Morgan's Raid

Military campaign in the American Civil War

Morgan's Raid (also the Calico Raid or Great Raid of 1863) was a diversionary incursion by Confederate cavalry into the Union states of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia during the American Civil War. The raid took place from June 11 to July 26, 1863. It is named for the commander of the Confederate troops, Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan. Although it caused temporary alarm in the North, the raid failed. The raid covered more than 1000 mile (1609 km), beginning in Tennessee and ending in northern Ohio. It coincided with the Vicksburg and Gettysburg Campaigns. It was meant to draw U. S. troops away from those fronts by frightening the North into demanding its troops return home. Despite his initial successes, Morgan failed to recross the Ohio River and eventually surrendered what remained of his command in northeastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania border. Morgan and other senior officers were held in the Ohio Penitentiary, but they tunneled their way out and took a train to Cincinnati, where they crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky.

General Morgan and his 2,460 handpicked Confederate cavalrymen, along with four artillery pieces, departed from Sparta, Tennessee, on June 11, 1863. The expedition intended to divert the attention of the Union Army of the Ohio from Confederate forces in the state and possibly stir up pro Confederate sentiments in the North. General Braxton Bragg, the regional Confederate commander, intended Morgan's cavalrymen to distract U. S. forces by entering Kentucky. Morgan, however, confided to some of his officers that he had long desired to invade Indiana and Ohio to bring the terror of war to the Union. Bragg had given him carte blanche to ride throughout Tennessee and Kentucky, but ordered him to under no circumstances cross the Ohio River. On June 23, the Federal Army of the Cumberland began its operations against General Bragg's Confederate Army of Tennessee in what became known as the Tullahoma Campaign, and Morgan decided it was time to move northward into Kentucky. On July 2, hoping to disrupt Union communication lines, Morgan rode into Kentucky, where sympathetic citizens openly welcomed his cavalrymen. Crossing the rain swollen Cumberland River at Burkesville, Morgan's division advanced to the Green River, where it was deflected by half of a Union regiment (the 25th Michigan Infantry) at the Battle of Tebbs Bend on July 4. Morgan surprised and captured the garrison at Lebanon. He trapped 400 men from the 20th Kentucky in the town's railroad depot, but the well fortified building provided considerable protection. In a six hour fight, Federal troops killed Morgan's youngest brother, Thomas, during the Confederate's final charge. Morgan finally captured and then paroled the U. S. troops. A grieving Morgan continued northward to Louisville, riding through Springfield, Bardstown, and Garnettsville. Along the way, the Confederates endured several smaller skirmishes with Union troops and Kentucky home guard units. However, he turned his remaining men to the northwest and headed for the Ohio River just south of the city. At Springfield, Morgan sent a detachment north and east of Louisville, intending to confuse Union forces about where Morgan was heading. Before rejoining Morgan, this detachment crossed the Ohio River at Twelve Mile Island and was captured near New Pekin, Indiana. To further mislead the U. S. soldiers of his objectives, Morgan had his telegrapher, "Lightning" Ellsworth, tap telegraph lines and, pretending to be a Union telegrapher, send several messages giving different headings for the raiders and false reports of the size of Morgan's force—sometimes reporting it as high as 7,000 men. Ellsworth did this throughout the journey, especially in Indiana.

Morgan had sent spy Thomas Hines and a party of 62 Confederates, posing as a Union patrol, on a secret mission into Indiana in June to determine if the local Copperheads would support or join Morgan's impending raid. After visiting the local Copperhead leader, Dr. William A. Bowles, Hines learned that no desired support would be forthcoming. He and his scouts were soon identified as actually being Confederates, and, in a minor skirmish near Leavenworth, Indiana, Hines had to abandon his men as he swam across the Ohio River under gunfire. He wandered around Kentucky for a week seeking information on Morgan's whereabouts. By now reduced to 1,800 men, Morgan's main column had arrived on the morning of July 8 at Brandenburg, Kentucky, a small town along the Ohio River, where Hines rejoined them. Here, the raiders seized two steamboats, the John B. McCombs and the Alice Dean. Morgan, against Bragg's strict orders, transported his command across the river to Indiana, landing just east of Mauckport. A small company of Indiana home guards contested the crossing with an artillery piece, as did a riverboat carrying a six pounder. However, the gunboat soon withdrew, and Morgan's forces safely crossed the river into Indiana that night. After burning the Alice Dean and sending the John B. McCombs downriver with instructions not to pursue him, Morgan headed away from the river. Governor Oliver P. Morton worked feverishly to organize Indiana's defense, calling for men to take up arms and form militia companies. Thousands responded and organized themselves into companies and regiments. Col. Lewis Jordan took command of the 450 members of the Harrison County Home Guard (Sixth Regiment, Indiana Legion), consisting of poorly trained civilians with a motley collection of arms. His goal was to delay Morgan long enough for Union reinforcements to arrive. Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside, commander of the Department of the Ohio with headquarters in Cincinnati, quickly organized local Federal troops and home militia to cut off Morgan's routes back to the Confederacy. Morgan headed northward on Mauckport Road with another brother, Colonel Richard Morgan, leading the forward elements. On July 9, 1 mile (2 km) south of Corydon, Indiana, the county seat of Harrison County, his advance guard encountered Jordan's small force, drawn in a battle line behind a hastily thrown up barricade of logs. The colonel attacked, and in a short but spirited battle of less than an hour, he simultaneously outflanked both Union wings, completely routing the hapless militia. Accounts vary as to the number of casualties that resulted from the Battle of Corydon, but one source estimates that 4 of Jordan's men were killed, 10–12 were wounded, and 355 were captured. Morgan counted 11 dead and 40 wounded raiders. Among the dead Federals was the civilian toll keeper who perished near his tollgate. Raiders killed a Lutheran minister, Reverend Peter Glenn, on his farm, 4 mile (6 km) from the battlefield, and stole horses from several other farmers. On the night of July 11, Morgan camped near the town of Dupont, Indiana. Subsequently, on July 12, his men burned the town's storehouse. They stole 2,000 hams before continuing east. By the next day, such a large amount of meat in the open air had attracted flies, and the soldiers began discarding hams along the side of the road, leaving a trail for Indiana militia troops to follow as they chased Morgan and his men out of the state. Morgan then headed for Salem, immediately occupying the town and placing guards over the stores and streets. His cavalrymen burned the large brick depot, along with all the railcars on the track and the railroad bridges on each side of town. They demanded ransoms from area flour and grist mills. After looting stores and taking about $500, they departed in the afternoon. Morgan finally left Indiana at Harrison, closely pursued by U. S. cavalry. The raid of the rebel Morgan into Indiana, which he seems to be pursuing with great boldness, has thoroughly aroused the people of that State and of Ohio to a sense of their danger. On 13th General Burnside declared martial law in Cincinnati, and in Covington and Newport on the Kentucky side. All business is suspended until further orders, and all citizens are required to organize in accordance with the direction of the State and municipal authorities. There is nothing definite as to Morgan's whereabouts; but it is supposed that he will endeavor to move around the city of Cincinnati and cross the river between there and Maysville. The militia is concentrating, in obedience to the order of Governor Tod.||July 25, 1863|source=Harper's Weekly

Sidestepping Burnside's forces that protected Cincinnati to the south he traveled through such northern communities as Harrison, New Baltimore, Colerain, Springdale, Glendale and Sharonville. Morgan and his men ran into significant resistance when trying to capture Camp Dennison. Morgan would eventually retreat and regroup with the other column of his men in Montgomery and bypass Camp Dennison through Wards Corner. Morgan continued east to the Ohio River where, just north of modern Ravenswood, West Virginia, there was a ford at Buffington Island that would allow him to cross over into that state. Burnside correctly guessed Morgan's intentions. Federal columns under Edward H. Hobson and Henry M. Judah and river gunboats swiftly converged to contest any river crossing. Burnside also sent a militia regiment from Marietta, Ohio, to hold the ford until the Federal forces could arrive. Morgan arrived on the evening of July 18 but decided not to attack the militia in the gathering darkness. It proved to be a mistake. With his men somewhat rested on Peter Weaver's homestead near Triadelphia on July 22 and guided down Island Run by the son, John Weaver, who was held hostage, Morgan forded the broad Muskingum River at Eagleport, just south of Zanesville, before turning northward in Guernsey County. He still hoped to cross the Ohio River at some point and head through West Virginia to safety. At the village of Old Washington, Morgan's weary men fought a skirmish in the streets before hastily departing, pursued by Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. James M. Shackelford. On July 26, Union forces defeated Morgan at the Battle of Salineville and finally caught him that afternoon near West Point in Columbiana County. They were held in Wellsville, Ohio, then taken to the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus rather than to a prisoner of war camp, because of reports that captured Union officers had received similar treatment. The general and six officers made a daring escape on November 27 by tunneling from an air shaft beneath their cells into the prison yard and scaling the walls. Only two of Morgan's men were recaptured, and he and the rest soon returned to the Confederacy. Morgan was killed less than a year later in Greeneville, Tennessee, by a Union cavalryman after refusing to halt while attempting to escape. He spread terror throughout the region and seized thousands of dollars worth of supplies, food, and other items from local stores, houses, and farms. Since the timing somewhat coincided with the Gettysburg Campaign and raids towards Pittsburgh by John D. Imboden's cavalry, many assumed at the time that Morgan's Raid was part of a coordinated effort to threaten the Ohio River commerce and spread the war to the North. Few in the North realized that Morgan's adventure was a violation of his orders and had nothing to do with Robert E. Lee's simultaneous movement into Pennsylvania. In Ohio alone, approximately 2,500 horses were stolen, and nearly 4,375 homes and businesses were raided. Morgan's Raid cost Ohio taxpayers nearly $600,000 in damages and over $200,000 in wages paid to the 49,357 Ohioans called up to man 587 companies of local militia. Despite their military defeat and high casualties, the long raid had accomplished much for Morgan's men. Col. Basil Duke, Morgan's brother in law and second in command of the raid, later wrote, "The objects of the raid were accomplished. General Bragg's retreat was unmolested by any flanking forces of the enemy, and I think that military men, who will review all the facts, will pronounce that this expedition delayed for weeks the fall of East Tennessee, and prevented the timely reinforcement of Rosecrans by troops that would otherwise have participated in the Battle of Chickamauga." To many Confederates, the incursion became known as the "Great Raid of 1863" and was initially hailed in the newspapers. However, along with Gettysburg and Vicksburg, it was another in a string of defeats for the Confederate Army that summer. Several Northern newspapers derisively labeled Morgan's expedition as the "Calico Raid," in reference to the raiders' propensity for procuring personal goods from local stores and houses.

Kentucky and Indiana have well marked John Hunt Morgan Heritage Trails that allow tourists to follow the route of Morgan's Raid through their states, along with websites and written tour guides. In November 2001, the State of Ohio placed a John Hunt Morgan historical marker on the site of the Ohio State Penitentiary, remembering his imprisonment and daring escape. Ohio's plans for a similar formal trail finally came to fruition in 2013, when the state erected over 600 directional markers and 56 interpretive signs commemorating the route and the important incidents of the raid. Signage was installed during the spring and summer of 2013, in the months leading up to the 150th anniversary of the "Great Raid." On the weekend of July 27–28, 2013, communities in Carroll, Jefferson, and Columbiana County, Ohio, held a driving tour to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the raid, with a Civil War era church service, the dedication of a Morgan's Raid Heritage Trail tablet to mark the location of the fighting at Sharp's farm, and events in towns on and near the raid route. The oil painting "Morgan's Raiders" is hung at the Federal Building and U. S. Courthouse in Gainesville, Georgia. The painting was made in 1936 by artist Daniel Boza, commissioned by the Works Progress Administration (President Franklin Roosevelt administration).