The Twenty-Five Days of Morgan - July 11, 1863

This morning, General Hobson’s troops enter Salem, Indiana, barely seven hours after General Morgan’s Confederate rear guard had left town. The Union cavalrymen have made up some lost ground. They continue eastward without pause, following the Rebel chieftain’s path. The Federals reach Lexington, Indiana, at 8:00pm and camp for the night after Hobson and his subordinates decide that they must rest their exhausted cavalrymen. Hobson stays in the Faris House Hotel, the same place Morgan lodged the previous night. Many of the Union cavalrymen’s horses are going lame, because it is getting hard to find fresh horses at the civilian residences along the way. Morgan’s tactic of stealing the good horses from the region before Hobson’s troopers arrive is working well to slow the Union pursuit, but the Union cavalrymen’s determination is strong and resilient.

Around 5:30am, Confederate captain William J. Davis and his 129 cavalrymen who had been sent by General Morgan to ride around Louisville, Kentucky, and rendezvous with the main column near Salem, Indiana, finally reach the east bank of the Ohio River at 8:00am. They have accomplished their mission to confuse General Burnside, Lieutenant Commander Fitch, and General Boyle into thinking that Morgan intended to attack the Union stronghold at Louisville. Davis’s detachment has dealt a major blow to the Union military’s attempt to capture Morgan and his division of cavalry.

Davis and his men, composed primarily of Company H of the 8th Kentucky Cavalry and Company D of the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry, prepare to cross the Ohio River at Twelve Mile Island, so named because it is located twelve miles upstream from the Falls of the Ohio. Captain Davis and more than half of his detachment ferry themselves and their horses to the foot of the island, and then to the west bank, using two captured flatboats when, suddenly, downstream appear two Union tinclads (steamboats armored with thin plates of iron and fitted with a full battery of heavy cannons). They are the USS Victory and the USS Springfield, the latter still smarting from its ineffective engagement with Morgan’s Division two days ago. The Union gunboats immediately open fire on the men on the island and the Kentucky bank of the river.

Captain William J. Davis’s detachment at Twelve Mile Island, Kentucky, 8 - 9:30am, July 11, 1863

Lt. Josiah B. Gathright is the senior commander of the troops on the Kentucky side of the river. He has eight mounted men and thirty-four unmounted soldiers with him. After a conference, they conclude it’s useless to try to cross, and they retreat into the interior of Kentucky. Eventually, after many trials and tribulations, they are among the soldiers of Morgan’s command who successfully reenter Confederate lines.

Captain J. Taylor Berry and twenty-two men and horses are stranded on the island. They cannot use the single flatboat that transports them from the island to the Indiana bank of the river. The Victory has sunk the flatboat. They will be made prisoners of war by Union brigadier general Mahlon Manson’s brigade later that afternoon. Captain Davis has already successfully ferried sixty-two men and himself to the west bank of the Ohio River, but sixteen of them do not have horses. These unfortunate dismounted cavalrymen are left to fend for themselves, and they are soon captured by the 6th Indiana Legion Cavalry, who have ridden hard from Utica, Indiana. Davis helplessly watches from an Indiana river hill as his men are surrounded by the Union navy and militiamen, but there is nothing more he can do for them. At 9:30am, he leads his remaining forty-six mounted cavalrymen and heads north toward Charlestown, Indiana, hoping to join Morgan’s main column near Salem.

Unfortunately, due to lack of good intelligence, Captain Davis makes the fatal mistake of directing his troopers northwest toward the original rendezvous point at Salem rather than north toward Lexington, where Morgan’s Division had been camped the previous night. He follows the New Albany & Salem Railroad to a village called Pekin (now New Pekin), Indiana. There, while crossing the Blue River, his small detachment runs headlong into the 73rd Indiana Infantry and part of the 5th US Infantry. Many of his men are killed or wounded in the ensuing skirmish, and most, including Davis, are captured. Davis will be sent by Union authorities to New Albany and imprisoned there.

Before the break of dawn, General Morgan and his troopers depart Lexington, Indiana, after raiding the town’s three general stores, its confectionary store, and its post office. Post offices often contain letters with cash, and stamps are of value to soldiers. Furthermore, military intelligence could be gleaned from personal letters.

The Confederate columns turn north to their next rendezvous at Paris, Indiana. They pass through Hinesville (present-day Blocher), at which point General Morgan orders Colonel Dabney Howard Smith of the 5th Kentucky Cavalry to lead a detachment eastward toward Madison, Indiana, where a large Union contingent is gathering. Smith will make this feint to convince the city to hold Federal troops there for its defense. Smith would rejoin Morgan later today at Vernon, Indiana, having accomplished his mission to perfection.

General Morgan spots a company of fresh Indiana militia ahead of his column near Deputy. Masquerading as Colonel Frank Wolford of the Union cavalry, Morgan rides up to the leader of the militia and offers to teach him and his men formal cavalry drill if the militiamen lend their horses for the instruction. The militia leader delightfully agrees, that is, until the Confederates take the militiamen’s horses and weapons and ride away with a Rebel yell.

The Confederate main column enters Paris in the late morning. It’s another hot, humid day. The soldiers rob the stores and refresh themselves and their horses with water from the town’s public pump. Morgan levies fees upon the town’s mill owners, such as the proprietor of Sampson’s Woolen Mill, to protect the structures from being burned by his troops. Colonel Basil Duke observes that his men come to empty farmhouses looking for horses and food, and sometimes the families, before they had fled, have left pies and other baked goods on tables outside to act as peace offerings to prevent their houses from being destroyed. Of course, no harm comes to the houses, but often the soldiers break into them to get the valuables and supplies they need. The soldiers are initially afraid to eat the pies because they think they are poisoned. However, after they witness Colonel Duke take a big bite out of one without feeling any ill effects, the raiders waste no time devouring the fresh goodies.

Morgan’s main goal today is to capture Vernon, Indiana, a major town with stations on two important railroads that cross north of there: the Madison & Indianapolis Railroad, and the vital Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, which serves Cincinnati. General John Love, of the Indiana Legion, travels from Seymour that day to take command of 1,000 Legionnaires, home guards, and volunteers from the 63rd Indiana Infantry and the Michigan Sharpshooters. These men, under orders from Colonel Hugh T. Williams to defend Vernon and North Vernon, build entrenchments along the crest of the Muscatatuck River bluffs on either side of the Madison & Indianapolis Railroad bridge. The militia have also unlimbered artillery nearby. General Love is determined to hold this strong position, knowing very well he has well-trained men and artillery with him.

Around 4:00pm, Morgan’s troopers line up along the south bank of the river, and initially the Confederate general sends Colonel Williams a demand for the unconditional surrender of his force. Morgan uses the time to scout the Union line. Williams refuses, but Morgan decides that the enemy’s defenses are too heavy for his tired troopers to take. Morgan waits a bit longer before conveying a second demand for surrender, but this time, Love rebuffs it. Love asks for two hours to move the civilians out of the town before the battle begins, but Morgan responds that Love is allowed only fifteen minutes. While Love hurries to evacuate Vernon of its non-combatants, Morgan uses the delay to withdraw his troopers to the southeast. He is not about to get his men involved in a long fight on enemy soil while Hobson closes the gap with his rear. Two of the raiders of the rear guard are killed in a skirmish that evening after Love discovers he’s been tricked and that most of Morgan’s Division is long gone. The incident at Vernon would be dramatized nearly a hundred years later in a famous Hollywood movie called Friendly Persuasion.

General Morgan and his men spend the night at Dupont, Indiana, which hosts a station on the Madison & Indianapolis Railroad. Morgan’s men tear up the tracks in and near town, destroy the telegraph lines, and burn water tanks. While his men pillage Dupont’s stores and forage from civilians’ homes, the general finds lodging for the night at the home of Thomas Stout, a local miller. General Morgan will force Thomas to serve as his guide the next morning, but as with all civilian guides, Morgan will release him unharmed after a few hours.

Sources:

Cahill, Lora Schmidt. The John Hunt Morgan Heritage Trail in Indiana: A Tour Guide to the Indiana Portion of Morgan’s Great Raid, July 8–13, 1863. Attica, OH: K-Hill Publications, 1997, pp. 6-51.

Duke, Basil W. A History of Morgan's Cavalry. Cincinnati, OH: Miami Printing and Publishing Co., 1867, pp. 402-465.

Johnson, Adam R. The Partisan Rangers of the Confederate States Army. Louisville, KY: George G. Fetter Co., 1904, pp. 142-150, 438-467.

Mowery, David L. Morgan’s Great Raid: The Remarkable Expedition from Kentucky to Ohio. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013, pp. 73-80.

U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Ser. 1, Vol. 23, Pt. 1. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880–1901, pp. 11-15, 632-818.