Morgan's Raids
MORGAN'S RAIDS
MORGAN'S RAIDS. After seeing minor action as a Confederate cavalry leader, Col. John Hunt Morgan embarked on a career as a raider in July 1862 with a spectacular dash from Knoxville, Tennessee, into Kentucky with 1,200 men. He pushed as far as Georgetown and Cynthiana, caused alarm in Cincinnati and Lexington, and destroyed quantities of Union arms and supplies. He also assisted Edmund Kirby-Smith's northward advance in September 1862, captured a Union force at Hartsville, Tennessee, in December and continued his activities the next spring. His most spectacular achievement came in July 1863, when he led 2,460 men across Kentucky, reaching the Ohio River in five days. Without authority from his superiors and pursued by Union cavalry, he crossed the Ohio River at Brandenburg, Kentucky, drove off some Indiana militia, dashed northeastward into Ohio at Harrison, and, passing through the suburbs of Cincinnati at night, bewildered Union and state forces by the speed and boldness of his attack. His Ohio raid ended disastrously in a battle at the ford at Buffington Island, but Morgan and 1,200 men escaped, only to be captured on 26 July. After several months' confinement in Ohio, Morgan escaped to resume his military career as commander of the Department of Southwestern Virginia. His raiding activities ended suddenly when he was surprised and killed in eastern Tennessee in September 1864. His raid of 1863 had given Indiana and Ohio a bad fright, had inflicted property damages of more than $500,000 in Ohio, and had helped relieve the pressure on the Confederate forces in Tennessee.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Duke, Basil W. Morgan's Cavalry. New York: Neale Publishing Company, 1906.
Ramage, James A. Rebel Raider: The Life of General John Hunt Morgan. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1986.
Taylor, David L. "With Bowie Knives & Pistols": Morgan's Raid in Indiana. Lexington, Ind.: TaylorMade Write, 1993.
Eugene H.Roseboom/a. r.