Newton Knight: Free State of Jones
Newton Knight Newton Knight (November 1837 – February 16, 1922) was an American farmer, soldier and southern Unionist , best known as the leader of the Knight Company, a band of Confederate army deserters that turned against the Confederacy during the Civil War . Local legends state that Knight and his men attempted to form the "Free State of Jones" in the area around Jones County, Mississippi , at the height of the war, though the exact nature of the Knight Company's opposition to the Confederate government is disputed. After the war, Knight aided Mississippi's Reconstruction government. Knight has long been a controversial figure. Historians and descendants disagree over his motives and actions, with some arguing he was a noble and pious individual who refused to fight for a cause in which he did not believe, while others have portrayed him as a manipulative outlaw. This controversy was fueled in part by Knight's postwar marriage to a freed slave,