"shield of the South"

"shield of the South A nickname for Tennessee, given by Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, because the long state was supposedly a protective buffer for the Deep South.

From The Language of the Civil War by John D. Wright page 269.

The Shield didn't last very long, did it?
 
If that was it's purpose, it did pretty well for a couple of years. Like most shields involved in multple bloody battles, it it was dented many times and broken in several places, but wasn't fully overcome until late November of 1863. If Tennessee had stayed in the Union, the war in the West would have begun with Chattanooga as the main Union supply base in 1861, and offensive operations branching off from there.
 
Tennessee was the last state to leave, the first state to join back in the Union. If it hadn't seceded, the vital organs of the South would have been exposed. Not to mention it was called the "Bread Basket" of the South for it's many staple crops. It also furnished more troops for both sides than any other state in the Civil War. So my conclusion is that it was more than effective as a shield, just barely snatched out of the Union's hands.
 
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