His paper was strongly anti-Jackson, warmly espoused the cause of Mr.Clay, and was distinguished in its editorials by a treatment of public questions so original that for nearly a quarter of a century it was known and quoted by the journals of the whole country.
But the odd and humorous editor, hitherto notorious for his partisan intensity and for the extravagance of his diction, was suddenly transformed into a moral hero.

When the wild movement for secession swept over Tennessee, and carried with it even such men as John Bell, Brownlow took his stand for the Union.

Threats could not move him, persecution could not break him, the prison had no terrors for him.
His devotion to the National cause did not mean simply the waving of the flag and the delivery of patriotic orations; it meant cold and hunger, separation from his family, loss of property, possibly loss of life.

He endured all, and faced his bloodthirsty enemies with a courage superior to their own.

He won their respect by his brave resistance, and was finally released from jail and banished from the Confederacy.