Political dissent and guerrilla warfare within a Confederate border state; One of the most divided regions of the Confederacy, East Tennessee was the site of fierce Unionist resistance to secession, Confederate rule, and the Southern war effort. It was also the scene of unrelenting guerrilla warfare between Union and Confederate supporters, a conflict that permanently altered the region's political, economic, and social landscape. Tracing the military and political struggle for control of East Tennessee from the secession crisis through the early years of Reconstruction, Noel Fisher portrays the brutality and ruthlessness employed not only by partisan bands but also by Confederate and Union troops under constant threat of guerrilla attack and government officials frustrated by unstinting dissent.