Editing Rutherford County, Tennessee (section)

===Civil War===
Rutherford County strongly supported the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], having voted 2,392 to 73 in favor of Tennessee's [[Ordinance of Secession]] on June 8, 1861.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rutherfordtnhistory.org/PeoplePlacesandStories/MurfreesboroPost/20120529%20-%20Merry%20Month%20of%20May/20120529%20-%20Merry%20Month%20of%20May.htm |title=Merry Month of May |work=The Murfreesboro Post via Rutherford County Historical Society |first=Shirley Ferris |last=Jones |date=May 29, 2012 |access-date=June 17, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708033440/http://rutherfordtnhistory.org/PeoplePlacesandStories/MurfreesboroPost/20120529%20-%20Merry%20Month%20of%20May/20120529%20-%20Merry%20Month%20of%20May.htm |archive-date=July 8, 2013 }}</ref>

Rutherford County's central location and proximity to Nashville during the Civil War made it a contested area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rutherfordtnhistory.org/HistoryOfRutherfordCounty.htm |title=A History of Rutherford County, Tennessee |publisher=Rutherford County Historical Society |access-date=June 17, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708135531/http://rutherfordtnhistory.org/HistoryOfRutherfordCounty.htm |archive-date=July 8, 2013 }}</ref> The county was home to one of the bloodiest battles of the war, the [[Battle of Stones River]], which was fought between December 31, 1862, and January 2, 1863.

On July 13, 1862, Confederate General [[Nathan Bedford Forrest]] conducted a series of cavalry operations known locally as ''Forrest's Raid''. The raid successfully led to the surrender of all Union forces occupying the area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/tn006.htm |title=CWSAC Battle Summaries: Murfreesboro |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=June 17, 2013}}</ref> Soon after his departure, Union troops returned to the area and held it until the end of the war.