Warren County, Tennessee: History
Warren County was created in 1807 from a portion of White County, and named for Joseph Warren (1741–1775), a militiaman and major general in the American Revolution. The revised Tennessee State Constitution of 1834 stated that no new county could be within 12 miles (19 km) of the county seat of the county from which it was formed. The boundaries of five counties formed from Warren— Grundy, Van Buren, Cannon, Coffee and DeKalb— were exactly 12 miles from Warren's county seat, McMinnville, giving the county its distinctive round shape.
Warren County was the site of several saltpeter mines. Saltpeter is the main ingredient of gunpowder and was obtained by leaching the earth from several local caves. Hubbards Cave, near Camp Woodlee, was a major operation. Henshaw Cave on Cardwell Mountain (now part of Cumberland Caverns) and Solomon Saltpeter Cave on Ben Lomond Mountain were relatively small mining operations. Most saltpeter mining occurred during the War of 1812 and in the Civil War.
The county was largely developed for farming of such crops as tobacco and hemp. While numerous families held African Americans as slaves, they were a minority of the population. Warren County citizens voted to secede from the Union before the American Civil War in February 1861 in a state referendum. Voters in Tennessee overall decided to remain in the Union in that time. When President Abraham Lincoln demanded that Tennessee provide troops to fight against the Southern states in April 1861, it was viewed as a violation of Article 3, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution. At a new referendum in June 1861, Warren County again, along with a majority of Tennessee's counties, voted for secession. Unlike in some states, slavery was not listed as one of the reasons in Tennessee's secession proclamation.
Men from Warren County and surrounding upper Cumberland region formed and served in many units in Tennessee's defense, including the 16th Tennessee Infantry led by McMinnville resident Col. John Houston Savage. The Confederate monument next to the county courthouse is dedicated in the memory of the men who served and died in the 16th and lists their names.
Men from Warren County and upper Cumberland area joined the 16th TN Infantry Regiment, among others. Their flag is on display at the Texas 'Civil War' Museum in Fort Worth TX.