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It was crucial to the dominance of the Mississippi. Also, Eastern Tennessee was generally pro-Union, and Lincoln regarded Tennessee as a state that could be retrieved from the Confederacy.

Western Tennessee was the scene of the first signficant battles - Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh - which brought U.S. Grant to prominence for the first time.

Later the state would see three battles at Chattanooga, and then a long campagn by Sherman, whose orders were to destroy the Army of Tennessee under Joseph E. Johnston.

That army was finally sent into headlong retreat, not by Sherman himself, buthi subordinateGeorge Thomas. It was the only time a Confederate army had been routed and fragmented in battle.

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Q: What role did Tennessee play in the American Civil War?
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