by N. C. Wyeth

Milton Littlefield, "Prince of the Carpetbaggers" was a North Carolina speculator and railroad lobbyist, helped by Gov. William Holden

John T. Wilder, known as the "Friendly Carpetbagger" was the leader of the Lightning Brigade of Indiana and hero of the battle of Chickamauga in Sept. 1863 where he and his men armed with 7-shot Spencers

John Wilder

gave Thomas time to form a defense line. He was one of the 20,000 Union veterans who immigrated to the South by 1866, attracted by the possibilites of places that they had seen during their military campaigns. In September, 1865, he and his friend, Capt. Hiram S. Chamberlain of Knox County, purchased 728 acres of land in Roane County along the Tennessee River and founded the town of Rockwood with its Roane Iron Company, one of the first post-war industrial establishments in the South. Wilder would continue to hold interests in mining and cement and banking around Knoxville, Tennessee, and built the 300-room Cloudland Hotel on Roane Mt. summit in 1885 as a retreat for hay fever sufferers.

Adelbert Ames, as a young artillery lieutenant from Maine became a hero of the Battle of Bull Run in 1861 (awarded the Medal of Honor in 1894), promoted to Brig. General, led the successful assault on Fort Fisher Jan. 15, 1865, was head of Freedman's Bureau in Mississippi, became Miss. Senator 1870-74 and Governor 1874 until forced to resign 1876 due to accusations of scandal, but was a moderate who was criticized by radicals and conservatives.

Albert Morgan, served in Union army occupying Miss. in 1865, stayed in the Yazoo Delta when the army was demobilized, bought a plantation, ran a sawmill, became local and state politician in Mississippi.

Harrison Reed, first Republican governor of Florida in 1868, came from Wisconsin as a treasury agent and post office official, helped organize the Republican party in Mississippi in 1867, conservative who emphasized railroad and economic development.

Henry Warmouth, Union soldier from Illinois who stayed in Louisiana, elected governor in 1868 at age 26, supported by state militia led by James Longstreet including black units, was not corrupt but was controversial during a period of riots and armed conflict.

Links:

• History of Rockwood in Roane County, Tenn.
• Historic Rockwood from Rockwood 2000
• Dixie Highway was the first national highway to link midwest and south, 5000 miles from Florida to Canada, web site and map from U. S. Highways includes Historical Context by Pam S. Ecker
• Wilder Tower on the Chickamauga battlefield, from About North Georgia