Imprisoned at Camp Douglas: The Diary and Art of Knoxville Confederate Samuel Bell Palmer

Samuel Bell Palmer’s diary offers a rare and intimate window into the early years of the Civil War and the divided loyalties of East Tennessee. A native of Knoxville, Palmer served as a Confederate soldier during the opening phase of the war, experiencing firsthand the uncertainty and tension that defined a region being pulled in opposing political and military directions. This duality would shape Palmer’s fate: while home on furlough—and while Knoxville was under Federal control—he was cap...