Show C gen aft W MOM john h H HM ama miry q a C aft ya 31 I 1 3 lff tei W w the lid S U 0 M A I 1 PA d iw m 41 aft M JR gen in 4 4 11 ll CRA MIL a 4 there took place in lexing ton ky ICY a ceremony which was the thereof theme of many news stories I 1 n papers papera throughout the country and which recalled for a moment tile the name name 0 of one of the most picturesque figures figure la in american history it was the formal opening to tile tho public of the he old homo home of oen gen john hunt borgan famous confederate commander in the civil war this home now owned by a lexington woman masl mrs john johnstone has been restored to the architectural style of 0 antebellum days and containing as it does docs many relies relics of title this cavalier of the old south it ft now stands as it a memorial to a man whose deeds marked him film as one of the boldest and most dashing cavalry leaders in our history j among among those who attended the opening was as a little group of aged men to whom this ceremony lad had a 4 special significance there were aul 10 of them theca and they the survivors of th the e thousands who rode with morgan on oil spectacular aralds which made him film the idol of ills ollow era they entered tile the front door through once rude rode general morgan and tile his lexington Iti elines fles and walked reverently through its high rooms characteristically South dria in their and spaciousness they tile the tho the heavy doors doms atia and tile tiie circular stairway which tire re just na an they wee wan this due old did mansion ninn alun housed the gallant und and debonair horseman only mellowed and niad made even evea more inore beautiful by tile the passing years they pointed out tu to each other the 06 south gateway into the paved courtyard through which according to local tradition the general pursued liy by lilo enemies rode ins ills beloved ware male black bess and cluttered clattered up the side bide steps to bid fart well to his fits adored mother toot lier john hunt morgan was born in ala june 1 1826 theolas the oldest of tile the six elx suns of calvan a 0 dorgai when lie he was four years old ills his father moved to kentucky whore where lie ho bought a farm farin in fayette county there the future cavalryman grew to manhood and at tile tho of the i war enlisted in the service ilsung to tile the position of first lieutenant in ili a cavalry regiment when the civil war started he was a prosperous roua young business plan of lexington having married the daug daughter baughier hier of a leading merchant of that town john W hunt and belag being engaged in the of bagging it Is bald that at first morgan remained neut neutral raf hoping that impending conflict would be settled amicably but when a federal force from camp dick robinson entered lexington lie he wua was angered by the invasion and decided to cast his bis fortunes with the confederacy y morgans clat position in tile the civil war Is something of 0 an anomaly in that respect it resembled the poil position tion of his homeland kentucky it was one cue of tile the border bolder states which both the north and tile the south tried to ft win in to their tl 1 or sides aides and it ii furnished thousands of men for both boi h armies in it the horrors of civil conflict were shown at their worst fanillen Fa millen were divided and frequently brother fought against brother it was a fertile field for guerilla warfare and such was tile nature of much of the fighting which took place upon its loll boll morgan became such a thorn in the side of various union commanders and gave gae the citizens of two northern states such auth it a scare by his spectacular raids that amid the blead passion and prejudice of tile the wai war he came to be regarded in the north as a guerilla leader on the other hand band the south regarded him as a regular confederate cavalry cavalryman iuan subject to the orders of higher confederate officers and the government itt at Klch mond certainly he wits was regularly corn com us aa a captain of kentucky volunteers olun attached to the div division islon of 0 gen simon n B backner early in the war as the colonel of a cavalry regiment in gen braggs army in 1862 03 and later as a brigadier general one of general morgans men was an expert telegraph operator who carried his instrument behind his saddle on one occasion morgan wanted to know it if there were any federal troops at louisville who could ile be sent quickly to Ilow ilag green graen to reinforce the large force stationed there and cut him off while helas he aa raiding behind the unto union n lines general boyle was in conini command and at louisville and general granger at bowling now ling green the main railway line between the two cities morgan had hta his telegrapher tap tile the telegraph line and put himself in communication with boyle whom ho be informed that norgan morgan had find been seen in the vicinity of bowling green and there was danger of hla his attacking the town itow ronny nany troops can you send immediately to reinforce me tapped out the telegrapher on his key ending the message with the name granger back baal came the reply there are no troops in louisville who can be made inada at once aral available lable are there troops elsewhere who could be sent to bowline green if so where are they now of 4 acme oct joan axing exing 0 4 WAA W K N 1 11 1 4 I 1 en e ral and hv 11 M 4 morban morast statue abue i n lexina toi t courtyard how soon could tiny they be brought up tip to strengthen tile the towns defenses was the next nett message from the bogus granger boyle replied the places where troops were vre then stationed stating their exact number and calculating the time re quiren 0 to o transport them to how bowling ling green having received this ahli morgan sent hent a final telegram ilian thanking king boyle for giving fell ing him so ao much valuable information and prill praising sing him film as a very smart boy then he signed the message with alth ills his own name the most spectacular enterprise of title this cavalry leader wu was hla his raid into indiana and ahlo in tha summer of a teat of daring and skill almost during tile the whole course of the war and one which won him even een the admiration of ills his enemies boldly conceived and skillfully executed it just missed being carried to a triumphant con elusion through no fault of morgans hut but because a swift and unexpected rise of the ohio river prevented hta his reaching liIng safety at tile the last moment it was his own idea carried out ln in his own wily way and undertaken in spite of tile the disapproval of his theoretical ore superior officer general bragg artt g A that time morgan wits operating in tennessee where the military situation wag far from enczur aging for the confederates general Buckner was in kant east tennessee and general braggs army lay around tullahoma Tul lahoma confronted hy by general rosecrans with a superior force bragg dared not detach any troops to strengthen streu ithen luck inadequate fore which was essential to holding his part of the state because general burnside was tug ing an army of 30 men in kentucky to move against buckner so bragg bedded to retreat ucros uan t the tha tennessee aler aher nod and tit in order to create a diversion to cover coer ills his retreat tip decided upon a cavalry expedition into kentucky morgan was sele selected eted fir or the job with orders ordera to go anywhere in kentucky he fie wished und capture louisville if possible morgan wits was to inake the atempa hut but did not lielke believe lie he ouid cluid hold out long enough for braggg to tits tile withdrawal ile he proposed to tarry carry tle the w ar into enemy territory by crossing alic ohl river helle bellev ing that the scare would not only hold unmade burnside in ill hut but alto also reduce the lie pressure tin on buck nor ner and bragg hut bragg could not see it that way and gave the cavalry leader orders enters to confine ills operations to kentucky morgan however hoie tr tin and set his mind upon ann the expedition in ills hla own way T ay and when on june 11 21 his division of approximately nion men divided into three brigades crossed the cumber land and started north his secret destination was nas ohio after n number of skirmishes with union troops stationed ns as garrisons of towns along alon the line of march he ren reached chet the ohio at Br agdens burg july 7 captured two steamboats drove wt olt federal militia end two F rc dral gunboats gun loats boats and then crossed the river to indiana lie ile was vas now in the heart of enemy territory his little force pur sued by thousands of federals from the kentucky campa and facing hostile militia populace und and soldiery wherever lie he might turn descending ou on corydon lie he found militia drawn up to bar his way ile he dispersed them tin and move moed on without halting through salisbury and palmyra to salem m there he tapped telegraph lines and learned learn ed of the frantic efforts tile the federals were making to capture him and of the wild reports of an immense invading confederate force which were being circulated from salem he proceeded on up the ohio destroying ying dmd and burning as he fie went in tin an effort to cripple the transportation system and deprive the federals of their stores at versailles lie he encountered a strong force of enemy troops sent seat to capture him but eluded them and continued on ills his way after threatening cincinnati lie ha skirted the city and reached camp shady there lie he destroyed a large number of federal army wagons much forage and other supplies continuing enst east laying waste to rail lines he finished his dash through ohio at pomeroy at that time it wits was estimated federal troops were in hot pursuit of the daring raiders kven even then morgan might have made ills his escape into virginia but for an unexpected rise tu in the ohio that delayed the command and prevented it from crossing the river immediately while they were compelled to wait federal troops and gun boats came up the raiders pushed further up the river to another ford here many crossed before tile lie pursuers caught up find and fiade their escape hemmed in by federals the remainder of the command split up in small groups group i some escaping some being captured general morgan and a large number of ills his men escaped doubled double buck back on the trail and headed toward athens arid and zanesville but the gamo game wag ft us almost up and ironically enough it took a kentuckian Kentuck lan to catch a kentuckian for when morgan was finally surrounded and forced to surrender near lisbon in ili columba ana county ohio the man tu whom lie surrendered was maj george IV hue of the ninth kentucky cavalry of tile the union army a native 0 of lexington an old acquaintance of morgans before before the war and an old adversary of of his fits during jle first two years of the war rue had entered the union service as the caption ofa of a cavalry company which he had organized end according to his reminiscences published in tile the ohio archeo logical and historical society publications sev crul years ago he was kept busy chasing john morgan out of kentucky six times I 1 drove him out of the state on six different occasions before the raid into ohio when he surrendered to me on the cabaugh farm where the has befit been erected that monument stands south of lisbon lisboa and bears this inscription ai this chis stone marks tile the spot where the Conre confederate raider general john morgan surrendered surrender fd his command to major george W hue july duly W 1 2 16 and Is the farthest point north ever eer reached by auy any body ot of confederate troops during the lie civil war erected by will L Tho thompson lapson east liverpool Lher pool ohio looy 1 after ills his surrender morgan was set bent I 1 t to columbus where he tie as imprisoned in tit the e ohio penitentiary tent iary lary four months month luter however holeve r lie he and six of ills his men dug through the stone bloor of the dungeon in which they were conlin confined e d tunneled under the walls and after a series of hairbreadth escapes from capture while making their way vay south finally managed to reach alie confederate the lines in safety after taking part in a some minor engagements in west virginia and kentucky he went to tennessee and there ou on Septem september bei 4 ISO 1864 1 while stationed tit at a farmhouse near greenville ville tenn lie he was surrounded in the night by a detachment of federal troops under gen A C Q aillem ills his presence there had been betrayed by a young woman who was living in the tha house houm while attempting to escape a trooper shot him through the heart thus bringing to a close bla gra atlant llant and colorful career I 1 IG IQ by stern union |