Based on historical accounts and the 2016 film, here is the story of Newton Knight Free State of Jones 1. Disillusionment & Desertion
Using guerrilla warfare tactics, Newton and his band of men (both white and black) raid Confederate supply lines to feed the local population. As their numbers swell into the hundreds, they successfully drive the Confederate forces out of Jones County and surrounding areas. free state of jones summary
Newton Knight serves in the Confederate army at the Battle of Corinth (1862). Horrified by the carnage and disgusted that rich men send poor men to die for slavery, he deserts and returns to Jones County. Based on historical accounts and the 2016 film,
By 1864, Knight’s forces control Jones County. They raise a U.S. flag (the Stars and Stripes) over the county courthouse and send a letter to Union General Sherman declaring Jones County independent of the Confederacy – calling it the “Free State of Jones.” (Historians debate if it was an official secession, but they effectively created a no-go zone for Confederate authority.) Newton Knight serves in the Confederate army at
Confederate cavalry troops systematically pillaged small, non-slaveholding family farms, seizing livestock, crops, and textiles to supply the military.