Tennessee is great! I've been there several times visiting Civil War sites. Visited Shiloh one year in early December and had the park virtually to myself. It was like a beautiful fall day. Tennessee is one of the states that won't tax my state pension. But, my son wants to move to Florida so I'll try it for a while. If I don't like it, I can always move again.
I'm a Civil War buff too. I have a Civil War map from 1863 hanging on my livingroom wall along with the book that came with it.
IMO, TN is the greatest. Someone mentioned hating Atlanta and I agree. Atlanta is awful so don't go there. LOL Memphis is our Atlanta so don't go there either. If you decide later to move to TN, stick to the East side close to the mountains. I'm about two hours from the Great Smokey Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains so my area is very hilly. I'm in Athens, between Chattanooga and Knoxville.