James G . Spears James Gallant Spears ( March 29 , 1816 – July 22 , 1869 ) was an American general who served in the Union Army during the Civil War . Leading a unit composed primarily of Tennessee loyalists , he participated in early battles in the Cumberland Gap area before marching with the Army of the Cumberland at Stones River and Chickamauga . He later provided support for the Knoxville Campaign . An ardent Southern Unionist , Spears was appointed vice president of the 1861 East Tennessee Union Convention , which sought to form a separate , Union - aligned state in East Tennessee . He opposed the abolition of slavery , however , and was dismissed from the Army in 1864 for speaking out against the Emancipation Proclamation . Early life . Spears was born in Bledsoe County , Tennessee , the eldest of five children of John Holliday Spears , a doctor , and his wife , Sarah ( Gallant ) Spears . As a child , his family struggled financially after his father lost much of the family ' s estate through speculation . Fond of reading , Spears managed to educate himself , and eventually studied law . In 1848 , Spears was elected clerk of the state circuit court . By 1851 , he had acquired a large farm and several slaves , located on the outskirts of Pikeville . In 1860 , he was among the commissioners appointed by the state to oversee construction of a turnpike connecting Pikeville and Jasper . On the eve of the Civil War , Spears opposed secession . A Democrat , he supported the Northern Democratic candidate Stephen Douglas in the 1860 presidential election . Spears represented Bledsoe County at both the Knoxville and Greeneville sessions of the 1861 East Tennessee Union Convention , and was appointed the convention ' s vice president . Described by fellow delegate Oliver Perry Temple as " hot - headed , impulsive , and obstinate in what he thought was right , " Spears supported the convention ' s original petition , which demanded the state legislature allow East Tennessee to form a separate , Union - aligned state , and threatened to use force if necessary . He was joined in this view by convention president T . A . R . Nelson and volatile ex - Congressman Thomas D . Arnold . This petition was rejected in favor of a less - threatening petition authored by Temple , which called for a new state in East Tennessee , but removed the threat of force . Civil War . Disappointed with the Convention ' s peaceful final petition , Spears returned to his home in Bledsoe County , planning to take no part in the upcoming war . In the Fall of 1861 , however , he learned that the state ' s Confederate authorities had issued a warrant for his arrest on grounds of disloyalty . Spears managed to flee to Kentucky , where he linked up with Tennessee Unionist refugees . He organized the First Tennessee Infantry , and was given the rank of lieutenant colonel in September 1861 . The First Tennessee took part in the Battle of Camp Wildcat in late 1861 and the Battle of Mill Springs in early 1862 . Spears was promoted to brigadier general on March 5 , 1862 . He was placed in command of the 25th Brigade of the 1st Army of the Ohio . In June 1862 , the 25th participated in General George W . Morgan ' s capture of the Cumberland Gap , a key mountain pass located at the junction of Tennessee , Kentucky and Virginia . In August , Spears led a sortie into Tennessee , and scattered a small Confederate contingent at Wallace ' s Crossroads ( near modern LaFollette ) . Senator Andrew Johnson had suggested Spears be appointed commander of forces around Cumberland Gap , but Union generals were concerned that the hot - tempered Spears would seek violent retribution against East Tennessee Confederates . General Morgan wrote that Spears had " great energy and courage , but has an idea that war means extermination . " In October 1862 , Spears and the 25th Brigade were placed under the newly - organized Army of the Cumberland , which was commanded by General William S . Rosecrans . Rosecrans marched south to Nashville before turning eastward in pursuit of Braxton Bragg ' s Army of Tennessee . In late December , the two armies met at the Battle of Stones River near Murfreesboro . As the two armies fought , Spears guided 303 wagons packed with badly - needed provisions over muddy roads from Nashville to the frontline , and afterward helped capture a strategic patch of woods known as the " Round Forest " to aid the Union Army ' s victory . By the spring of 1863 , a number of officers under Spears had grown tired of his " tyranny and ungentlemanly conduct , " and accused him of incompetence . Spears was court - martialed , and his brigade was moved to General Gordon Granger ' s Reserve Corps and placed under the temporary command of General George Crook . Spears was acquitted , however , and his command was restored . Upon his return to his unit in August , he ruthlessly reasserted his authority , and threatened to arrest any officer who attempted to resign . In September , twenty - seven officers under his command signed a petition to Rosecrans demanding Spears ' s removal . At the opening of the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863 , Spears ' s unit occupied Lookout Mountain , overlooking Chattanooga . He was attacked by a Confederate force led by Nathan B . Forrest , but was ordered by Rosecrans to abandon the mountain rather than risk capture . In December 1863 , Spears led his brigade north as part of an expedition to relieve Union - occupied Knoxville , which had been placed under siege by General James Longstreet . Spears scattered a small Confederate contingent led by John R . Hart near Kingston , and captured six guns abandoned by Hart at Loudon . Spears staunchly opposed President Abraham Lincoln ' s Emancipation Proclamation , and angrily spoke out against it . He allegedly stated , " God damn the Government ; let her go to hell , and I ' ll be found in the ranks fighting her . " He was arrested for these statements in February 1864 , and subsequently court - martialed . While Spears admitted he disagreed with the Proclamation , he denied making disloyal statements . He was nevertheless found guilty , and ordered removed from command . He was offered an opportunity to resign his commission , but he refused , and was thus dismissed on August 30 , 1864 . Later life and family . After his dismissal , Spears returned to his farm in Bledsoe County , and began rebuilding his fortune . His health , which had suffered during the war , continued to decline . He died at his home on July 22 , 1869 , and was interred in the Pikeville City Cemetery . Spears married Adeline Brown in 1849 . They had six children . Spears ' s son , Colonel William D . Spears , was a prominent Chattanooga - area attorney in the late - 19th and early - 20th centuries . Another son , Napoleon Bonaparte Spears , served in the Tennessee state legislature and the Alabama Legislature , and was a delegate to Alabama ' s 1901 constitutional convention .