At Huntsville, Alabama, John H. Morgan was born on the 28th of June, 1825. He was descended from Virginia ancestry, his father having moved from Virginia to Alabama in early manhood. His father married a daughter of John W. Hunt, of Lexington, Kentucky, a man of wealth and high standing. The father moved to Kentucky in 1829 and purchased a farm close to Lexington. At that time his son, John H., was four years of age. The young Morgan grew up proud spirited, brave, manly, enjoying and rejoicing in the best things of life. He became a very companionable man. He distributed kindness wherever he went, and none ever came to him in need and went away empty handed. He was extremely generous in his judgment of men and sincere in all his friendships. In military dress, he was among the handsomest of men, six feet tall, weighing about one hundred and eighty-five pounds, erect, handsome, graceful. In uniform he attracted attention wherever he went. He was a lieutenant in a Kentucky cavalry regiment in the Mexican war.

In 1857 John H. Morgan organized a militia company in Lexington called the “Lexington Rifles.” Later, they became a part of the Kentucky State Guard. This company was thoroughly drilled and comprised many of the best young men of the State. Its uniform was handsome and striking.

It was not until near the end of September, 1861, that General Morgan undertook service in the armies of the Confederacy. He would have been earlier in the conflict but for the serious illness of his wife, who died in the summer of 1861. The authorities suspected the loyalty of the State Guard and an order had been issued for its disarmament. This was resented by many of the companies and led a majority of its men of military tastes to take sides with the South. After concealing the guns of the Lexington Rifles, early in the evening of September 21st, General Morgan left Lexington with two-thirds of his company, and passing through Anderson County, camped at Lawrenceburg, twenty-two miles away. John Crepps Wickliffe, later lieutenant colonel of the 9th Kentucky Infantry, also had a company of State Guards, and these resolved to take service in the Confederate army. Wickliffe had captured a few Home Guards in Nelson County, and this put him in conflict with the Federal authorities. He united his men with those of Morgan and together they numbered three hundred. The interference with the Home Guards rendered further stay in Kentucky dangerous. After two days’ hard marching, this force came to Green River, which was then the dividing line between the Federal and Confederate forces, and here the newcomers were enthusiastically welcomed. Captain Wickliffe attached his company to the 9th Kentucky infantry, then being organized by Colonel Hunt. Half of Morgan’s infantry had come out mounted. The remainder managed to find mounts, and there were numerous horsemen scattered around the Confederate camps who quickly took service with Morgan. In order to employ his men and to give them experience and steadiness, he used them as scouts, sometimes, on such expeditions, reaching fifty miles into territory occupied by the Federals. During the winter two other companies came to Morgan, under command of Captain Thomas Allen of Shelbyville and James W. Bowles of Louisville. These made Morgan’s original squadron, which by the daring and genius of its commander quickly won fame and renown.

In 1859 a railroad was completed from Louisville, Kentucky, to Nashville, Tennessee, a distance of one hundred and eighty-six miles. Its chartered name was the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. All the streams in Kentucky run northward into the Ohio River. The Louisville & Nashville passed southwestwardly, and in pulling away from the Ohio, of necessity it ran perpendicular to the course of the streams, all of which entered the Ohio or were tributaries of streams that did. Salt River, Rolling Fork, Green River, Nolin, Barren, Cumberland and numerous smaller streams all traversed the pathway of this railroad. The topography of the country through which the Louisville & Nashville Railroad was constructed naturally demanded many bridges and trestles of great length. Few railroads were ever built that offered better facilities for destruction by cavalry raids.

A man of General Morgan’s boldness, intense activity and prevalent courage could not long remain idle. The enemy in front of him were the people he had come to fight. All who wore blue were his foes. To destroy lines of communication and harass and kill these men was the purpose for which Morgan had enlisted, and he was never idle when he could get permission to assail and punish them.

In December, 1861, when he was a captain, he won reputation by the destruction of the bridge over Bacon’s Creek, twenty miles south of Elizabethtown. At that time the immediate command of the Confederate troops on the south side of Green River was held by General Thomas C. Hindman. He and Morgan were kindred spirits and he aided the cavalryman in many ways in these incursions. General Morgan was overjoyed when he received permission from General Hindman to undertake the destruction of the bridge over Bacon’s Creek. In this enterprise, he was compelled to march for fifty miles in a country well garrisoned by Federal soldiers. His squadron at that time numbered two hundred. Apprehending serious work, he took all his men with him who had mounts that would pass inspection. Nobody could tell what moment Morgan would be compelled to fight, and he aligned every available man. The Confederate forces, by this time, were south of Barren River and it was thirty miles from the Barren to the Green River. Morgan camped the first night a few miles away from Green River, and concentrated his forces in a forest on the top of a hill. He waited until night to resume his march. He crossed the river just above Woodsonville, in Hart County, and riding until midnight reached Bacon’s Creek and was glad to find that there were no guards. His followers at that time were not as experienced in the destruction of bridges as they became later, but after kindling the fires and doing all in their power to aid its destructive agencies, in three hours the bridge crumbled into ruins and its burning timbers told the story of his success. The results from a military standpoint were not great. It delayed the advance of the Federals a few days, but to Morgan and his men it was a great object lesson. They now began to realize how easy it was by these long marches to do immense damage to the means of transportation on which the Federals relied to supply their forces, now slowly but surely making their way southward.

On the 20th of January, 1862, General Morgan undertook a still more perilous task. With five men he left Bell’s Tavern in Barren County, found a ferry where he could cross the Green River, and rode into Lebanon, sixty miles distant, with this small force. Several hundred Federal troops were encamped near Lebanon and there were many blue-coated stragglers in town. Morgan rode furiously up and down through the streets, destroyed supplies and paroled a number of prisoners. Far within the Federal lines, it became necessary for him to resort to strategy. He took from the Federal prisoners their blue overcoats, and he and his soldiers donned these and this enabled him to pass where, if his identity had been known, he would have been captured or killed. Unwilling to return empty-handed after this hazardous journey, he decided to bring with him five prisoners. Mounting them on horses, he added to his trophies some flags. He made a vigorous forced march. This was his only hope of escape from the dangerous situation into which he had fearlessly come.

Pursued by two companies of cavalry he brought his prisoners and trophies to the banks of the Green River and crossed it and turned the ferryboat loose, as the Federals arrived on the opposite shore. These two expeditions, so successful and accomplished under the most difficult surroundings, not only tried the mettle and the courage of Morgan’s followers, but gave their leader a wide reputation for daring. Morgan thus early acquired a taste for such work, which he afterwards carried out on a much larger scale, and with such success, which in a little while would mark him as a great partisan leader.

Between the Green River and the Nolin River, or Creek, was twenty-one miles. Morgan and his scouts had become thoroughly familiar with every foot of ground, and frequent dashes were made by them into this territory. There is nothing can create so much enthusiasm in a soldier as activity and success. The entire command became confident and courageous in such undertakings, and were impatient for their constant repetition.

General Albert Sidney Johnston evacuated Bowling Green on the 14th of February, 1862, and on the 16th of February, Fort Donelson was captured and fifteen thousand Confederate soldiers and a large amount of supplies were surrendered to General Grant. A few days later Nashville, Tennessee, was evacuated. This transferred the operations of the Confederates south and east of Nashville. From the ruins of Fort Donelson, General Nathan Bedford Forrest had brought out his command, and the Confederate cavalry, under Forrest and Morgan, became a part of the garrison at Nashville, immediately preceding its evacuation. When Nashville fell the Confederates moved back to Corinth, Mississippi, and from thence General Johnston advanced against General Grant and on the 6th of April, 1862, fought the Battle of Shiloh. At the termination of this struggle such a ratio of mortality was exhibited as the world had never before seen. At Shiloh two hundred and eighty men in every thousand were struck, and twenty-four thousand dead and wounded was the dreadful echo which came from this scene of havoc, to tell the world the earnestness of the purpose which moved and led the men who had entered into the Civil War.

Change of locality brought no cessation of activity to Morgan and his men. Two days before the Battle of Shiloh he was commissioned a colonel and given authority, which was to him far more pleasing than rank,—to act independently. He had now attained his chiefest ambition. He had a squadron of brave, chivalrous, dashing young men who would follow wherever he led the way and go wherever he told them to go, and he could use them where in his own judgment he could do the most damage to the enemies of the Southland. In the Battle of Shiloh General John C. Breckinridge, so wonderfully beloved by Kentuckians, commanded a division. To this division Morgan’s squadron was now attached. In this battle there was little for the cavalry to do, but they performed every service bravely and cheerfully. Morgan’s losses were slight.

A little while after Shiloh, Morgan received permission to make an expedition into Tennessee. His force had increased to three hundred and twenty-five men; marching with a swiftness that his enemy had not time to calculate, he captured Pulaski, Tennessee, and took four hundred prisoners. Later he made an effort to capture the city of Murfreesboro. Here he met reverses and it required some time for him and his men to recover from the shock of this defeat. Later he made a raid through Tennessee, reaching as far north as Cave City, Kentucky. Early in the spring, Captain John B. Castleman of Lexington brought a company of eighty men, and in May, 1862, two cavalry companies, commanded by Captains Gano and Huffman, came to Morgan. With intense joy he saw his command now increased to five hundred men.

Prior to June, 1862, no really striking cavalry raid had been made. Small forces had succeeded in limited forays, but they had accomplished very little, and the panic produced by the appearance of such squadrons was mild compared with what such expeditions would later develop.

On the 13th of June, 1862, Stuart had ridden around McClellan’s Army, making what was known as the Chickahominy Raid. Before Morgan had heard of this he had secured data for making an expedition into Kentucky, which in the length of march, in the terrorizing of the enemy and in the destruction of property was to be one of the famous cavalry expeditions of the war. A partisan ranger regiment from Georgia, under Colonel A. A. Hunt, had been assigned to Morgan’s command, and he now had, all told, eight hundred and sixty-seven men. A few more than half of this force were Kentuckians. Hope beat high in the bosom of the Kentucky contingent when, on the 4th of July, 1862, they rode out of Knoxville, Tennessee, and took the highway for Sparta, one hundred miles northwest. The portion of Tennessee then compassed by the command was not in sympathy with the Confederacy. It was mountainous, sparsely settled and full of bushwhackers, who improved their skill as marksmen by firing from behind rocks and trees into Morgan’s followers. On the 7th of July they encamped a few miles from Livingston, Tennessee, and by the middle of the day following, the Cumberland River was forded near the village of Selina. Tompkinsville, the county seat of Monroe County, Kentucky, was only eighteen miles distant and here was a portion of a battalion of the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Morgan thought this would prove easy of capture. His presence was unsuspected by the enemy. Sending forward his scouts to investigate, he held his troops on the banks of the Cumberland until darkness came. This gave his men a few hours’ rest and at midnight he resumed the march. He calculated that he could make three miles an hour over the roads, which were extremely rough. A short distance from Tompkinsville, Morgan detailed Gano’s company and a company of Mississippi rangers, under Captain Harris, to take the road to the right and get in the rear of the enemy on the main road which led from Glasgow to Tompkinsville. Just after daybreak he found his enemies. They had intimation of his approach and had made preparations to give him a warm reception. A few volleys were fired, and the 2nd Kentucky regiment, dismounted, assaulted the enemy’s position. In a little while it was all over. Twenty of the enemy were killed and thirty wounded. Some prisoners were taken, but Gano and Harris were in the rear and put themselves across the pathway of the fugitives and Major Jordan, Commandant, and a portion of his command were made captives. Curiously, only one Confederate was wounded. Colonel Hunt, commanding the Georgia regiment, was shot in the leg and the bone shattered. He was left behind and died in a few days. Wagons, arms, munitions of war, the very things Morgan wanted, were found in abundance. As General Morgan set out with two hundred unarmed men, this was a great windfall. Saddles and cavalry equipments were found for many of those who were in want of these essentials.

It took some hours to destroy the property, parole the prisoners, and at three o’clock in the afternoon General Morgan set out for Glasgow. At one o’clock at night he reached that city. These night marches were hard on his men, but they mystified and terrorized the enemy. The roughness of the road reduced the speed to three miles an hour. Captain Bowles’ company, of the 2nd Kentucky, had been largely recruited at Glasgow. This made a glad and happy reunion between a portion of the command and their friends. Marching ten miles to Bear Wallow, General Morgan rested until his telegraph operator, George A. Ellsworth, could ride to the Louisville & Nashville railroad near Cave City and attach his pocket instrument to the wires and get the necessary information as to the disposition of the Federal forces in front. Heavy storms of rain beat down, and the men as well as the mounts were drenched to the skin. Riding all night, by eleven o’clock next morning the command camped within fifteen miles of Lebanon. For military purposes a railroad had been constructed to Lebanon from the main line of the Louisville & Nashville at Lebanon Junction. Detachments were sent out to destroy bridges along this line. This delayed the march a little while, but at ten o’clock in the night Morgan surrounded Lebanon, and of the garrison, two hundred surrendered. The forces sent out to burn the bridges between Lebanon and Lebanon Junction had no easy sailing. They stopped a train bearing a large number of soldiers which had been sent to the relief of Lebanon, and this brought on a battle, in which nobody on either side was seriously hurt. At Lebanon great treasures were found. Hundreds of Enfield rifles had been stored there, and buildings filled with cartridges and ammunition of all kinds which had been stored away. The two little brass pieces that had received such rough usage over the narrow and uneven roads, in order to keep pace with the cavalry, were supplied with all the ammunition they could need. The hungry were fed and the badly clothed received unlimited supplies and the tired horses, which had now marched something like two hundred miles, were replaced, where necessary, with fresh steeds belonging to the United States Government.

Colonel Morgan issued a stirring proclamation calling upon the young men of Kentucky to rally to his standard. These were sent forward by scouts and placed where they thought they would do the most good. Reaching up to Springfield, ten miles away, another march in darkness was determined upon, and after tramping all night, at nine o’clock on Sunday morning Morgan appeared in Harrodsburg. It made but little difference to these men following Morgan if night was turned into day. The moon and stars were bright enough for their guidance and the well-graded and smoothly-packed turnpikes made plain the paths they were to follow and gave their horses, which had suffered so severely on the rocky, mountain roads, some rest after the harassing experiences of the five days before. Here was plenty of southern sentiment and southern sympathy. A number of Morgan’s men had come from Harrodsburg, and the people were glad to see a Confederate force. No time could be allowed for reunions with loved ones. Marching part of the night, the command reached Lawrenceburg, where it was necessary to gather more information. Three hundred and twenty miles had now been put behind these adventurous horsemen. It was eight days since they left Knoxville. They had averaged forty miles a day. Ordinarily this terrific strain would have affected the men seriously, but the pleasure and delight of home-coming to the Kentuckians and the excitement of those who had never been in the State kept all the men as fresh and bright as the day, when, with quickened pulses, they rode out of Knoxville. Stables along the line supplied some mounts, and the Federal Government had supplied more. Captures had given arms and ammunition, a few recruits had come in, and full of hope and full of courage, there were now nine hundred soldiers; and there was no nine hundred men on the other side that could have stopped the victorious advance of this daring column. The three and a half weeks allowed for this journey was so brief that extended sleep was not considered, and at the dawn of day, the next morning, stock had been fed and breakfast cooked and the column was in line on the road from Lawrenceburg to Versailles. Four miles from Lawrenceburg was the Kentucky River. At the ferry where the turnpike crossed it was not fordable. The ferryboat had been sunk; the men quickly raised and repaired it. The whole country was thoroughly demoralized and frightened by reports of the number of men Morgan had with him, and the sending out of detachments in many directions had multiplied in the Federal minds many times the number of his command. Kentucky was full, at the time, of Home Guards, citizens who had been armed for the purpose of intimidating the southern sympathizers. These Home Guards made haste to seek safety and refuge in cities like Frankfort and Lexington. Every town was looking out for itself. The country people would make no opposition, for the larger portion of them were sympathizers, and so Colonel Morgan gave his men a good rest at Versailles until ten o’clock the next day.

Eight miles from Versailles was the town of Midway, the halfway point between Lexington and Frankfort, through which a railroad had long been operated. This railway was used to run trains from Lexington to Louisville, through Frankfort, a distance of eighty-three miles, to carry soldiers to impede Morgan’s march. The authorities at Frankfort and Lexington did not know exactly where Morgan was and so the advance guard rapidly entering Midway, captured the telegraph operator. No cavalry commander ever had a more skillful telegraphist than George A. Ellsworth, and he was a most important factor in Morgan’s success on these expeditions. He thus tells the story of his operations at this place:

“At this place I surprised the operator, who was quietly sitting on the platform in front of his office, enjoying himself hugely. Little did he suspect that the much-dreaded Morgan was in his vicinity. I demanded of him to call Lexington and inquire the time of day, which he did. This I did for the purpose of getting his style of handling the ‘key’ in writing dispatches. My first impression of his style, from noting the paper in the instrument, was confirmed. He was, to use a telegraphic term, a ‘plug’ operator. I adopted his style of telegraphing and commenced operations. In this office I found a signal book, which proved very useful. It contained the calls of all the offices. Despatch after despatch was going to and from Lexington, Georgetown, Paris and Frankfort, all containing something in reference to Morgan. On commencing operations, I discovered that there were two wires on the line along this railroad. One was what we term a ‘through wire,’ running direct from Lexington to Frankfort, and not entering any of the way offices. I found that all military messages were sent over that line. As it did not enter Midway office, I ordered it to be cut, thus forcing Lexington onto the wire that ran through the office. I tested the line and found, by applying the ground wire, it made no difference in the circuit; and, as Lexington was headquarters, I cut Frankfort off. Midway was called, I answered, and received the following:

“The operator in Cincinnati then called Frankfort. I answered and received about a dozen unimportant dispatches. He had no sooner finished than Lexington called Frankfort. Again I answered and received the following message:

“In about ten minutes Lexington again called Frankfort, when I received the following:

“I receipted for this message, and again manufactured a message to confirm the information General Ward received from Midway, and not knowing the tariff from Frankfort to Lexington, I could not send a formal message; so, appearing greatly agitated, I waited until the circuit was occupied, and broke in, telling them to wait a minute, and commenced calling Lexington. He answered with as much gusto as I called him. I telegraphed as follows:

“It was now 2 P. M., and as Colonel Morgan wished to be off for Georgetown, I ran a secret ground connection, and opened the circuit on the Lexington end. This was to leave the impression that the Frankfort operator was skedaddling, or that Morgan’s men had destroyed the telegraph.”

General Morgan was the only cavalry commander who extensively or successfully used the telegraph to learn the plans and position of his enemies and to thwart their arrangements for disturbance of his progress, or to place troops in his front. The country through which he operated did much to aid him in this respect, but it was also due in great part to the marvellous skill of his operator, George A. Ellsworth. The story of how he misled his foes, and deceived them as to his intentions and line of march, is not only one of the most amusing but one of the most surprising of the war’s happenings. He passed through four years of war, followed telegraphy and died in Texas about 1910.

The Federals were so thoroughly alarmed that they were unwilling to risk engines and cars and men on the road. Reports of atrocities and barbarities of Morgan’s command were circulated through the country. They were called murderers and thieves and assassins and horse thieves. Bad names did not worry Morgan’s followers. They cared little what they were called if they could harass their foes. They settled down to a feeling of pride that they had been able to excite in the minds and hearts of the enemy such bitter and malignant hate. Neither Morgan’s nor Forrest’s command were much troubled over Federal abuse. They knew that if their foes cussed them, their foes must have suffered to arouse such maledictions, and they rode on and fought on, oblivious of what reports were circulated about their doings. Those who did not have southern sympathies escaped hurriedly from the contemplated line of march and hastened to Lexington and Frankfort for protection. Having obtained all the information that was necessary, at sundown Morgan appeared at Georgetown, the county seat of Scott County, twelve miles from Midway. With Lexington demoralized and Frankfort terrorized and with the Federal commanders at both places afraid that Morgan was going to attack them, he sat down at Georgetown to have a really good rest. A detachment had been left at Midway to delay operations between Lexington and Frankfort, and Captain John B. Castleman of Company D was sent to destroy the bridges between Lexington and Paris on the Kentucky Central Railroad. Captain Castleman did thorough work. He was ordered to proceed up and down the railroad, tear up the track, and burn the bridges. The country outside of the cities was now completely dominated by Morgan. Lexington and Frankfort were too fully garrisoned to justify their assault. Captain Castleman, after fully carrying out his orders, marched to Winchester. These were ready heroes when the highest daring was demanded, and the young men who served under Morgan were equal to any emergency. On reaching Winchester, after the destruction of the Kentucky Central Railroad, Captain Castleman would pass near the home of his parents. He had secretly entered Lexington in disguise and obtained full information as to the numbers and position of the enemy. Safely performing this hazardous work, he rejoined his command.

On the way to Winchester he ran afoul of the advance guard of Metcalf’s brigade. Without a moment’s hesitation he ordered his eighty men to charge the three thousand Federals. The boldness and fierceness of this assault demoralized the enemy. They judged that no sagacious leader with such odds against him would undertake such reckless work, and they receded before the assault, leaving their dead and wounded behind. The valiant young captain, not satisfied with the morning’s experience, returned to Horeb Presbyterian Church, a few miles away. Here his family had worshipped for many years. Behind the structure his command were hidden when a company of Federal cavalry came down a cross road. These also outnumbered the company which had, with such reckless valor, dispersed their comrades a few hours before. With the recollection of their previous splendid success, they did not hesitate to assault this new column. Waving their hats and filling the air with the rebel yell, they rode at the advancing foe. Visions of Morgan’s entire regiment flashed before their surprised minds, and not waiting for the moment of impact, they turned and rode away, leaving as testimonials of the fierce courage of the Confederate assailants a number of dead and wounded.

With these thrilling experiences attesting the intrepidity of his boys, a large proportion of whom were born and reared in the neighborhood, the youthful commander withdrew his company and pushed on to Winchester, where later Colonel Morgan found him awaiting his arrival.

Morgan was now alone in the face of his foes. He could depend upon no aid from his fellows. Insofar as help was concerned, he had “burned the bridges” behind him. There were none upon whom he could fall back. He was as far from all supports as it would be from Richmond to New York. The supreme audacity of such a campaign had never been known before. In no country, in no war, had any leader ever undertaken such a hazard or invited such peril. There were Federal troops three hundred miles south of him and thousands around him. The way he had come was lined with Federal garrisons, and urgent calls were made for Federals to face him and equally as urgent for those behind him to prevent his escape and crush the little company he had brought with him so far into the Federal lines. He was smashing all military precedents. The books written for the guidance of soldiers contained nothing like the history this bold rider was making, and there was, in all military annals, no parallel to what he had now accomplished. This new soldier Daniel had come to judgment, and there were none who could fathom or interpret his decrees. Later, others would rise up to emulate him in the pathway he had blazed. He was the pioneer, and the first cavalryman who had undertaken such marvellous marches, or defied the formulas and maxims that military authors had written for the guidance of those who went to war. Sage generals decreed him reckless, rash, heedless and prophesied destruction, capture, failure. They reread the books generals read and in all these there was nothing, they said, for this knight errant, but sure and certain disaster. But Morgan’s great mind had taken in all the chances he must face. He knew the country and the people whither he had come. He knew the courage and almost superhuman endurance of the youths who rode behind him, and so he bade defiance to axioms and precedents and pushed on where his genius and daring told him he would win victory and discomfit his foes, make new records for his horsemen, show others the effects of bold, dashing movement, and give to cavalry a power and efficacy of which the soldiery of the world had not hitherto written or prophesied.

With Federal forces about in every direction, in Frankfort, Lexington, Falmouth, Danville, Winchester, Cynthiana, it looked as if escape was well-nigh impossible. Morgan had now fully carried out his plans and so he turned his eyes toward Cynthiana, the county seat of Harrison County. It was twenty-two miles distant from Georgetown over a beautifully-graded macadam road. It was sixty-six miles from Cincinnati, and if Morgan could reach Cynthiana and capture it, this would still further disquiet and disturb Lexington and alarm the people of Cincinnati.

A force was sent to drive in the pickets at Lexington. This was promptly done, and the outposts went scurrying back to proclaim the near approach of these desperadoes, and while Lexington was vigorously defending itself from a present foe, Morgan was marching on Cynthiana.

The Federal authorities at Nashville, three hundred miles away, were frantic with fear, and Cincinnati was in the throes of chaos and fright. General J. T. Boyle was then in command of Kentucky with headquarters at Louisville, and he kept the wires burning, telling the story of Morgan’s performances. On the 10th of July he wired General Buell: “The rebels under Starnes, over two thousand, with three pieces of artillery, crossed from Sparta, Tennessee, into Kentucky, cut to pieces Major Jordan at Tompkinsville, and are moving on Glasgow.” General Buell, calmer, tried to allay the fears, and so he wired General Boyle: “Force of the enemy doubtless greatly exaggerated. A regiment of your cavalry, properly managed, will force him to cross the Cumberland or destroy him.” General Buell at this time did not seem to be acquainted with Morgan’s ways of doing things. By the 12th of July the situation appeared much more serious to General Boyle and so he wired General Buell: “Morgan has fifteen hundred men. His force is increasing. All the rebels in the State will join him if there is not a demonstration of force and power sent in cavalry. The State will be desolated unless this matter is attended to. The city is so endangered that I am bound to keep force here. Send me cavalry and other reinforcements. I know more of Kentucky than you can possibly know, and unless it is proposed to abandon Kentucky, I must have the force.” On the 15th of July he telegraphed General Buell: “The secessionists have lied for Morgan and magnified his forces. He has divided them up and is burning bridges on the Central Railroad between Paris and Lexington. Only the low and evil will join him.” On the 12th of July he telegraphed: “The whole State will be in arms if General Buell does not send me force to put it down. Morgan is devastating with fire and sword.” On the 13th of July Mr. Lincoln telegraphed General Halleck at Corinth, Mississippi: “They are having a stampede in Kentucky. Please look to it. A. Lincoln.” On the 13th of July Mr. Lincoln telegraphed General Boyle: “I have telegraphed him (Halleck) that you are in trouble.” On July 15th Richard Smith, at Cincinnati, telegraphed: “Danger of serious trouble here, external if not internal. Men enough for emergencies but no arms, no head. Military commander should be appointed for this post. Press this upon Stanton at once.” On the 19th of July General Boyle telegraphed: “The boldness of Morgan’s raid gives reason to believe that he has been reinforced and that they will fall upon Kentucky in her helpless condition.” The mayor of Cincinnati telegraphed that he had called a public meeting. He wired on July 18th: “Cynthiana surrounded at 5:30 P. M. Boyd Station, this side of Cynthiana, expects to be attacked any moment. Morgan reported to have twenty-five hundred men. We have no organized forces here.” On the 19th of July General Boyle, still more excited, wired the Secretary of War: “There is a concerted plan between the traitors at home and the rebels in arms. Morgan’s force has increased. It is estimated at from twenty-five hundred to three thousand. I do not believe it is so large. Every species of falsehood is being circulated by the traitors at home, producing consternation among the people to get the people to rise. Morgan proclaims Breckinridge is coming with thirty thousand men. Traitors throughout the State circulate it.” On July 24th Buell telegraphed General Boyle: “I approve of punishing the guilty, but it would not answer to announce the rule of ‘no quarter’ even for guerrillas. Neither will it be judicious to levy contributions on secessionists for opinions alone.... I approve of your preventing any avowed secessionist from being run for office,” and then so as not to show disregard of the military situation, with a touch of sarcasm, General Buell telegraphed the same day: “Is it true your troops surrendered to Morgan at Cynthiana?”

It was impossible for any command with the limited number of men composing General Morgan’s diminutive brigade to maintain itself much longer, surrounded as it was, not only by garrisons but pursuing forces on every side, and from Nashville, Munfordsville and Bowling Green, troops might be sent to cut off his escape through Southwestern Kentucky. These home-comers would have been glad to have pitched their tents around the Bluegrass and remained there forever, but dangers rose thick, fast, plenteous on every side and the question of escape now began to loom up as the greatest problem of the hour. As if to defy fate and to show his enemies the extent to which he could go, General Morgan determined to capture Cynthiana, thirty-two miles north from Lexington and twice that distance from Cincinnati. When he should once reach Cynthiana, if the game became too strong for him to return along the direction through which he had come, he might go around by Pound Gap, or up along the Big Sandy and reach Virginia, and then march down to the place from whence he had started. Several hundred men under Colonel Landram of the 7th Kentucky cavalry and a number of Home Guards were defending Cynthiana. The Confederate commander was anxious to give the Federals once more a touch of his skillful and avenging hand and let them feel once again the impress of his power and he rapidly marched to Cynthiana. The guards of the town had a twelve pound brass howitzer. This had been sent out from Cincinnati in charge of a company of firemen. Morgan thoroughly understood the topography of Cynthiana. The Federal pickets were attacked a mile and a half from the town and an advance guard chased them to the edge of the city.

To get into Cynthiana, troops would have to cross the Licking River. An old-time, narrow, covered wooden bridge led over the stream, but by its side there was a ford waist-deep. Above and below, one mile each way, there were fords. Gano’s battalion was sent up and the Georgian regiment down, with the command to attack the town from the directions along which they were ordered to move. The 2nd Kentucky, deemed the steadiest of those with Morgan, was to enter the town by the Georgetown road. The Federals had, with great skill, placed their men on the opposite bank of the river, and no sooner had the regiment come in sight than they opened a brisk fire. One thousand feet from the bridge the little Confederate howitzers were placed and they opened their fire upon the houses which had been occupied by the enemy. The Federals’ one piece of artillery had been fixed to sweep the bridge. Two companies marching up the banks of the river opened such fierce fire across the stream that the Federal troops at that point were glad to throw down their guns, and it was one of the curious episodes of war that their captors made them wade across the river to complete surrender. As the space through the bridge was in the line of the Federal guns and the approach protected by sharpshooters, it became apparent that to proceed in that direction would entail a large loss, so without further ado Company A of the 2nd Kentucky, raising their guns and ammunition above their heads, waded the stream and established themselves behind houses on the opposite side and poured in heavy volleys upon the Federal column. The “bull pups” were brought forward, but as the lines were then not more than one hundred and twenty-five feet apart, the fire from the sharpshooters was so fierce that it drove the gunners from the pieces. The bullets of the Federals, striking the horses, attached to one of the limbers, they ran away carrying it within the Federal lines. A game so tense could not last long, and Company C, of which Captain James W. Bowles, ever valiant—and at that moment thought reckless—was in command, charged across the bridge and up the main street. However reckless the movement, it turned the scale for the Confederates.

In a few moments the Federals were driven from their positions and forced back to the center of the town. The Texans under Gano and the Georgians under their lieutenant colonel now began to make themselves felt, and all three assailing parties met at the same moment around the piece of artillery which the enemy had fired with such rapidity and with great effect, and all three claimed the honor of its taking. The stream was passed, the Federals routed. The attack upon the depot in which the Federals had taken refuge was effective, and Colonel Landram, who was commander of the garrison, was chased ten miles on the Paris road.

Before the victory was won the new recruits, picking up guns which had been thrown down by the Federals, inspired by the courage of the veterans, rapidly rushed to the front and received their baptism of fire. Company A, which with such gallantry had waded the river to get at the enemy’s head, suffered great loss. The captain, first lieutenant and second lieutenant had been wounded and the command of the company fell to the third lieutenant.

The day was filled with stirring incidents. The march of twenty-two miles from Georgetown had been made to Cynthiana, and the first act had been closed by its capture before noon. Morgan had wounded and killed one hundred of his enemy; he had lost forty, killed and wounded, and had captured four hundred prisoners. With sorrow and grief he left a portion of the severely wounded behind, and the dead were abandoned and remained in the hands of kind and sympathizing friends, to be laid away in the cemetery on the hill.

If it had been difficult to get so far into Kentucky, the danger of getting out was hourly increasing. By two o’clock the march was begun for Paris, and Morgan turned his face Dixie-ward. It was fourteen miles from Cynthiana to Paris. A long way out from Paris, a deputation from the town met General Morgan, offering to surrender the place. As the sun went down, the command went into camp a short distance east of Paris. The day had been a vigorous one. Twenty-two miles to Cynthiana, a fight, captures, destruction of property, fourteen miles to Paris, was not a bad day’s work, and in the beautiful Bluegrass woods, with an abundance of food for man and beast, the hours of the night were passed. The bold riders had earned sleep and no fears of the morrow disturbed their tranquility. They had learned to let each day’s trouble care for itself. If they were not sleeping the sleep of the just, they were enjoying the repose of the worn and weary.

Early in the morning a large Federal cavalry force, estimated at three thousand, commanded by General Green Clay Smith, drove in Morgan’s pickets. These were not very hungry for Confederate work, and they did not push the fighting. The prisoners had been paroled, but a long line of buggies and carriages were sandwiched in between the commands composing Morgan’s following, bearing away the wounded who had met their fate at Glasgow, Cynthiana and other points along the line. There was a sort of brotherhood oath among Morgan’s men that the wounded would never be left, and it was only under extreme circumstances that this obligation was voided. The failure to find the usual number of wounded after a battle encouraged the belief that Morgan had taken the lives of his wounded to prevent their being made prisoners. If the Confederates could keep the Federals behind, there was not much danger. Morgan’s force had been camped on the Winchester road, and this was the way he intended to take on his march southward.

Well out on the Winchester Pike, Morgan waited for General Smith’s force, two and a half times as numerous as his own. The Confederate commander had no fear of those who should follow. He doubted not that he could outride any pursuers. His chief concern was about those who should get in front, not those who might come from the rear. From Paris to Winchester was sixteen miles, and though he was occasionally attacked by General Smith, he proceeded leisurely along the macadam highway between the two places, and rested his men at Winchester from twelve to four o’clock in the afternoon. A twelve hour march, including the night, brought Morgan to Richmond. He here found awaiting him a complete company of new recruits under Captain Jennings. Half a day’s rest at Richmond and another night march brought the Confederates to Crab Orchard.

Morgan had intended to remain for some time at Richmond and recruit as large a number of new soldiers as possible, but Smith was behind him, other detachments were converging toward his path, and the Federal colonel, Frank Woodford, was collecting forces to intercept his march southward and troops were being rushed by rail to Lebanon. Notwithstanding all this, General Morgan exhibited neither fear nor haste. He preserved the dignities of a complacent withdrawal from scenes, though full of danger, not yet so imminent as to make him rush away as if not willing, if necessary, to try out the wage of battle. A few hours’ rest at Crab Orchard and at eleven o’clock the march was commenced to Somerset, about twenty-eight miles distant. By sundown the space had been covered. Here the Confederates again found large quantities of stores, the telegraph office was open. More than a hundred wagons were captured and burned, and ammunition, shoes, blankets and hats, in great quantities, were stored in warehouses in exceeding abundance. There was lavish appropriation. A few wagons were loaded with the things which were most needed in Dixie, and the torch was applied to the others and they were reduced to ashes.

At Stigall’s Ferry, six miles from Somerset, the Cumberland River was passed, and that night the command camped at Monticello, twenty-two miles southwardly. All need of hurry was now past. There was no likelihood that the Federals would cross the Cumberland River. Morgan had outmarched them and out-maneuvered them and he was safe. With satisfaction and peace of mind born of noble achievement, he could look back upon the events of the past twenty-four days. He summed it up in these words: “I left Knoxville on the 4th of this month with nine hundred men and returned to Livingston on the 28th inst. with twelve hundred, having been absent twenty-four days, during which time I have traveled over a thousand miles, captured seventeen towns, destroyed all the government supplies and arms in them, dispersed about fifteen hundred Home Guards, paroled nearly twelve hundred regular troops. I lost in killed and wounded and missing of the number that I carried into Kentucky, about ninety.”

At Somerset, Ellsworth, the operator, had telegraphed for Morgan and himself several messages to the Federal leaders in Kentucky, and concluded his telegraphic work with the following despatch: “Headquarters Telegraphic Department of Kentucky, Confederate States of America. General Order Number 1. When an operator is positively informed that the enemy is marching on his station, he will immediately proceed to destroy the telegraphic instruments and all material in his charge. Such instances of carelessness as were exhibited on the part of the operators at Lebanon and Midway and Georgetown will be severely dealt with.—By order of G. A. Ellsworth, General Military Superintendent, C. S. Telegraphic Department.”

The story of the successes, victories and strategies of this wonderful expedition was quickly spread abroad throughout the entire Confederate States. The minds of many of the young men were stirred by the strange exploits of Morgan on this raid, and their hearts were thrilled with the story of his adventures and his triumphs. Many who had not enlisted were inclined to seek service under the Kentucky chieftain. They longed to have experiences such as he and his followers had enjoyed on this marvellous raid. What was accomplished by General Morgan set other Confederate cavalry leaders to thinking and inspired them with patriotic ambitions to emulate the tactics of the Kentucky cavalryman.