 The state-controlled militia eventually arrived to enforce martial law in the county, making the local Democrats who were providing armed resistance to Governor Powell Clayton's Republican army heroes to Confederate sympathizers around the state.According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.2%) is water.As of the 2000 census, there were 54,469 people, 20,701 households, and 15,008 families residing in the county.