The State of Scott was a

Southern Unionist In the United States, Southern Unionists were white Southerners living in the Confederate States of America and the Southern Border States opposed to secession. Many fought for the Union during the Civil War. These people are also referred t ...

movement in Scott County, Tennessee, in which the county declared itself a "Free and Independent State" following

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

's decision to secede from the United States and align the state with the Confederacy on the eve of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

in 1861. Like much of

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 coun ...

, Scott became an enclave communityAndrews, Evan,
6 Southern Unionist Strongholds During the Civil War
History.com, January 13, 2015. of the Union during the war. Although its edict had never been officially recognized by either the Confederacy or the Union, the county did not officially rescind its act of secession until 1986.

Background

At the time of the secession from the Union, Tennessee's Scott County listed only 61 slaves in residence. It was one of only two counties in the entire state with fewer than 100 slaves. Tennessee was the last state to secede from the Union, in part due to the huge divide in resources and political power between the state's three divisions.

, of which Scott County was a part, was less dependent on slavery than Middle and

West Tennessee West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that roughly comprises the western quarter of the state. The region includes 21 counties between the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, delineated by state law. Its geography consists ...

. Therefore, there was little incentive for the residents of the eastern part of the state to go to war to preserve that socio-economic institution. The people of East Tennessee largely favored an intact Union and wanted minimal government interference in their lives.''Remembering Scott's Defiant Independence''
article; Independent Herald; on-line web-page; accessed July 18, 2020. They held a generally unfavorable view of the rest of the state whose wealthy businessmen and plantation owners wielded political and economic power over the entire state.

History

Secession

In a June 4, 1861, speech delivered on the steps of the Huntsville courthouse, Senator (and future president)

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

—a Democrat and slave holder—stated, "...it is not the free men of the north that ecessionistsare fearing most, but the free men of the South..." Four days later, the people of Scott County voted overwhelmingly (541–19) against Tennessee's referendum on secession from the Union, and later that year the county court voted to approve the Scott County General Assembly's unanimous resolution approving of its own secession from Tennessee. The resolution allowed the immediate formation of the "Independent State of Scott," which established an

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

community whose sympathies remained strongly loyal to the Union throughout, and following, the war.

State response

In response to the State of Scott proclamation of independence, Tennessee Governor Isham Harris quickly gathered 1,700 soldiers to march to Huntsville and put down the "rebellion." Facing extreme resistance, however, the troops were forced to retreat before reaching the capital.

Battle of Huntsville

Because the area was of little strategic value, the mountainous and somewhat isolated State of Scott was not the site of any fighting on a major scale during the Civil War, with the exception of the minor Battle of Huntsville, fought on August 13, 1862.''Scott County, Tennessee; Battle of Huntsville''
Tennessee GenWeb on-line; document: Report of Col. William Clift, Seventh Tennessee Infantry, including operations of his command in East Tennessee, July 1 – October 31; retrieved July 18, 2020 Facing a Confederate force of approximately 2,000 troops and suffering from high levels of desertion and battle attrition, Union commander Colonel William Clift was forced from the town and retreated into the back woods with about 20 remaining men. After the Battle of Huntsville, Clift's reconstituted but ragtag regiment fought more as a

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

unit for much of the rest of the year. The area continued to be torn for some time by guerrilla warfare, bushwhacking, and

skirmish Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to Screening (tactical), screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They may be deployed in a sk ...

ing, which often took on a brutally violent and vicious nature, often between neighbors. Male residents from the area did, however, become the main source of volunteers for the Union’s 7th Regiment Tennessee Volunteer Infantry.

Aftermath

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

received over 90% of the vote in Scott County during both the 1868 United States presidential election and the

1872 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 1872. Incumbent President of the United States, President Ulysses S. Grant, the Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee, easil ...

. The county has voted Republican in virtually every presidential election since, excepting the 1912 election where it voted for the Progressive Party. The proclamation of secession was finally repealed by Scott County in 1986. At the same time, the county petitioned the state of Tennessee for readmission, which was ceremonially granted, even though its secession had not been recognized by the state—nor the federal governments of either the Union or the Confederacy.History of Scott County, Tennessee
Retrieved at Web Archive February 16, 2013.

Roadside marker

A roadside marker on State Route 63, near the county seat, Huntsville, reads: