The Forgotten Dissenters of the Civil War
By Alamantra
Originally written 07.16.2026
Southern Unionist History: The Forgotten Dissenters of the Civil War
When Southerners romanticize the Civil War and call it “heritage,” they erase the Southern Unionist history that challenges the myth. We’ve explored this distortion in The Confederate Heritage Myth. Not all Southerners supported slavery or the Confederacy. Many opposed secession. Some fought against it.
The vote to secede was never unanimous. In Alabama’s 1861 Secession Convention, the ordinance passed by just 61 to 39. Delegate Charles Sheats of Winston County refused to sign and called secession what it was: a betrayal of the Union. He was jailed for his resistance.
Winston County famously declared neutrality for the duration of the war—“seceding from Alabama” in protest. Known as the “Free State of Winston,” it became a refuge for dissenters. Thousands in northern Alabama, including Sand Mountain, deserted or refused to fight for the Confederacy.
Resistance Across the South
This pattern repeated across the region. Desertion and resistance were widespread. Here’s what Confederate monuments and Lost Cause textbooks leave out:
- Georgia: Over 37,000 voted against secession. In the hill country, Unionist sentiment thrived. Many resisted conscription or joined Union guerrilla units.
- Tennessee: East Tennessee was a Union stronghold. Scott County declared itself the “Free and Independent State of Scott.” Over 30,000 Tennesseans enlisted in the Union Army.
- Mississippi: The residents of Jones County rebelled against the Confederacy, forming the “Free State of Jones.” Newton Knight and his followers evaded Confederate control, aided escaped slaves, and resisted a cause they saw as unjust.
- Louisiana: Tens of thousands of white Unionists resisted secession, with many joining Union regiments after Union forces occupied parts of the state.
This is Southern Unionist history. But it was buried under Confederate statues and revisionist schoolbooks — monuments that claim to preserve history yet mask the truth, as we’ve seen in The Illusion of Historic Value in Confederate Monuments
Heritage Is a Choice
When someone waves a Confederate flag and says “heritage, not hate,” ask why their version of Southern pride ignores Winston County or the Free State of Jones. Ask why they erase the South that stayed loyal to the United States.
Heritage is a choice. We choose what stories to elevate, whose names to remember, and which values to defend. Some of us descend from Confederate generals—but we still decide what kind of legacy we carry forward.
There is a Southern tradition of courage, defiance, and moral clarity. It isn’t carved on Stone Mountain. It lives in the history of dissenters who chose justice over treason.
