During the Civil War, divided loyalties in Anderson County, like those elsewhere in East Tennessee, often erupted in violence as guerrillas on both sides raided farms and captured opposing sympathizers. In Clinton, the county seat, Confederates established a conscription center to draft men into military service, and many Unionists trying to avoid conscription crossed into Kentucky to join the Federal army, using Eli's Cabin, built by county resident Eli Lovejoy Ward, as a safe house to rest and eat before heading over the mountains. A small engagement took place in the county on July 25, 1862, when a Federal foraging party fired on Confederate cavalry pickets at Clinton Ferry, after which Confederate forces moved quickly to establish control of the area. An East Tennessee correspondent for the Atlanta Intelligencer reported that the growing number of Confederate troops made the place one of interest, that it was situated on the Clinch River twenty miles north of Knoxville, that cooking utensils, baggage, and tents had been given up, that large supplies of ammunition were being collected, and that no armed enemies were nearby except skulking bushwhackers who were becoming extremely cautious in their movements. Even after the war ended, resentments lingered.