During the Civil War, conflict in Campbell County was often personal. Few residents owned slaves, and a large majority, 1,094 to 60, voted against secession in June 1861. Local men formed what became Co. A and Co. B, 1st Tennessee Infantry (US), at the courthouse in Jacksboro on August 1-2, 1861. Despite strong Unionist sentiment, Confederate forces occupied the rugged mountain region later that year to secure several strategic gaps and block any large Federal advance from Kentucky, but their control did not last long. In March 1862, Union forces won an engagement at Jacksboro, raised the United States flag at the courthouse, and marched north to destroy a saltpeter operation nearby. The expedition destroyed 1,000 pounds of saltpeter, numerous kettles, 11,000 pounds of bacon, 20 sacks of flour, and a shed. Travel through the mountains was challenging and dangerous, as shown in April 1863 when William Sloan carried dispatches from Kentucky to Confederates near Jacksboro and later wrote of the darkness and discomfort of the ride.