bɹˈaʊnloʊz nˈuːzpeɪpɚ, ðə nˈɑːksvɪl wˈɪɡ, stˈeɪɾᵻd ðæt mˈʌlᵻnz wʌzɐ "tˈɛɹɚ tə ðə kˈɑːpɚhˌɛdz" ɪnðə lˈɛdʒɪslətʃɚ, ænd dᵻskɹˈaɪbd hˌɪm æz æn "ˈoʊld pˈeɪtɹɪət" hˈuː "stˈændz lˈaɪk ðə pˈɪlɚz ʌvðɪ ˈælɪɡhˌɛniz, ʌnhˈiːdɪŋ ðə stˈoːɹmz ʌv kˈɑːpɚhˌɛdɪzəm ænd tɹˈiːzən, wˌɪtʃ bˈiːt ɪn ˌʌnɹɪlˈɛntɪŋ fjˈʊɹɹi əbˌʌv hɪz hˈɛd."
Brownlow's newspaper, the Knoxville Whig, stated that Mullins was a "terror to the copperheads" in the legislature, and described him as an "old patriot" who "stands like the pillars of the Alleghenies, unheeding the storms of copperheadism and treason, which beat in unrelenting fury above his head."