The late Ralph Atkins some years ago wrote this interesting perspective on the Civil War, and his research is valuable for historic preservation.

Reasons For Loyalty of East Tennessee to the Union.
East Tennessee geographically is situated almost in the center of the late rebellious states; Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and the Middle and Western Divisions of the state on the west. The question arises why it should stand out almost alone in its devotion to the Union. When the state cast its fortunes with the Confederacy through the dominating influence of the civil and military authorities, a large majority of the people of East Tennessee adhered to the Union cause. Many reasons have been assigned for the loyalty of East Tennessee to the federal government, and it is fair to presume that each of these reasons had its influence in that decided stand.
One reason may be found in the fact that the soil and climate were not adapted to the growth of cotton, rice, and tobacco, the great staples of the South; hence, slave labor could not be employed to the same advantage as in the Cotton States. The people or a large number of them, were comparatively poor and earned their living by daily labor. They thought that slave labor must enter into competition with them, lessen their wages, their chances of employment, and diminish their opportunity to better their condition; that by fighting for slavery they were fastening upon themselves the yoke of poverty.
Again, history bears out the fact that those people who inhabit mountainous country are endowed with a spirit of patriotism and loyalty to country, and are the first to respond to its call when it is menaced by foreign or domestic foes. Hence, arises the fact that East Tennessee and the mountain sections of adjoining states have always furnished more than their proportion of volunteers in all the wars in which our country has been engaged. Another, and possibly the greatest cause of their loyalty was the ability of the loyal leaders; the influence of the Knoxville Whig edited by the famous Parson Brownlow was an important factor in shaping public sentiment. His editorials and speeches won for him the admiration of the loyal people and brought down upon his head the anathemas and the iron hand of the Confederate military authorities. His absence of fear and lofty patriotism that, even when in feeble health, made a prison cell preferable to the comforts of home greatly influenced East Tennesseans.
Perhaps one of the most potent factors was love for the Union and reverence for the "Old Flag." They remembered that it was for the whole country that their fathers had fought before them.
It has been variously estimated that East Tennessee furnished between 30,000 and 40,000 troops to the Federal army. The exact number could not be ascertained for the reason that before any regular Tennessee organizations were formed, many who went through the lines volunteered in the first Federal regiments they found, and served in Northern and Western regiments.
East Tennessee furnished more troops to the Federal army than any other section of the Union in proportion to its population. The male population of East Tennessee in 1860 between the ages of 18 and 45 years was 45,000, and the lowest estimate of troops who joined the Federal army places them at 30,000. This large proportion of troops to the population is explained to some extent by the fact that many joined the army both over and under the legal military age.