The Twenty-Five Days of Morgan - July 9, 1863

As dawn breaks, all 2,100 of General John H. Morgan’s remaining men, horses, wagons, and artillery are on Indiana soil and have moved inland without any serious resistance. Morgan has lost nearly four hundred men killed, wounded, captured, or sent on detached duty over the course of the past week. Between 50 and 100 of those on detached duty will successfully reach Confederate lines.

The Confederate rear guard at Morvin’s Landing, Indiana, has mounted to leave when about 7:00am, the advance guard of General Hobson’s Union Provisional Division rides onto the Brandenburg wharf. Morgan’s troopers wave and mock Hobson’s troopers from across the river as the Confederates slip away into the misty hills of the Hoosier State. Hobson, Burnside, and Bragg are all stunned when they learn that Morgan’s Division is in Indiana.

General Henry Judah learns of Morgan’s presence near Brandenburg. Over the past few days, Judah had finally ferried his troopers across the Green River at Vaughn’s Ferry (after a 36-hour delay) and had moved to Elizabethtown, a key station on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, but instead of heading north for Louisville to coordinate with Hobson’s division, Judah had turned southwest to Leitchfield, Kentucky. Leitchfield is about forty miles south of Brandenburg. Judah’s reasoning behind this odd and unfortunate decision is that he believes Morgan will return to Tennessee in this direction, and that he can crush Morgan between his forces and Hobson’s. Judah would find out later today just how wrong were his predictions. By this maneuver in a direction opposite to Morgan’s and Hobson’s vectors, Judah would essentially put the men under his immediate command out of action for nearly a week.

Morgan breaks camp at Frake’s Mill and around Laconia, Indiana, and travels north toward the city of Corydon, the former capitol of the state. Local Indiana Legion commander Colonel Lewis Jordan had been informed of Morgan’s appearance at Brandenburg the day prior. Immediately, Jordan had begun moving Legion units and home guards from the surrounding environs to converge on a shallow ridge a mile south of Corydon. Throughout the day on July 8, roughly 450 men had arrived and had constructed temporary breastworks of stones, hay bales, fence rails, and logs that stretch for about a mile in length. These hastily built, crude barricades cover the three major roads leading into Corydon – from west to east, the New Amsterdam Road, the Mauckport Road, and the Laconia Road. Unfortunately, Colonel Jordan could not locate any artillery. His defense would be composed strictly of greenhorn infantry and cavalry units.

Colonel Duke’s First Brigade, the first troopers to arrive on the scene, receive a volley from Jordan’s Legionnaires behind the Laconia Road barricade around 1:00pm. When the advance guard of the 14th Kentucky and 2nd Kentucky cavalry regiments subsequently assault the Union militia barricade, the Union militia repulse the mounted charge. The Confederates suffer numerous casualties. They fall back and wait a few minutes for Johnson’s Second Brigade to attack Jordan’s defenses on the Mauckport and New Amsterdam roads, but Johnson’s initial piecemeal engagements stall. General Morgan orders Byrne’s battery to deploy along the Mauckport Road, and he instructs Duke to launch flank attacks against the enemy defenses along the Laconia and New Amsterdam roads when Byrne opens fire on the Union center. Johnson’s troopers would hold the Union center in check.

The plan works perfectly. The shrill sounds of the incoming rounds of artillery shells, followed by their horrific blasts, paralyze the minds of the greenhorn militiamen who are defending the middle of the Union line, and Jordan’s men begin to break for the rear. Combined with Johnson’s rifle volleys and Duke’s simultaneous attacks on the Union left and right flanks, Jordan’s whole line instantly crumbles. The Union militiamen turn and run toward Corydon, dropping their weapons and relieving themselves of anything that encumbers their sprint toward Indian Creek, which separates them from the streets of Corydon. The Battle of Corydon, Indiana’s only Civil War battle, lasts only 30 minutes.

Morgan sends his mounted cavalrymen up the three roads and around the outskirts of the city to surround the fleeing militiamen. By 2:00pm, Morgan captures 345 of the 450 Hoosier militiamen and home guards. Corydon falls to Morgan’s Division. The Rebels corral the prisoners at the courthouse (the former State Capitol building) where Morgan’s aide will parole them. Prisoners would otherwise slow the Confederates’ pace and use up their limited provisions. The Confederate casualties total eight killed and thirty-three wounded. The Union forces lose three killed and two wounded in addition to those captured.

While General Morgan takes a nap in the Kintner Hotel, his men loot the stores of Corydon, which are filled with luxuries that don’t normally exist in stores in Kentucky or the rest of the economically depressed Confederacy. The raiders also steal personal items, such as watches, jewelry, and money, from the civilians in the streets. The people of the North would at last feel the sting of war that citizens of the South have endured for two years from Union soldiers.

After waking from his nap, General Morgan rifles through the local newspapers for military intelligence. He learns that Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton has called out the Indiana Legions and any other available troops to stop Morgan from progressing through Indiana. Nearly 65,000 volunteer soldiers, Indiana Legionnaires, and home guards would eventually chase or engage Morgan in the Hoosier State. Morgan also learns that General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia have been defeated at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and that General Ulysses Grant has received the surrender of the Confederate army at Vicksburg, Mississippi. These two devastating losses would sound the death knell of the Confederacy.

By late afternoon, Morgan’s cavalrymen leave Corydon and ride northward to Palmyra. They pass through Hursttown and New Salisbury. They camp south of Palmyra and at other nearby villages. Morgan’s troopers would rarely camp in one place. Spreading out their campsite over several miles ensures that the whole force would not be attacked all at once. On the other hand, Morgan’s men stayed within riding distance of each other to assist whenever another portion would be attacked.

In response to Morgan’s invasion of the North, the Northern press would create mostly exaggerated or slanderous propaganda that depicted Morgan’s troopers as cutthroats, murderers, and thieves. This negative propaganda works in Morgan’s favor, because it would scare the citizens and home guards in his path sufficiently to make them flee before him and to deter bushwhacking of the Confederate soldiers. Morgan’s troopers will often find whole villages deserted before his men ever reach them. Yet, Morgan’s troopers are under strict orders never to harm civilians – especially women and children. Unionist men would be left alone unless they are armed or if they threaten the raiders. Civilians who shoot at them are treated as enemy soldiers. Duke and Johnson maintain this discipline in their men throughout the raid, with only a handful of debatable exceptions.

General Ambrose Burnside, at his Department of the Ohio headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, learns this morning of Morgan’s successful crossing of the Ohio River. Incredulous, he orders his subordinate leader of all Indiana troops, veteran Brigadier General Orlando B. Willcox, to organize his forces to stop or delay Morgan’s advance through the state. However, Morgan’s swift and unpredictable movements would outwit Willcox over the coming days.

General Hobson meets with his leaders to decide what to do next. They all agree that they should cross the Ohio River and pursue Morgan’s troops. They wait all day to receive steamboats from Louisville to ferry their men at Brandenburg. They transport their troopers, horses, artillery, and wagons over the Ohio River throughout the evening and into the next morning.

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.