During the Civil War, The Old Mill in Pigeon Forge was a well-known manufacturing site in the new Confederate States of America where many local residents secretly supported the Union. Mostly women worked long hours at large wooden looms weaving cloth for Union Army uniforms, while other workers made Union Army boots from leather provided by a local tannery, and still others formed a Home Guard. Mill owner John Sevier Trotter, his son William, the town postmaster, and many other East Tennessee residents supported the North and opposed secession. William Trotter joined the Union Army and captained Company 1 of the 9th Tennessee Cavalry, and the cloth and shoes made in secret at the mill clothed Union soldiers in his unit as well as several other Union cavalries. An estimated 187,000 Tennesseans joined the Confederate Army, while 51,000 Tennessee men fought for the Union, and more battles were fought in Tennessee than in any other state except Virginia. People came to The Old Mill to learn the latest Civil War news, including casualties for both North and South. In November 1863, the Union Home Guard captured several Confederate scouts at Trotters Bridge in Pigeon Forge, and in retaliation Confederate Commander William H. Thomas captured 60 Home Guardsmen and six regular Union soldiers along with their guns and ammunition in nearby Sevierville.