Tennessee ratified secession in June 1861, but Morgan County, like most East Tennessee counties, voted to remain in the Union. Bitter divisions followed, as many residents supported the Confederacy, including George Gerding, founder of Wartburg, while Confederates in East Tennessee threatened local Unionists. Many fled to Kentucky to avoid the Confederate draft or to enlist in the Federal army, and the Rev. John Wilken, a Lutheran pastor and Wartburg Unionist, left the region until Federal forces regained control. Both armies fought for the county’s communication and transportation lines. On February 2, 1862, Confederate Col. J.W. White’s 1st Tennessee Cavalry clashed near Wartburg with the Union Home Guard, which retreated after five were killed. On March 28, Confederate Gen. Kirby Smith reported another sharp skirmish at Wartburg and wrote that the population of these counties was hostile to Confederate forces, with men able to bear arms organized as Home Guards and loyal citizens expelled from the country. In June 1863, Union Col. William P. Sanders’s troops marched through Montgomery and Wartburg and captured 104 soldiers from a Confederate garrison. Constant foraging by both armies devastated farms, local government collapsed, and isolated families became vulnerable to lawlessness and guerrilla raids. After the Knoxville Campaign, Confederates abandoned most of East Tennessee, Federal forces restored stability, the county seat moved from Montgomery to Wartburg after the war, a new courthouse was constructed, and communities were rebuilt.