Tennessee in the American Civil War was one of the most divided states in the country at the outset of the war. Before the bombardment of Fort Sumter, Tennessee was staunchly pro-Union, though there were still a few secessionist hot beds in the western and middle portion of the state. The situation rapidly changed when Fort Sumter was bombarded and Lincoln made the call for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion. Tennesseans saw this as a threat to their "southern brethren," and though Tennessee voted to secede, there were still areas scattered all over state that had strong Union sympathies. The areas Unionism was most prominent
Photographers of the American Civil War April 14, 1861, Osborn would visit the fort and its surrounds on at least two occasions, taking at least 43 stereo images of the battle's aftermath, in what is the largest known group of Confederate images of the war, and which is considered the most comprehensive photographic record of a Civil War engagement ever made. Today, thirty-nine are known to exist. Their friendship would outlast their Charleston business however, which the war and damaging fires had brought to an end by February 1862. Then, in September 1863, in response to Gen. Thomas Jordan's desire to document what "Southern troops could