Mr. Land,

The regiment was formed from counties that were predominately mountainous and arguably pro-Union. Sequatchie County only had one Confederate company and no pure Federal organization but people that joined as small groups.

The area was not under permanent Federal control until the fall of 1863. Wheeler's raid (forces) was in the valley for only about twelve hours on October 2, 1863. From August 1863 until October 2nd, it was firmly in Federal hands. After this point in time, the valley was no longer under effective Confederate control for the rest of the war. I haven't seen a lot of evidence that Confederate civil authority had much control of the country in the months leading up to it.

Jesse is shown in his compiled military service record as having deserted on September 8, 1862. William's shows he was absent without leave on July 17, 1863 and he appears to have been at home on sick leave long prior to this date. Families in the mountains often hid their deserting relatives to prevent them from returning to the ranks. It was a huge issue in East Tennessee, North Georgia, Northeast Alabama, and Western North Carolina.

Two books I recommend to you are "Mountain Partisans: Guerrilla Warfare in the Southern Appalachians, 1861-1865" by Sean Michael O'Brien and "War at Every Door: Partisan Politics & Guerrilla Violence in East Tennessee, 1860-1869" by Noel C. Fisher. It will show you a much different picture that is portrayed by some today that everyone was waving the Bonnie Blue Flag from beginning to end of the war. Good scholarly work and especially important since a lot of the stories were not passed down by either side in the post-bellum years.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

V/R

Gerald D. Hodge, Jr.
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired)
M.A. Military History - Civil War Concentration
Research - Preservation
Historian: 39th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment
http://39thgavolinfrgt.homestead.com/39thHomepage.html
Athens, Tennessee