A political figure from Tennessee was Andrew Johnson, who as a self educated man, was elected to senator in 1856. He served as a senator until Lincoln's second election in November 1864, when he became Lincoln's vice president. He was a firm believer in the idea of the union, even though he was from the succeeding south. When Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865, he became the president of the United states, and led the union for the next few years. Other than that, he made achievements like being the seventeenth governor of Tennessee, and while working as senator he was appointed military senator of Tennessee, and being the only senator from the south to not lose their position due to being fired or by leaving the senate themselves.  Another, not quite as important general who although not as important, was at many important battles, is Lieutenant General Nathan B. Forrest. He was born in 1821 to a blacksmith and when the civil war started, he rushed to raise a calvary with his own money, and took to the Confederate side. He was involved in many battles, such as Shiloh, Chickamauga, where he defended the right flank of The Army of Tennessee. His troops were later a major part in the Fort Pillow Massacre and he later won a notable victory at Brice Crossroads, Mississippi. He served at Franklin Nashville, and in 1865, he and his calvary surrendered to the Union side in Alabama.

Tennessee did not contribute any less bloodshed to the war, but they did send many troops to both sides. The armies of tennessee were not few in number and were the majority of the people fighting in tennessee. In fact, they sent over 120,000 soldiers to the confederate side, and around 31,000 soldiers to the union side. and even though the state itself had seceded, it still was one of the states the contributed the most soldiers to the war. Other than that, many resources were sent to those men along with great amounts of gold, silver, gunpowder, and food like many other states, which would count as a contribution.