When the Civil War began, Carroll County was divided about equally between Union and Confederate sympathies and furnished a similar number of soldiers to each army. Well-to-do cotton growers on the prime land in the western section generally supported the Confederacy, and three companies of county men were mustered into the Confederate 22nd Tennessee Infantry at Trenton in June 1861, with two more companies joining the 55th Tennessee Infantry there in October; numerous men also served in other Confederate units. Many citizens remained loyal to the United States while Carroll County was still part of the Confederacy, and poorer farmers in the eastern agricultural districts tended to be Unionists. After the fall of Fort Donelson left West Tennessee in Federal hands, five companies of county men were mustered into the 7th Tennessee Cavalry in November 1862, while other Unionists joined the 6th Tennessee Cavalry and, because of their familiarity with the countryside, were often assigned to scouting and occupation duties. The most serious military actions in the county came during the last two weeks of December 1862 and again in March 1864, when Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest led destructive raids against Federal communication lines; on both occasions, Confederates captured and imprisoned Carroll County's Col. Isaac R. Hawkins and his 7th Tennessee Cavalry. In February 1861, county citizens held a mass meeting at the brick courthouse in Huntingdon to discuss secession, appointed a committee to draft a resolution, and the majority approved its declaration that the seceding states should be restored to their allegiance to the Government of the United States, peaceably if possible, but forcibly if necessary.