MORGAN’S RAID IN INDIANA, KENTUCKY, AND OHIO.
July 3 to July 26, 1863.
While the advance of Lee into Pennsylvania was agitating the whole north, the rebels were making good use of their time elsewhere. A raid by a guerrilla band under their chieftain, John Morgan, was made into the three States of Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. He designed to sweep everything before him, and by attracting public attention to himself, give the rebel General Lee more opportunity to carry out his plans for the invasion of the North. His first attempt was to break off the railroad communications by which reinforcements could be sent to the defence of Louisville; having done this, General Buckner, from Tennessee, with the whole rebel force under his command, was to dash into Kentucky, capture Louisville, and in cooperation with Morgan, make an attack upon Cincinnati.
But General Buckner was prevented from participating in this movement. General Rosecrans’s advance upon the army of General Bragg, which took place about this time, made it necessary that the rebel Buckner should remain where he was. At this time Morgan, with a force of four thousand men, was in Tennessee; he had made a feint of attacking the town of Tompkinsville, the capital of Monroe county, in the State of Kentucky. Brigadier-General Hobson was ordered to Tompkinsville on the 20th of June. General Morgan immediately crossed the Cumberland river, made a rapid advance on Columbia, where a brilliant defence was made against them by a small force under Captain Carter, consisting of only one hundred and fifty men of Colonel Wolford’s regiment. They were, however, forced to retire before the guerrilla general, having first lost their brave commander. On July 4th, Morgan attacked Colonel Moore with two or three hundred men, at Green river bridge. There a fierce resistance was made to the rebel advance; but it was ineffectual, and Morgan marched onward to Lebanon, which he reached the next day. His demand for the surrender of the city was refused by the Union commander, Colonel Hanson, and the attack which was immediately made upon it was gallantly repelled for seven hours. At the end of that time Colonel Hanson, to save his men from utter destruction, was compelled to surrender. Many of the public buildings, and the whole northern part of the town was burnt by the guerrillas; and the men who had surrendered were forced to march with the rebels to Springfield, keeping pace with the cavalry, and in such haste that the march was performed by the wearied Union men in one hour and a half, the distance being ten miles. From Springfield, the rebels marched to Shepherdsville, and then to Bardstown. On the 7th they reached Brandenburg, on the Ohio river, where they seized a steamer which had stopped to take in passengers; having appropriated everything of value to them which the vessel contained, it was run out into the river, and anchored. A short time after, another vessel was decoyed into their possession by hoisting signals of distress on board the McCombs, the vessel which had already been taken. The Alice Dean, the second vessel, went alongside the McCombs, without any suspicion, and was immediately boarded and seized. On the following day, Morgan’s entire force, which consisted of more than four thousand, eleven regiments, and ten pieces of artillery, including two howitzers, were taken across the river. The rebels then gave up the steamer McCombs, but burned the Alice Dean, and also the bridge at Brandenburg. By this time the pursuit of the victorious guerrilla band had begun, but the march was very slow. On the night of July 7th, the whole Union force in pursuit, which consisted of troops under General Hobson, artillery and cavalry under Brigadier-General Shackelford, Colonel Wolford and his brigade, all under command of General Hobson (who had received orders to that effect from General Burnside), had reached a point within nine miles of Brandenburg; and on the next day they reached the river just as the last boat had crossed with the enemy. The rebels, still marching onwards, reached Corrydon in Indiana, on the 8th, where considerable resistance was made to them by the inhabitants. From Corrydon Morgan marched his men to Salem, where they took prisoners a force of three hundred and fifty men who had fallen back before the rebels from Palmyra; subsequently these prisoners were paroled. At Salem, the depot of the Louisville and Chicago railroad was burned, and General Morgan had issued orders to burn all the mills and factories in the town, but these were spared from destruction on the payment of one thousand dollars for each of them. Much other damage was done in breaking, destroying and burning; and every good horse in the town was taken out, and appropriated to the use of the guerrilla invaders.
From Salem they went to Canton, where they took over one hundred horses; at this place General Morgan’s right column entered the town by way of Harristown, and his whole force was joined together, and marched in the direction of Vienna in Scott county, which they reached at two o’clock on the morning of the next day. There much public property was burned; but private property was respected. The force of the guerrilla General was again divided into two columns, one of which was sent off in the direction of Madison, while the other under General Morgan marched in a northerly direction, and reached Old Vernon in Jennings county on the 11th of July. A surrender of the place was demanded by General Morgan; and on the refusal of it, the town was threatened, and half an hour allowed for the women and children to leave the place; but when, at the end of that time, the Union forces went out to meet the rebels they found that they were gone. The Unionists pursued, and many of Morgan’s band were captured. The rebels moved southward, tearing up the tracks of the Madison and Indianapolis railroads on their way, and cutting the telegraph wires. Changing their course to the eastward, they reached Versailles on the 12th; they then divided into several parties, and advanced in various directions. On Sunday night a large body proceeded to Harrison; another party of them reached Harrison on Monday. As they proceeded, on all sides, they helped themselves to the best horses in the towns they passed through, and leaving their own disabled animals behind, continued on their way. On the morning of the 14th they reached Miamiville, having passed through Glendale, Springdale, Camp Monroe, Sharon, Reading, and Montgomery.
At Miamiville a body of guerrillas crossed the Little Miami railroad, and at a point known as Dangerous Crossing they placed some ties and rails across the track near a declivity, so that when the morning train came by the locomotive was thrown from the track, causing the death of the fireman, and seriously injuring the engineer. The rebels then rushed out from the woods in which they had been concealed and took prisoners a number of Union recruits, amounting to two hundred. The prisoners were paroled. Arrangements being now made by the National troops to cut off the progress of the rebels by means of gunboats, General Morgan hastened his movements, until having passed through Williamsburg, Brown county, Sardinia, and Piketown, he reached Jackson on the evening of Thursday, the 16th, where he remained until joined by his whole force. From Jackson he started for the Ohio river.
During all this time the Union forces were in hot pursuit of the rebels, but owing to all the best horses having been seized by Morgan he had necessarily the advantage of his pursuers. So soon as it became evident that Morgan was endeavoring to reach Gallipolis or Pomeroy on the Ohio, the inhabitants began felling trees across the roads, and throwing in his way every obstacle they could to interrupt and delay his progress. Morgan’s men were much harassed in this way, and as in the course of their raid they had lost many of their numbers by exhaustion and by captivity the original force was greatly diminished. On Sunday, the 19th, the main body of Morgan’s guerrillas reached Buffington island, which lies in the Ohio river, close to the Ohio shore, about thirty-five miles above Pomeroy, and was chosen by the rebels as a place of crossing into Virginia on account of the shoals between it and Blannerhasset’s Island, twenty miles above. They had doubtless been well advised of the movements of the Union forces sent from all points, to either head them off or to keep them confined to the only route eastward for them, until they reached the mountainous region and the eastern frontier. The National forces were fully prepared and, indeed, expected a fight with the rebels at this point; and it very shortly became manifest that a severe battle was pending. On the evening of the 16th, General Judah in command of a large Union force, started from Portsmouth, and it was even then expected that an engagement would take place; for trustworthy information had been received at the headquarters of Colonel P. Kinny, commander of the post, during the afternoon, that the rebels were at Miamiville, about eleven miles out, and as it was not the design to either court or bring on an engagement, it being well known that the rebels were scattered over fifty or sixty miles of country, the necessary concentration which they must make was rather humored than otherwise, so that the result might culminate in the complete capture or destruction of the entire force.
General Judah kept as close as possible to the rebels, but between them and the river, when the doing so was practicable, until Morgan reached Jackson. Judah then pushed for Centreville, thinking that the enemy would take that route for the river; but he avoided it, and went through Winchester and Vinton toward Pomeroy, and thence north of that to the scene of action.
So soon as it had been definitely ascertained that Morgan was pushing eastward, the Union gunboats, Moose, Reindeer, Springfield, Naumkeag and Victory, under command of Lieutenant-Commander Le Roy Fitch, were prepared to do service in the coming engagement. These boats had been patroling the river from an accessible point below Ripsey to Portsmouth, but as soon as they were required upon the scene of action the Moose, towed by the Imperial, started up the stream, and was followed at regular distances by the rest of the boats. The Moose made the foot of Buffington Island on Saturday night, and remained until next morning, without changing position, on account of a dense fog.
The rebel force upon the opposite side of the shore took position under cover of artillery, in an extensive corn and wheat field, skirted by hills and woods on its north and east sides.
The rebels had their artillery placed on the highest elevation on the east and completely commanded the Pomeroy road, over which General Judah’s force came filing along unaware of the close proximity of the enemy. It should be noted here that the old stage road to Pomeroy, over which Morgan came, and the lower road traveled by Judah meet in an acute angle three-quarters of a mile from the battle-field. General Judah’s column came along the lower road within range at six o’clock, after marching all night, having started from Pomeroy, and not being as fresh, by five or six hours’ rest, as the enemy.
The rebels met the National troops in solid column, and moved in battalions, and at the first fire repulsed the advance, which was too far ahead to be assisted by the Union artillery.
Although the rebels had here their best opportunity, they did not follow it up; and the Union troops having fallen back to bring up their artillery, the fighting continued in a desultory manner until General Judah got his artillery into position and drew the lines of his army completely around the enemy. His troops then made a furious onset upon the rebels, and drove them back over the field to the shelter of the woods beyond. By a fortunate circumstance Commodore Fitch learned the exact position of the enemy, and was enabled so to direct his guns as to shower shell into the midst of their ranks, and render very signal service to the Union troops on the field.
Unfortunately the dense fog which prevailed, prevented Colonel Fitch doing as great execution in the rebel works as he desired, but his shots from the larboard and forward guns were effective, and a quick scattering took place. The Moose opened at seven o’clock, and as the rebels were driven she kept steadily moving up the stream, throwing shell and shrapnel over the heads of the Union soldiers into the ranks of the enemy.
It was soon plainly perceived that Morgan’s men were being pressed hard in all directions, and were evidently in dread of total discomfiture. An attempt to cross into Virginia was made by a simultaneous rush toward the river, the rebels throwing away arms and even clothing in their fear and consternation at finding themselves hemmed in by the Union forces.
The point chosen to effect the crossing was one mile and a half above the head of Buffington Island, and the movement would undoubtedly have been attended with considerable success, but for the presence and performance of the gunboats. The crossing was covered by a 20-pounder Parrott and a 12-pounder howitzer, dragged into position by the rebels in their hasty retreat, but before the guns could be loaded and sighted, the bow guns of the Moose opened on the rebel guns and drove the gunners away, after which the pieces were captured. Some twenty or thirty men only succeeded in crossing into Virginia at this point. Several were killed in the water, and many returned to the shore.
While this was transpiring on the river, the roar of battle was still raging on the shore and back in the country. Basil Duke, under whose generalship the fight was conducted, was evidently getting the worst of it, and his wearied band of horse-thieves, raiders, and nondescripts, began to bethink them only of escape. Many threw down their arms, were taken prisoners, and sent to the rear. Others sought the shelter of trees, or ran wildly from one point to another, and thus exposed themselves far more to the deadly chances of the field than if they had displayed courage, and stood up to the fight.
A running fight next ensued, as the main force of the enemy retreated up stream toward a point on the Ohio shore opposite Belleville, Va. The retreat was made as rapidly as possible, but considerable confusion was apparent. The gunboat kept almost ahead of the retreating column, and when practicable, threw shell over the river bank toward it.
The rebels next attempted to cross at Belleville; but the Moose, which had reached that point, fired upon the first party which tried to land. They then pushed further along the shore, and made an effort to cross at Hawkinsport, but were again foiled in their attempt by the gunboat.
While the Moose was winning her laurels, the other boats of the fleet were not failing to enact their regularly assigned part of the programme, which was to guard the fords below the island, and prevent any roaming squads of the rebels crossing to the much-wished-for Virginia shore.
It is said that some of Morgan’s men sang, “Oh! carry me back to Ole Virginny,” with a pathos and sincerity of tone quite suggestive, not, to say touching, and it certainly cannot be denied that Captain Fitch “went for them” with a degree of alacrity which proved his entire willingness to assist them as far as he could.
The engagement was kept up pretty briskly, and the rebels, as a body, effectually prevented from crossing into Virginia; the entire force was most gallantly fought, defeated, and utterly routed. A large number of the rebels were captured, with all of their arms, guns, and accoutrements; and a great many of their horses, and the plunder they had carried away from the towns they passed through. Over one thousand and seven hundred of the guerrilla band was computed to have fallen into the hands of the Union soldiers; and they admitted a loss of two hundred killed and wounded on the field. The Union loss was not more than one fourth of that number. The chief source of regret to the National troops was, of course, that the guerrilla general had effected his escape: but they had one and all fully determined that he should not be allowed to roam at large for any length of time, nor have any opportunity of collecting together another band from the remnants of his scattered army. Accordingly, the pursuit was kept up vigorously, until on the 26th of July, the daring guerrilla leader was made prisoner near New Lisbon, where, with a small remnant of his men, he had tried to cross the river. The event was announced in the following way by General Shackelford, in a dispatch sent to General Burnside:
“By the blessing of Almighty God, I have succeeded in capturing General John H. Morgan, Colonel Clicke, and the remainder of the command, amounting to about four hundred prisoners.”