Tennessee's mountain residents were bitterly divided about secession in 1861. Most were Unionist, but after the state seceded, this part remained Confederate territory until later in the war. Both armies passed through Newport frequently in the winter of 1863-1864, virtually to strip the French Broad River Valley of livestock and grain. Fighting occurred around Dandridge in January 1864, when Confederate Gen. James Longstreet's forces compelled Union Gen. John Parke's foragers to retreat to Knoxville. In Unionist Sevierville on Tennessee Rte. 66, the Home Guard protected residents from Confederate occupation, and local women sewed the Guard's uniforms at the Old Mill in Pigeon Forge. Unionists tried and failed in September 1861 to destroy the Strawberry Plains Railroad Bridge. In May 1862, Col. William H. Thomas's North Carolina brigade, which included many Cherokee Indians, began guarding the bridge. Union advances forced his retreat in September 1863, and Federals controlled the bridge afterward. Sites related to the Battle of Knoxville in November 1863, when Union Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside defeated Longstreet, are nearby, and Union Forts Dickerson and Higley are in city parks.