Isham G. Harris

Harris was governor when Tennessee left the Union, and he worked to bring that about. He persistently sought to sever the state's ties with the Union, and his wartime efforts raised more than 100,000 soldiers for the Confederacy. After the Union Army took Middle and West Tennessee in 1862 he served on the staffs of Confederate generals, then spent several years in exile in Mexico and England. Back in Tennessee he led the Bourbon Democrats, and in the 1890s, as the Senate's president pro tempore, he fought Grover Cleveland's push to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act.

What the plaque says

Isham G. Harris Born near here, 1818. Was the only governor of Confederate State of Tennessee. In Congress 1849-51; elected governor, 1857-59-61. When U.S. forces captured Nashville, joined staff of Army of Tennessee for remainder of War. Fled to Mexico, 1865; returned 1867. Was U.S. Senator from 1877 until his death in 1897.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Tims Ford State Park — 9.9 mi
  A lake park on the Elk River below the Cumberland Plateau, made by a 1970 TVA dam on land the Cherokee and Chickasaw ceded by treaty in the early 1800s.
• Jack Daniel Distillery — 10 mi
  The oldest registered distillery in the United States, in a limestone hollow outside Lynchburg, where the tour now names Nathan Nearest Green, an enslaved man, as the first master distiller.
• Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park — 10 mi
  A 2,000-year-old enclosure of piled stone and earth on the bluffs above the forks of the Duck River, built by Native people between about 80 and 550 A.D., with a museum and waterfall trails.
• Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration — 17 mi
  The Shelbyville show grounds where the Tennessee Walking Horse has been crowned world grand champion each late summer since 1939, and where the practice of soring is part of the story.

More markers nearby

• Camp Forrest — steps away
• Experiment in Armor — 11 mi
• General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold — 12 mi
• Secession — 13 mi