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,
10th Regiment Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry Battle of Nashville December 15–16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17–28. Hollow Tree Gap and West Harpeth River December 17. Rutherford Creek December 19. Richland Creek December 24. Pulaski December 25–26. Hillsboro December 29. Leighton December 30. At Gravelly Springs, Ala., until February 1865. Moved to Vicksburg, Miss., thence to New Orleans, La., February 6-March 10. Ordered to Natchez, Miss., March, and duty there and at Rodney, Miss., until May 25. Ordered to Nashville, Tenn., May 25. Garrison duty at Johnsonville, Tenn., until August. Throughout its term of service, the 10th Tennessee Cavalry was poorly equipped and