The 19th Tennessee Infantry would have been with Zollicoffer's command when the hemp was sold in 1861. The 19th eventually ended up at the battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky in February 1862. That is why the 19th was in the Fentress County area at that time.

I assume the unit needed the hemp to make ropes. Those would have come in handy when pulling wagons up hills or letting them down. Also, the mud hole sometimes required human strength as well as the teams to pull a cannon out of a hole.