Civil War Trails

A great way to tour the area is to follow the Tennessee Civil War Trails, a historic marker program that identifies both great campaigns and lesser-known Civil War places. TheTrail includes interpretive markers and an online statewide driving tour, and links Tennessee’s sites to Trails programs in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. Sites in and near Carter County include: Roan Mountain State Park, where Samuel P. Carter, a Union general, raised troops in the area and participated in burning railroadbridges in the area. Elizabethton, near the home of Admiral and General Samuel P Carter, the only officer to wear two stars in both the U.S. Army and Navy. Carter remained with the Union when war broke out and served in east Tennessee. He later commanded the XXIII Corps during the 1863 Knoxville Campaign. Here turned to naval service after the war. Blountville Three Tennessee Civil War Trails signs describe the action here at the Battle of Blountville Sept. 22, 1863, during a battle for control of the vital Virginia and Tennessee Railroad.

Trail signs are located at the Union and Confederate positions and at the Sullivan County Courthouse, the interior of which was burned during this action.Other related Blountville sites are at the Old Deery Inn site at 3400 Block of Highway 126, and Cannonball House at 3382 Highway 126, in Blountville. Women and children sought shelter at the Old Deery Inn when the fighting broke out. One early historian wrote that they were in more danger than the soldiers. The Cannonball House house stood between the lines as fighting swirled around it during the battle.

While many buildings in the area were destroyed, this one survived, still bearing the scars of the battle. In Johnson City, the Tipton-Haynes Historic Site was the home of Landon Carter Haynes, a Confederate senator and supporter of states’ rights in an area laced with strong pro-Union sentiment. He served in the Confederate congress 1862-1865. After the war he was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson but moved away, fearing reprisals from local citizens.