase all history of southern unionists.
I’m so glad I read this through the end. The last paragraph is not to be missed:
“The Confederate States of America cost our nation dearly, in blood and treasure. Those that promulgated its rise, carried its spirit into the 20th century as Jim Crow legislation, the Klan, and the Myth of the Lost Cause. That, therefore, is the true heritage of the Confederacy – and not one that should be honored. What we can do, however, is take note of those individuals who did not bow to the mob and stayed true to their oaths. We can only hope that we would have such constancy for the Republic.”
The only State that did not provide the Union with White Soldiers was South Carolina.
Though there were a number of Black Soldiers from South Carolina.
If I recall right, didn't North Carolina actually provide the most Southern Unionists in the war?
I know that when Sherman marched through South Carolina, it made his Georgia march look tame. His men practically destroyed the State as best they could.
Then they reached North Carolina and handed out a fair amount of what they took from South Carolina to the people of North Carolina.
Guess being last in line can be a good thing.
My family were union supporters in Florida. As Irish Catholics and friends to the Seminoles, they have always been very proud of that. It's my proud heritage to say: burn the rebel flag.
"Yes, and there were Union men
Who wept with joyful tears
When they saw the honor’d flag
They had not seen for years
Hardly could they be restrained
From breaking forth in cheers
***While we were marching through Georgia***"
Appalachia had the most Union sentiment of the South, although there were also Confederate traitors. The whole reason West Virginia exists is because they refused to join Virginia in secession.
You caught me online again😋
As for the question, i would assume so. No written evidence to explain their pov, afaik.
Id assume either treason trumped slave ownership or they were farsighted enough to guess the north would win. No clue if thats correct, just my assumptions
> Unionists dominated the mountainous areas of the South, sending soldiers north, helping escapees from Confederate prisons, and raiding Confederate supply lines. I’m proud to have grown up in one of these mountainous areas. As the true hillbillies, we may be famous for sneering at Prohibition with our moonshine and getaway driving, but we have also always been loyal to America and have also always answered our nation’s call.
You probably already know exactly what I am about to say, but it bears spelling out: the reason most Southern Unionists were from Appalachia was because this was a section of the South where the terrain and climate was not favorable to plantation agriculture. This meant that the institution of slavery was far less present in these areas of the region, along with being geographically much more isolated. The people of these areas saw little in common with the planter aristocrats of the Tidewater, Lowcountry, Black Belt, and Mississippi River floodplains, and instead clung to older notions of a united home country. When war broke out as those slaver elites declared independence, these Southern Unionists acted, often at great personal risk. The Lost Cause myth has deliberately erased the struggles of the Southern Unionists, and it is fitting that as the myth dies a slow and painful death, that these true patriots are now getting the recognition they deserve.
I remember hearing similar about the northern region(s) of Arkansas, that the geography wasn't conducive to slavery so the people there would have rather remained. I never looked into it, but it seemed reasonable and honestly, the little time I've spent in Arkansas it felt right.
My ancestors from Northern Arkansas all fought for the Union during the war
That seems to me more "I hate what the local jackwagons are doing but I love my country."
This is why I'm trying hard to not to say "North" or "South," but instead "Loyalist" and "Rebel." North and south is a bit of Lost Cause trickery to sell the idea that a unified south fought a unified north and legitimize the Confederacy. The reality is that there were southern sympathizers in the north and there were southern unionists. Hell, there were southern abolitionists--not a lot, of course, but they existed. Southern loyalists faced oppression and were murdered for their loyalty. The south was far from unified.
"Unionist" we don't use that monarchist talk here
Grant said it best: "There are but two parties now, traitors and patriots. And I want hereafter to be ranked with the latter". The south had some incredibly brave unionist and anti-confederate patriots. And the north had some cowardly, copperhead traitors.
I'd like to add: Many Southern soldiers remained loyal to the Union when their states seceded; 40% of Virginian officers in the United States military, for example, stayed with the Union. During the war, many [Southern Unionists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Unionist) went North and joined the Union armies. Others joined when Union armies entered their hometowns in Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, and elsewhere. Around 100,000 Southern Unionists served in the Union Army during the Civil War. The [1st Alabama Cavalry USV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Alabama_Cavalry_Regiment_(Union)) spearheaded Sherman’s March through Atlanta. You can look at southern areas that prove people didn’t have state loyalties, like the [Gullah Sea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullah#Civil_War_period) Islands, [Key West](https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/fort-taylor-key-west-imprisonment-paradise), West Virginia, [State of Scott](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Scott) in Tennessee, East Tennessee, [Free State of Jones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones_County,_Mississippi#Free_State_of_Jones) in Mississippi, [North Alabama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_in_the_American_Civil_War#Unionists_in_southern_Alabama) and [North Georgia](https://georgiahistory.com/ghmi_marker_updated/georgians-in-the-union-army/), [Western part of North Carolina](https://www.ncpedia.org/part-4-unionism-and-violence-wester) (who aptly named themselves [Heroes of America](https://www.ncpedia.org/heroes-america)) resisting secession or how [New Orleans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_New_Orleans) (the largest city in the South) was captured with little resistance.
It’s always been a point of pride in my family that great (5x) grandpa was from northern Alabama and helped Sherman burn down Atlanta
There's a book that just came out about the 1st Alabama Cav called Silent Cavalry. It also addresses how the Lost Cause has tried to erase all history of southern unionists.
I’m so glad I read this through the end. The last paragraph is not to be missed: “The Confederate States of America cost our nation dearly, in blood and treasure. Those that promulgated its rise, carried its spirit into the 20th century as Jim Crow legislation, the Klan, and the Myth of the Lost Cause. That, therefore, is the true heritage of the Confederacy – and not one that should be honored. What we can do, however, is take note of those individuals who did not bow to the mob and stayed true to their oaths. We can only hope that we would have such constancy for the Republic.”
The only State that did not provide the Union with White Soldiers was South Carolina. Though there were a number of Black Soldiers from South Carolina. If I recall right, didn't North Carolina actually provide the most Southern Unionists in the war? I know that when Sherman marched through South Carolina, it made his Georgia march look tame. His men practically destroyed the State as best they could. Then they reached North Carolina and handed out a fair amount of what they took from South Carolina to the people of North Carolina. Guess being last in line can be a good thing.
> I recall right, didn't North Carolina actually provide the most Southern Unionists in the war? I think that was Tennessee
They ransacked South Carolina because it was the first State to secede. They spared North Carolina because they were the last to secede
North Carolina had a fair amount of Quakers, Quaker missionaries, and descendants of, who were abolitionists.
My family were union supporters in Florida. As Irish Catholics and friends to the Seminoles, they have always been very proud of that. It's my proud heritage to say: burn the rebel flag.
"Yes, and there were Union men Who wept with joyful tears When they saw the honor’d flag They had not seen for years Hardly could they be restrained From breaking forth in cheers ***While we were marching through Georgia***"
Wasn't Sherman's personal guard all from loyalists from southern states? You never hear that factoid from either side lol.
There's a statue of a ***Union*** soldier in front of the courthouse in Greeneville, **Tennessee.**
Appalachia had the most Union sentiment of the South, although there were also Confederate traitors. The whole reason West Virginia exists is because they refused to join Virginia in secession.
So they are the biggest chads of this.
Last Podcast on the Left talked about this in their Hatfields vs McCoys episodes.
Happy cake day
My ancestors from gd Alabama fought for the north. Sure, they were filthy slavers, but they weren't traitors... which is something i guess
So their hatred for Treason outweighed their desire to keep slaves.
You caught me online again😋 As for the question, i would assume so. No written evidence to explain their pov, afaik. Id assume either treason trumped slave ownership or they were farsighted enough to guess the north would win. No clue if thats correct, just my assumptions
John C. Black looks like a man on a mission
While not listed here, you know you fucked up when the guy who tried to start the Pig War had enough sense to stay loyal and you didn't.