From Green River Morgan moved rapidly upon Lebanon, then occupied by a thin regiment, under Colonel Hanson. His demand for a surrender being refused, the raiders tried for several hours to capture the place. Then they charged into the town, set it on fire, and captured Hanson and his men, with a battery. In this conflict Morgan's brother was killed. At dusk, the Confederates left the ruined village, pushed rapidly northward, by way of Bardstown, in a drenching rain, and, on the evening of the 7th," ⚫ July, 1863.

their advance reached the Ohio, at Brandenburg, about forty miles below Louisville. Morgan had fought and plundered on his way from Lebanon, and his ranks had been swelled by Kentucky secessionists to more than four thousand men, with ten guns. The advance of Rosecrans against Bragg at about this time had prevented the co-operation of Buckner, and Morgan determined to push on into Indiana and Ohio, in an independent

movement.

2

July.

At Brandenburg, Morgan captured two steamers' (Mc Combs and Alice Dean), and, on the 8th,' proceeded to cross the river upon them, in spite of the opposition of some Indiana militia, and two gunboats that were patroling the Ohio. When his rear-guard was ascending the Indiana shore, and one of the steamers was a blazing ruin in the stream,' a force, equal to Morgan's, under General Hobson, which had been pursuing, reached Brandenburg. Steamboats were procured, and, before daylight on the morning of the 9th, Hobson and his little army were on Indiana soil. At the same time, a greater portion of General Judah's division, stationed in the section of Kentucky between the Cumberland and Barren rivers, had been concentrated and put in motion for the capture of Morgan. These consisted chiefly of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Kentucky cavalry, and went up the Ohio River in boats to intercept the raiders.

Morgan pushed northward to Corydon, the capital of Harrison County, before which he appeared on the afternoon of the 9th. There he was resisted by the Home Guards; but these were overpowered, the town was pillaged, citizens were murdered, three hundred horses were seized, and a new system of plunder was inaugurated, by demanding of the owner of each mill and factory one thousand dollars in currency, as a condition of the safety of his property from the flames. Having completed his work at Corydon, Morgan pushed on to Salem, the capital of Washington County, the next morning, captured between three and four hundred militia, pillaged the place, destroyed railway property, and received a thousand dollars each from three millowners. In this way he went on, from village to village, in the direction of Ohio, plundering, destroying, and levying contributions on the inhabitants almost without hinderance, until the evening of the 12th, when near Vernon, on the Madison and Indianapolis railway, he encountered stout resistance and defiance from about twelve hundred militia, under Colonel Lowe.

several times mustered out of the service, and then she would re-enlist in another regiment. Her name was Lizzie Compton.

The McCombs was first seized, and, while lying in the stream, gave a signal of distress, when the fine steamer, Alice Dean, appeared. The latter ran alongside the McCombs, when she was seized, and pressed into Morgan's service. When no longer needed she was burnt, with property valued at $60,000. The McCombs was not destroyed.

2 Composed of the forces of Generals Hobson, Wolford, and Shackleford, consisting of Ohio, Michigan, and Kentucky troops. These had formed a junction at Lebanon on the 6th, and, by order of General Burnside, Hobson was directed to assume the general command, and pursue Morgan until he was overtaken.

94

"July, 1863.

MORGAN IN OHIO.

Morgan was now assured that Indiana was aroused because of his invasion. There was, indeed, a great uprising of the people, but not in a way the Conspirators had desired and hoped for. The victories at Gettysburg and on the Mississippi had made their friends in that region exceedingly circumspect, and the counter-revolution had been postponed to a more propitious time. It was now the spontaneous uprising of the loyal people. News of this sudden and formidable invasion had reached Indianapolis, the capital of the State, on the 9th." Governor Morton' instantly issued a call for all the citizens to seize arms and turn out in a body to expel the intruders. The response was wonderful, and thrilled the loyal people of the country with joy, for it revealed the amazing latent power which the Government might, at any time, rely upon for help. Within fortyeight hours after the Governor's call was issued, sixty-five thousand citizens had tendered their services, and were hastening to military rendezvous. Party feeling was laid aside in the immediate presence of danger, and only the disloyal Peace Faction, which never, as we have observed, represented the great body of the Opposition, refused to respond. Within the space of three days, thirty thousand Indianians were organized and armed, and appeared in the field at various points.

Morgan was now alarmed. He moved quickly from the presence of Lowe's troops, under cover of darkness, and pressing on, his men in scat-: tered detachments plundering as before, he concentrated his forces at Harrison, just within the borders of Ohio, preparatory to making his way back to Kentucky as quickly as possible. He knew that Hobson was in his rear, and Judah on his flank, and that thousands of armed Indianians were blocking every route, however circuitous, for a retrograde movement; so he determined to strike the Ohio at some point where he might cross over into Western Virginia, or Northeastern Kentucky, and make his way back to Tennessee with his plunder.

When Morgan left Harrison, Hobson, who was pressing on in his track at the rate of forty miles a day (notwithstanding his inability to get fresh horses, because Morgan had seized them), had so gained upon the invader, that there was not more than half a day's march between them. Morgan quickened his pace, exchanged his jaded horses for fresh ones from the pastures of Ohio farmers, and plundered somewhat less for want of time. He swept around a few miles north of Cincinnati (where Burnside, like Wallace the year before,3 had declared martial law,' and called upon the citizens to defend their homes), and pushing on through the rich southern tier of counties in Ohio, struck the river at Buffington Ford,

July 13.

1 See page 455, volume I.

2 A commission appointed by the State of Indiana to consider the claims of citizens to payment for losses. incurred by Morgan's raid, closed their labors in December, 1867, when they had audited claims to the amount of $415,000.

3 See page 503, volume II.

4 On Saturday and Sunday, the 11th and 12th of July, nearly 12,000 men were formed into regiments; and a call of Mayor Harris for 3,000 mounted volunteers, to intercept the raiders, was fully responded to within twenty-four hours. For want of horses, arms, and equipments, they were not ready for the field until Morgan had swept by.

5 When they came to the Little Miami railway, east of Cincinnati, they obstructed the track, so that when a train came down, the locomotive was thrown from the road, wounding the engineer and killing the fireman. Then the raiders rushed from a wood near by, captured and paroled two hundred unarmed recruits, and burnt the train.

MORGAN AND HIS MEN IN PERIL.

95

a short distance above Pomeroy, where the stream is divided by Buffington Island. His situation had been growing more critical every hour. Governor Tod, of Ohio, like Governor Morton, of Indiana, had summoned the people to arms, and the uprising of the loyal inhabitants was like that of the sister State on the west, and with like effect upon the friends and foes of the Government. The people did all they could to assist Hobson in his wearisome chase, by harassing the raiders, obstructing the roads, and removing or protecting Government property at different points. General Judah, who had arrived at Cincinnati with most of his division, was sent up the river with his command, in boats, to head off the invaders, and bodies of militia were directed to move down from the north for the same purpose. Gun-boats were also patrolling the Ohio to dispute his passage of it. Yet Morgan moved on audaciously, plundering as he went, with a seeming assurance that he was invincible, until, at .length, he made the fatal mistake of turning from his line of march to Berlin, in Jackson County, where the Government had a large number of animals. There he was confronted by a small force of militia, under Colonel Runkle, so well displayed, that, after spending much precious time in real or feigned movements for attack,. Morgan thought it prudent to decamp, but only to find himself unexpectedly involved in a net of difficulties. Union forces were concentrating upon him from different points. Runkle was following him from Berlin; Hobson was within a few hours' ride, on the west; three regiments from Scammon's Kanawha division had come down from Parkersburg, and were watching for him; General Judah, who had landed at Portsmouth, was moving up with his whole division, from the southeast, and all the fords in that region were watched by gun-boats.

Such was the perilous situation of Morgan and his men, when, on the 18th. of July, they reached the Ohio at Buffington Ford, and attempted to cross the river, under cover of artillery. There a severe engagement occurred, on the morning of the 19th, when General Judah's cavalry struck Morgan's flank, the head of Hobson's column, under General Shackleford, struck his rear, and two armed vessels, near, Buffington Island, opened upon his front. Hemmed in on three sides, about eight hundred of the raiders surrendered, and the remainder, leaving all their plunder behind them,' and led by Morgan, fled up the river, and attempted to cross to Belleville by swimming their horses. The gun-boat Moore, Lieutenant-commanding Fitch, interfered, and after about three hundred had thus escaped, the remainder, still led by Morgan, fled inland to McArthur, and, on a zig-zag line, pushed on in a northeasterly direction, fighting squads of militia, burning bridges, and plundering a little, until they were enveloped by militia and Home Guards, near New Lisbon, the capital of Columbiana County, with Shackleford's. pursuing column in their rear, and compelled to surrender," first informally to Major Rae, of Shackleford's cavalry, and, half an hour later, formally to Shackleford himself. Thus ended, in death

July 26, 1863.

1 This plunder consisted of lumber and pleasure-wagons; silks and other dry-goods of every kind, taken from merchants; bags full of men's, women's, and children's clothing; jewelry, horses, and mules, and a large amount of money.

At the opening of this battle the venerable Daniel McCook, the father of seven sons who were distinguished in the Union army, was mortally wounded. One of his sons, General Robert L. McCook, had been brutally murdered by a party of guerrillas, while sick, and riding in a carriage from Athens to Decherd, in Tennessee.

'96

CAPTURE OF MORGAN.

or captivity, the career of more than four thousand bold raiders, who entered the Free-labor States three weeks before, excepting a little more than three hundred, who escaped at Belleville, under Colonel Adam R. Johnson, and found refuge in Southwestern Virginia. Morgan and several of his officers were taken to Columbus, the capital of Ohio, and confined in felon cells in the Penitentiary, from which the leader and six of his captains escaped in November following, and succeeded in reaching the Confederate lines in Northern Georgia.'

This was one of the most daring, reckless, and foolish raids of the war; and the leader, instead of receiving an ovation, as he afterward did, at Richmond, as a hero worthy of honor, should have been cashiered as a freebooter, who had robbed friends and foes alike for his own benefit. Instead of assisting the Confederate cause, he damaged it most seriously by arousing to intense action the then comparatively half-slumbering martial spirit of the loyalists in the Ohio region, and lessening the chances for that counter-revolution which the Confederates so much desired and relied upon. As an exhibition of endurance in man and beast, that raid was wonderful, pursued and pursuers sharing alike in that respect. For three weeks the race had continued without cessation, at the average rate of thirty-five miles a day.

We have observed that the Conspirators, at this time, were sweeping into their military ranks every able-bodied man they could lay their hands on. By a law of the Confederate "Congress," passed in 1862, Davis was authorized to call into the military service all "white residents of the Confederate States between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, excepting exempts." The first class, or those under thirty-five years of age, were called out in 1862. After the battle at Gettysburg, and the discomfiture of Lee, Davis issued an address to the people of the Confederate July 15, States, calling out all who were liable to bear arms, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years. It was supposed that this would summon to the field a little more than one hundred thousand men; but it was found that not more than ninety thousand remained subject to conscription. There were at least twenty thousand substitutes in the army, for planters and planters' sons were generally unwilling to take the field, excepting as officers; and it was reported that there were at least ten thousand fraudulent substitute papers held by persons not in service. And

a

1863.

3

The father, living in Cincinnati, heard that the murderer of his son was with Morgan, and, under the impulse of strong resentment, took his rifle and joined General Judah as a volunteer. He was shot, and died two days afterward.

1 Morgan made his way from the prison, when he escaped, with Captain Hines, who left in his cell the following note, dated "Cell No. 20, November 20, 1863. Commencement, November 4, 1863. Conclusion, November 20, 1868. Number of hours of labor per day, three. Tools, two small knives. La patience et amère, mais son fruit est doux. By order of my six honorable confederates." This was an outline history of the method of their escape. They dug through the floors of their cells, composed of cement and nine inches of brickwork, into an air-chamber below, and then through the soft earth under the foundation walls of the penitentiary, making a passage into the yard. Captain Hines superintended this engineering. They had furnished themselves with a strong rope, made of bedclothes, with which they scaled the walls. They had, by some means, procured citizens' clothes, in which they escaped. Morgan and Hines went immediately to the railway station (one o'clock in the morning, November 28), and traveled toward Cincinnati. When near there, they went to the brake of the rear car, with it slackened the speed of the train, jumped off, made their way to the Ohio, and, crossing it in a skiff rowed by a boy, found shelter with sympathizing friends in Kentucky. The utter carelessness of the officer in charge of the prisoners, in not examining the cells, gave them the opportunity to escape. A reward of one thousand dollars was offered for Morgan, “dead or alive;" but the first positive news concerning him was an account of his ovation at Richmond. For a more minute account of this famous raid, see a volume entitled Morgan and his Captors, by Reverend F. Senour.

DESPOTISM OF THE CONSPIRATORS.

97

so loosely were military affairs managed, that deserters, stragglers, and absentees formed a very large proportion of the persons enrolled.

Aug. 1,

1863.

In view of these ugly facts and the discomfiture of the Confederate armies at nearly all points, Jefferson Davis issued another proclamation," in which he urged the immediate return to the army of all absentees, and alleged that if one-fourth or one-half of them should do so, there would be sufficient strength to achieve the independence of the Confederacy. He offered to grant full amnesty and pardon to all who should immediately return to the ranks, excepting such as had been twice convicted of desertion. He appealed to the women, asking them to "take care that none who owe service in the field shall be sheltered at home from the disgrace of having deserted their duty to their families, to their country, and to their God." But it had become a hard task to draw men back into the ranks by persuasion. No bounties seemed to have been offered after the passage of the Conscription Act in 1862, nor efforts made to fill up the ranks with volunteers. So the Conspirators used their usurped power with a high hand, and men and supplies were forced into the service at the point of the bayonet, as it were. An agent was appointed in every county to seize, if necessary, supplies for the use of the army; and at about the close of 1863, the "Congress" at Richmond passed an act which declared every white man in the Confederacy, between the ages of eighteen and fiftyfive years, to be in the military service, and subject to the articles of war and military discipline and penalties; and that upon failure to report for duty at a military station within a certain time, he was liable to the penalty of death as a deserter. The history of civilized nations has no parallel to this despotic act. Davis and his fellow-conspirators had then reached a critical point in their wicked game, and seemed willing to sacrifice every man, ruin every family, waste all the property in the Confederacy, and see their section of the Republic converted into a wilderness' in a desperate effort to win, well knowing that failure would be ruin to themselves. They seemed to regard the "common people" as of no account, excepting as docile instruments for the aggrandizement of the slave-holding Oligarchy.

Let us now return to a consideration of the movements of the armies of Meade and Lee, which we left occupying opposite banks of the Potomac. We will first turn aside for a moment to observe some operations on the Virginia Peninsula, designed to be co-operative with the Army of the Potomac.

It had been determined early in the campaign to menace Richmond by a reoccupation of the Peninsula which McClellan evacuated the year before. General Keyes, then in the Department of Virginia, under the command of General Dix, had been selected as the leader of the forces that were to effect it. He concentrated a considerable body of troops at Yorktown, and so soon as it was ascertained that Lee was moving toward the Potomac, Keyes was directed to make a demonstration on Richmond, then held by a few troops under Henry A. Wise. Colonel Spear, with his Eleventh Pennsyl vania and detachments of Massachusetts and Illinois cavalry, about one

1 See notice of the manifesto of Howell Cobb and Robert Toombs, note 2, page 471, volume II. 2 See page 75.

VOL. III.-85