page_title: John Hervey Crozier
section_title: The Civil War
hierarchical_section_title: John Hervey Crozier / Biography / The Civil War
caption_attribution_description: Drawing of the John Hervey Crozier House in Knoxville, Tennessee
context_page_description: John Hervey Crozier was an American attorney and politician active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, during the mid-nineteenth century. Described as "an orator of uncommon brilliancy" and "one of the brainiest men ever sent by Tennessee to congress," Crozier represented Tennessee's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1845 to 1849. While originally a member of the Whig Party, Crozier switched his allegiance to the Democratic Party in the 1850s, and supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. Crozier retired from public life after the war, and spent his remaining years engaged in scholarly pursuits.
context_section_description: Crozier's defection to the Democratic Party resumed a string of personal attacks from Knoxville Whig editor, William "Parson" Brownlow, which Crozier later claimed drove him from public life.  During the presidential campaign of 1860, Crozier and Brownlow attacked one another in speeches, and continued quarrelling via newspaper editorials in 1861 as they stood on opposite sides of the secession debate.  Brownlow called Crozier "a corrupt demagogue, a selfish liar, and an unmitigated coward," while Crozier argued that Brownlow had earned his fortune by publishing lies.  In December 1861, Crozier's nephew, Confederate district attorney J. C. Ramsey, had Brownlow jailed for treason.
  When the Union Army occupied Knoxville in September 1863, General Ambrose Burnside chose as his headquarters Crozier's house at the corner of Gay Street and Clinch Avenue (now the location of the Hyatt Place Knoxville/Downtown).  Crozier's extensive personal library made his house the ideal choice for Burnside, an avid reader. During the waning years of the war, Crozier made amends with the city's Unionists.  In 1865, Brownlow won a $25,000 judgement against Crozier and two other Confederate leaders, but the decision was eventually annulled.
caption: Crozier's house on Gay Street was headquarters to General Ambrose Burnside during the Federal occupation of Knoxville in 1863.
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