Before the war began, Greene County had a long history of abolitionist sentiment, and local residents overwhelmingly supported the Union when Tennessee seceded in June 1861. When 30 neighboring counties met in Greeneville to create a separate state, the convention resolved that they earnestly desired the restoration of peace to the whole country and especially that their section of Tennessee should not be involved in civil war, but the state denied their request and the counties remained part of Tennessee. Hoping to suppress pro-Union support, Confederate Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer soon arrived with 4,000 troops, and although Unionists burned railroad bridges, they failed to halt the occupation. The nearby Battle of Limestone on September 8, 1863, was fought for control of the East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad, and when Confederate Gen. Alfred E. Jackson's men pushed the 100th Ohio Volunteer Infantry back to the Nolichucky River, local resident Nicholas Earnest hurriedly ferried 35 Federals across the river to avert their capture. Greeneville changed hands several times during the war, and the Dickson-Williams Mansion served as headquarters for both sides. On September 8, 1864, Union Gen. Alvan C. Gillem's Federal forces evaded Confederate pickets, surrounded the house, and killed Confederate cavalry commander John Hunt Morgan. Greeneville was also home to Andrew Johnson, who moved there from North Carolina in 1826 and assumed the presidency after Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865 as the Reconstruction Era began.