Pulaski, Tennessee the vicinity of Pulaski was the site of a number of skirmishes during the Franklin–Nashville Campaign. Union troops occupied the state from 1862. In 1863, Confederate courier Sam Davis was hanged in Pulaski by the Union Army on suspicion of espionage. In late 1865, during the early days of the Reconstruction Era, the city was the site of founding the first Ku Klux Klan (KKK) by six Tennessee veterans of the Confederate Army. John C. Lester, John B. Kennedy, James R. Crowe, Frank O. McCord, Richard R. Reed, and J. Calvin Jones established the KKK in Pulaski on December 25,
USS Grosbeak (1865) exploded off Memphis, Tennessee, 27 April, 1865, Grosbeak rescued 60 to 80 survivors and transferred them to hospital. She also transported wounded men from boats further down the river to Memphis, Tennessee, for proper care. As the war ended, "Grosbeak" returned to Mound City and was sold there 17 August 1865. USS Grosbeak (1865) USS "Grosbeak" (1865) was a steamship acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. "Grosbeak" was placed into service as a gunboat and assigned to the Union blockade of ports of the Confederate States of America. "Grosbeak", renamed from "Fanny", was purchased at Mound