During the early 1860's, the American Civil War was an everyday reality for Tennessee's citizens, bringing violence, bloodshed, and the destruction of homes, livelihoods, civilians and soldiers, sons and fathers. Tennessee held crucial strategic, political, and military importance to both sides, with more than 2,900 military actions fought on its soil during the war. It provided more soldiers for the Confederacy than any state except Virginia, while also supplying more men for the Union cause than the rest of the Confederacy combined. Its rivers, railroads, industry, and agriculture made it, in President Lincoln's words, "the key to the Southern arch." Collierville was among the Tennessee communities engulfed by the conflict and was considered exceptionally important to both sides. Federal forces occupied it from 1862 until the end of hostilities in 1865, and during that time it saw multiple military actions involving some of the era's most notable figures. By the war's end, the town and its homes and businesses were almost completely destroyed.