During the summer of 1863 there were many stirring events occurring that kept the hearts of the lovers of the Union on the qui vive and the character of the news was such as to bring much encouragement to the people. Grant had made a wonderful campaign in front of Vicksburg, closing with the Confederate general, Pemberton, and some twenty-five thousand of his men being penned up in that city, which, on July 4, was surrendered with all its men and munitions of war. Lee had turned the right flank of the Army of the Potomac and had crossed the Potomac over into Maryland, hoping thus to bring the war into the North and divert some of our western forces from the front at Vicksburg and Tullahoma, where Rosecrans and Bragg were watching each other. Lee’s army ran up against the Union cavalry at Gettysburg and a general engagement was brought on, resulting in the Confederates falling back to their old base on the Rappahannock.
Thinking to create further confusion among the armies of the Union and to further divert attention from the Vicksburg battle front, General Bragg detached the Confederate cavalry chieftain, John Morgan, from his army, lying between Tullahoma and Chattanooga, with instructions to raid Kentucky and the Ohio river points and carry the destruction into the North wherever he could find an opportunity. It was expected that this diversion would prevent the hurrying of troops to resist the marching armies of Lee, should that general prove successful in obtaining a permanent foothold in Pennsylvania. It also might divert or prevent reinforcements from being sent to assist Grant in his siege of Vicksburg.
Morgan, however, arrived on the Ohio river, at Brandenburg, Kentucky, too late to be of any assistance to either Pemberton or Lee. He was not deterred on that account, however, but at once set to work to invade the North and destroy as much property as possible. He seized the steamers Alice Dean and J. T. McCombs, which, not being aware of the proximity of the raiders, were rounded up by Morgan’s light artillery. Some resistance was made to his crossing, by Captain G. W. Lyons, with one piece of artillery. This was on July 7, 1863. In the artillery duel, Captain Lyons lost two men. Two of Morgan’s regiments having crossed on the night of the 7th, formed under the bank and charged the militia, capturing several and causing Colonel Timberlake, who then was in command, to retreat towards Corydon, where the militia had concentrated under command of Col. Lewis Jordan, of the Sixth Legion, which numbered about four hundred men.
Morgan, having no further opposition, succeeded in landing all his forces on the Indiana side, and on the morning of the 9th advanced upon Colonel Jordan’s forces, which had taken up a position about one mile from the town of Corydon. Here a sharp fight was precipitated, resulting in the Confederates charging the small force, outflanking and compelling the home guards to surrender. In the fight the Legion lost three men killed and two wounded; Morgan losing eight killed and thirty-three wounded.
VILLAGE OF HARRISON INVADED
From Corydon Morgan moved rapidly north and east and on the evening of the 11th of July was in front of North Vernon. The Indiana Legion of Dearborn county, which was under the command of Col. Joseph H. Burkam, of Lawrenceburg, was ordered by Governor Morton to secure transportation, rendezvous his companies and proceed to Seymour at once. This was on the morning of the 8th. The Legion was stopped at North Vernon, however, on account of more definite information being obtained of Morgan’s course.
On the evening of the 11th, Morgan appeared in front of North Vernon and demanded its surrender, demanding that the women and children be removed and giving notice to the commander that in two hours he would shell the town unless the place was surrendered. The brave commander, Colonel Williams of Rising Sun, rejected the message with an answer to the effect that if the place was wanted, let him come and take it. Morgan, however, was only playing for time, and long before daylight his legions were hastening eastward on parallel roads, camping on the evening of the 12th (Sunday) near Sunmans. Monday morning (the 13th) he left his bivouac at five o’clock in the morning and moved eastwardly, crossing the Big Four Railroad at Weisburg, Harmons and Van Weddins. Morgan hastened on through Hubbells, New Alsace, Dover and Logan, reaching Harrison a little after the noon hour. In the History of Hamilton County, Ohio, is the following description of the behavior of the cavalrymen as they passed through the town:
“About 1 o’clock in the afternoon of the 13th of July, the advance of the rebel command was seen streaming down the hillsides on the west side of the valley and the alarm was at once given in the streets of Harrison. Citizens hastened at once to secrete their valuables and run off their horses, but in a very few minutes the enemy was swarming all over the town. The raiders generally behaved pretty well, offering few insults to the people and maltreating no woman or other persons. They secured what horses they could, thronged the stores, taking whatever they fancied. One gentleman who kept a drug store was despoiled of nothing but soap and perfumery. Similar incidents were related of other shops in the village and from one and another a large amount of goods in the aggregate was taken, but there was no robbery from house to house or from the person; and after a few hours’ stay, having refreshed themselves and their horses and gained all the information possible, the head of the column began to file out of the village on the Harrison turnpike, in the direction of Cincinnati.”
FIRED ON OWN COMRADES
An unfortunate loss of life occurred at the Hardintown schoolhouse that evening, causing the loss of five men killed, one mortally wounded and eighteen wounded more or less seriously. The account herewith is the report of W. H. H. Terrell, who at that time was the adjutant-general of Indiana:
“The resistance and pursuit of the rebels was as nearly bloodless as any hostile movement on so large a scale could be, but it was destined to cause more bloodshed after its departure than it did by its presence. On the evening of the 13th, Colonel Gavin, in command at Lawrenceburg, having been informed that Morgan had taken Harrison and had turned back and was advancing upon Lawrenceburg, took prompt measures to meet him. He sent out his own regiment, the One Hundred and Fourth, half a mile beyond Hardintown, on the turnpike, where a strong barricade was constructed, and a line of battle was formed along the towpath of the canal, so as to use the canal bank as a defense. Colonel Shryock’s regiment, the One Hundred and Fifth, was ordered to take position a half mile in the rear.
About nine o’clock at night, while marching towards the desired position through a very short curve in the road at Hardintown, the rear of the column, seeing the head indistinctly in the darkness, and unaware of the curve, which threw the men in front on a line parallel with those in the rear, mistook it for a portion of the expected enemy’s force, and a shot accidentally fired at the moment made the impression so strong that they fired into the advance. The advance, of course, mistook the fire for that of the enemy and returned it. Colonel Shryock instantly rode down the line to stop the firing, telling the men that they were killing their comrades, but though promptly obeyed he was too late to prevent a serious catastrophe. Five men were killed, one mortally and eighteen more or less wounded; the following is a list of the casualties caused by this sad mistake:
Killed — Sergeant John Gordon; privates Oliver P. Jones, William Faulkner, Ferdinand Hefner, and John Porter.
Wounded — Captains A. K. Branham and William Nicholson; Lieutenants William E. Hart (mortally), Samuel Bewsey and Joel Newman; Sergeants Richard M. Baker, John Pyle, and James E. Bates; Privates Samuel E. Duncan, Edmund Bloomfield, Martin Hoover, William Flint, David S. Gooding, W. G. Johnson, D. W. Parish, R. T. Raines, Jabez Wilson, Allen R. Bates and Hart.”
FOUND FEW SYMPATHIZERS
It was claimed that Morgan had received assurances from spies that if he would once pass through Indiana, especially the southern part, he would find plenty of people ready and willing to assist him and might even receive some recruits to his thinning ranks. Be this true or not, he soon found that he had few, if any, friends. The whole state was an armed camp. He met with resistance at every crossroad. Wherever he turned he met armed resistance. Governor Morton, who had a genius for rapid organization, put thirteen regiments into the field in less than three days, armed and equipped, officered and ready with everything but experience. The Indiana Legion of the river counties was already armed and to some extent drilled, many of them uniformed. It took a very few hours for these to be ready.
In Switzerland county the messengers, horseback, went out to the country about one o’clock in the afternoon with notices for the companies to assemble and rendezvous at Vevay. By six o’clock that evening the town was full of men and they departed for Madison, where it was then thought Morgan was going to try to cross the river. In Dearborn county the Legion was equally as well organized. Colonel Burkam sent out his orders for the companies to assemble and it was only a few hours until the whole command was under way for North Vernon. Besides the regular armed and equipped Legion there were other companies hastily organized, officered and equipped with arms and ammunition. It seemed as though armed men sprang out of the ground, there were so many who had guns and ammunition.
Squads of men from the country neighborhoods assembled on horseback and hastened to join themselves with others, pursuing the Rebel cavalrymen on both front, flank and rear, picking off the tired, sleepy raiders whenever they wandered from the main command. As Morgan hurried to his doom in eastern Ohio he was continually losing men, who were so heavy with sleep that they were easily captured; while General Hobson’s force of cavalrymen, who had kept close on the raiders’ heels from Brandenburg to the final capture, was continually augmented by volunteers who, for the adventure, rode with them to the finish.
COUNTED WITHOUT HIS HOST
Morgan, no doubt, after he had crossed into Indiana and had traveled a day or two, desired very much to recross the Ohio and return to Bragg’s army. The federal authorities, realizing this, were alert to prevent it. In those days steamboats were plentiful and it was the work of a few hours to collect a fleet of six or eight boats, mount cannon on the lower deck, put aboard as many troops as could be conveniently carried and follow the route of Morgan, paralleling him as near as possible. General M. D. Manson, of Crawfordsville, was put in command of this force and so well did he do his work and so vigilant was he in keeping informed as to the whereabouts of Morgan that to him may be given much of the credit for the capture of the Rebel general and his command.
When Morgan was in front of North Vernon on Saturday evening, July 11, Manson was at Madison, or near there. In the afternoon of Sunday, the 12th, when it was not yet known which direction the rebel forces had taken from North Vernon, he was at Vevay, and by daylight on Monday morning, the 13th, while Morgan was yet in camp at Sunman, Manson, with his fleet of improvised gunboats, was at Aurora and Lawrenceburg. This was kept up all the way to Buffington’s Island, where the exhausted command of the Rebel chieftain attempted to cross the river by fording. After a few hundred had crossed to safety and while others were in midstream, the vigilant Manson came upon them there, halting the crossing and causing their capture soon thereafter.
CITIZENS WERE PANIC STRICKEN
Many amusing stories are yet told in the county of the celebrated Morgan raid; how cautious housewives would conceal their valuables and afterwards forget where the place of concealment was located; how panicky men, frantic with excitement, would say things and do things that afterwards seemed comical. The order was disseminated throughout the country that every impediment should be put in the way of the rebel forces, in order to delay their march and enable the Union forces to catch up with them. Some of the stories of the obstructions placed across the roads are amusing. It was said that by the side of a very level piece of pike there was a wild-cherry tree and an excited patriot was found by a squad of men riding by, chopping it down as rapidly as his excitement would permit. On being asked if he realized how long the fallen tree would stop Morgan’s command, he hastily, like one waking from a dream, swung his ax to his shoulder and departed.
Others have laughable stories to tell of how horses were taken quickly to the thickest forest nearby to conceal them from the lynx-eyed Confederates, when they would ride right into a squad of them. The Confederates took what horses they needed, sparing no one. Hobson’s command was in no better condition. Their horses were footsore and weary from the long pursuit and, in order to keep close on the heels of the raiders, the troopers must have fresh mounts. Accordingly, whenever they found a horse that the raiders had missed in passing, they were not slow in taking it. Some years after the war these horses were all settled for and the loss from this source was negligible.
The damage done by the raider was in Manchester, Jackson, Kelso, Logan and Harrison township. He rode through so hastily, however, that he had no time to destroy much property. Bridges on the Big Four Railroad over Tanner’s Creek were burned; horses were taken and eatables used when needed. But the rebel forces were well behaved and no complaints of outrages or wanton destruction could be made.
WORSE THAN A FAILURE
The raid, as planned to arouse the disloyal element in the North, was worse than a failure. Morgan found a united enemy. Armed forces were in evidence everywhere. The raiders that escaped capture and those who were exchanged returned to the rebel forces with stories discouraging to the cause. Throughout Indiana they rode through a land flowing with milk and honey — a land of plenty. Bountiful wheat harvests had just been cut and the thousands of acres of growing corn and the barns bursting with hay and other forage crops gave evidence of this plenty. The thousands of head of livestock, cattle, hogs and poultry; the abundance of horses — everything, to the eyes of the poorly clad and sometimes hungry raiders, indicated that the North was not even feeling the effects of the war in such a way to know its appalling losses.
Dearborn county, in this one event, deserves all the credit it ever received. Its people were loyal. The invader was met with armed force, none refusing to assist. The women were using every energy, preparing food and other necessary supplies. All business for the time was suspended. For a week at least, Dearborn county was turned into an armed camp. Night and day the tramp of armed men could be heard. Munitions of war were to be seen on every hand. The hayfield was left with the new-cut timothy on the ground, the farmer being too busy resisting the invader to pay attention to his work. The business man shut the doors of his business house and joined the nearest company organizing to repel the raiders. The young man on the farm hastily mounted his horse and rode away in the direction he had heard the rebels were to be found. Squads of these horsemen were to be found riding on every road and byroad. Nothing can describe to this generation the excitement and the feeling, or the determined resistance, felt in every breast.
Occasionally, in the line of the raider’s travel, they would find some person who would endeavor to curry favor by claiming sympathy with the rebel cause, thinking to evade loss or to secure gain. One case afterward was reported that was humorous. A man of this kind thought it wise, as the rebel forces passed on the highway, to hurrah for Jeff Davis with all of his might. The rebel chieftain and staff, happening to ride by at that time, dismounted and assured him that they were just looking for him; that a friend was what they wanted. They were needing a good dinner and, of course, if he was their friend, he would be delighted to get them up a good meal. The would-be sympathizer pleaded his wife’s sickness, his want of wood for fuel, and other reasons, but the chieftain was immovable. He was ordered to cut wood and upon refusing, a guard was detailed which, with bayonets, stimulated his industry all that hot afternoon, while with a saw and buck he provided the necessary wood and his good wife and family cooked for the raiders. It was safe to say afterward that this man had no sympathy for the cause of the Confederacy.
PROMPT RESPONSE TO MORTON’S CALL
Apropos of Governor Morton’s great genius for organization, in connection with the Morgan raid, the report of W. H. H. Terrell, adjutant-general of Indiana, concerning the organization of the minute-men for repelling the invaders is herewith given:
“Late on the evening of July 8, 1863, the intelligence was received at Indianapolis that a rebel force, estimated to be six thousand cavalry, with four pieces of artillery under command of Gen. John H. Morgan, had crossed the Ohio river, near Mauckport, and was moving on Corydon, Indiana. Governor Morton at once issued a patriotic call upon the citizens of the state, to leave their various occupations and organize for defence.
“Under this call, within the space of forty-eight hours, sixty-five thousand men had tendered their services. Of this force, thirteen regiments and one battalion were organized specially for this emergency, and the regiments designated numerically, from the One Hundred and Second to One Hundred and Fourteenth, inclusive, the battalion being assigned to the One Hundred and Seventh Regiment.”
Back to: Indiana History & Genealogy Project
Source
Shaw, Archibald, History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families, Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen, 1915.