In 2016 a document was discovered in the National Archives which was a request by Newton Knight's company to join the Union Army in 1864. It lends validity to Knight's claims.
The Confederacy's "tax in kind" system allowed officers to commandeer anything they deemed necessary for the war effort. They could legally take all food, horses, chickens, meat, cloth, and pigs from farmers. It made life on the farm incredibly difficult, especially during the winter.
When he first read the script, Matthew McConaughey thought it was the most exciting Civil War story he'd ever come across. He knew immediately that he wanted to play Newton Knight. With McConaughey on board, financing quickly fell into place.
The Free State of Jones was not the only southern region that opposed and/or threatened to secede from the Confederacy. Rebellions happened in the Nickajack region of North Alabama and East Tennessee, the State of Scott in North Tennessee, Searcy County in Arkansas, and the Republic of Winston in North Alabama. Kanawha, which became West Virginia, was the only area to successfully break off from a Confederate state.
Among the many extras in the film is a man by the name of Christopher David McKnight, who is an actual descendant of the main character Newt Knight, played by Matthew McConaughey. Newt Knight is Christopher's great-great-great-grandfather and is from Lake Charles, LA. He heard the buzz about the film early on in its production and submitted his name to be considered as an extra in the movie.
Victoria Bynum: writer of the book "The Free State of Jones: Mississippi's Longest Civil War", as a hospital nurse. She can be seen in the medical tent sitting next to a soldier with a wounded shoulder as she reads scripture to a soldier amputee. The Bible verse she reads to them is Psalm 27:1.
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