Morgan's Ohio raid.
In the summer of 1863, the Confederate army at
Tullahoma having been weakened by detachments for the defense of
Vicksburg,
Bragg found himself exposed to the risk of an attack by
Rosecrans from
Murfreesboro' simultaneously with a movement by
Burnside from the
Ohio to drive
Buckner out of
Knoxville.
Bragg therefore determined to fall back to
Chattanooga.
To cover the retreat he ordered
Brigadier-General John H. Morgan with a picked force from his division of mounted infantry
1 to ride into
Kentucky, breaking up the railroad, attacking
Rosecrans's detachments, and threatening
Louisville.
To gain more time,
Morgan wanted to extend the raid by a wide sweep beyond the
Ohio, but
Bragg would not consent.
Morgan set out from
Burkesville, on the 2d of July, with 2460 men and 4 guns, ostensibly to execute
Bragg's orders, but really bent on carrying out his own plan.
Although ten thousand Federal troops under
Generals Hartsuff and
Judah were watching the
Cumberland at various points,
Morgan skillfully effected the difficult crossing, overcame
Judah's opposition, and rode north, followed by all the
Federal detachments within reach.
On the 4th he attacked the 25th Michigan,
Col. Orlando H. Moore, in a strong position guarding the bridge over
Green River, and drew off with heavy loss.
On the 5th he defeated and captured the garrison of
Lebanon, and then marched, by
Springfield and
Bardstown, to
Brandenburg, on the
Ohio, where he arrived on the morning of the
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9th, and at once began crossing on two captured steamboats.
The passage was disputed by a gun-boat, and by some home-guards with a field-piece on the
Indiana shore, but by midnight the whole command was in
Indiana. Twenty-four hours later
General E. H. Hobson followed, leading the advance of
Judah's forces in pursuit.
But
Indiana and
Ohio were now in arms, and at every step their militia had to be eluded or overcome; to do either caused delay.
Turning to the east,
Morgan rode through
Corydon,
Salem,
Vienna,
Lexington,
Paris,
Vernon,
Dupont, Sumansville, and
Harrison, Ohio, detaching to burn bridges and confuse the pursuit, impressing fresh horses, his men pillaging freely.
Under cover of a feint on
Hamilton, Ohio, he marched by night unmolested through the suburbs of
Cincinnati, and at last, after dark on the evening of July 18th, reached the bank of the
Ohio, near Buffington Bar and
Blennerhassett's Island, where from the first he had planned to escape.
Morning found his pursuers closing in from all directions.
Morgan, with about half his men, eluded the net.
2 All the rest were killed or captured.
3 After nearly reaching the
West Virginia shore
Morgan himself returned, and with the remnant made for
Pennsylvania, hotly pursued, and finally surrendered on the 26th of July, near
Beaver Creek, with 364 officers and men.
4
Later on he commanded in south-
western Virginia.
After another disastrous raid into
Kentucky, he was killed at
Greenville, Tennessee, on the 4th of September, 1864.--editors.
