Story highlights Commissioners in Greene County vote against raising Confederate flag

A commissioner proposed raising the Rebel banner to honor those who fought for the South

Critics said the gesture would be historically inaccurate and offensive to many

(CNN) During the Civil War, it was a patch of the South so reviled by the Confederacy for its pro-Union leanings that it in 1862 it was declared "enemy territory" by the secessionist government.

The area's most celebrated native, Andrew Johnson, was the only Southern senator to remain loyal to the Union. Johnson would go on to become president, succeeding Abraham Lincoln.

And on Monday, more than 150 years later, Greene County, Tennessee, once again found itself ruffling feathers on matters pertaining to the long-gone Confederacy.

County commissioners weighed whether to turn the historical tables and for the first time fly the Rebel flag above the courthouse there.

But the proposal didn't pass muster at Monday's meeting, with 20 votes against the measure and just one vote for it, CNN affiliate WJHL reported.

20 say no, one person says yes to proposed resolution. Confed flag will not fly outside Greene County Courthouse. pic.twitter.com/dpAppEeTTW — Curtis McCloud (@CurtisWJHL) October 19, 2015