Show IVI N wa rees pa i d e ri r 1 41 L X JL 7 VL M MR the general HEM it I 1 J X W AA aj 4 I 1 t I 1 1 le alt r gen it john H fort the flight of andrew men baa lake eric sy by ELMO SCOTT WATSON T WAS just 70 bears ago tills this summer that the two states of ohio and indiana were twine a bad case of the jitters the reason for their state of neres Is contained in these lines from a poem kentucky b lelle belle remember it in the old fourth reader header that told about morgan 51 morgan organ the raider i and morgans terrible men with bowle knife and pistols are galloping up the glen the raid led by hen gen john aunt morgan in colonel of a cavalry regi regiment mert in gen en braxton braggs confederate army his briga dier generalship coming later was as one of the most spectacular and daring enterprises in the civil war boldly conceived and skillfully executed its leader in his announced purpose of watering his bis horses in lake erie but he did succeed in reaching the point farthest north attained by any southern troops on active service during the war and the expedition just missed being carried to a triumphant conclusion through no fault of morgans but because a swift and unexpected rise of the ohio river prevented his reaching safety at the last moment for as a ballad later composed by one of his hard bard riding troopers and sung by his surviving comrades had it oh morgan crossed the river and I 1 went across with him I 1 was captured in ohio just because I 1 swim when on june 11 morgan and approximately 1100 1500 cavalrymen crossed the cumberland river in tennessee and started north his secret destination was ohio after a number of skirmishes with v alth union troops stationed as garrisons of towns along the line of march he reached the ohio at july 7 captured tw two 0 steamboats drove off federal militia and two federal gunboats gun boats and then crossed the river to indiana ile he was now in the heart of 0 enemy territory his little force pursued by thousands of federals from the kentucky camps find and facing hostile militia populace and soldiery wherever be rever he might turn descending on corydon he found militia drawn up to bar his way nay he dispersed them and moved on without halting through salisbury and palmyra to salen salem from salero salem he proceeded on up the ohio destroying ying and burning as he went in effort to cripple the transportation sa system stem and deprive the federals of their stores at versailles he encountered a strong force of enemy troops sent to capture him but eluded them and continued on his way after threatening cincinnati he skirted the city and reach camp shady there he destroyed a large number of federal army wagons much forage and other supplies continuing east laying waste to rail lines he finished his big dash through ohio at pomeroy at that time it was estimated federal troops were hot in pursuit of the daring raiders even then morgan might have made ills his escape into virginia but tor for an unexpected rise in the ohio that delayed the command and prevented it from crossing the river immediately while lethey 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 be before f ore the pursuers caught up and made their escape hemmed in by federals the remainder of the command split up in small groups some escaping some being captured general morgan and a large number of his followers escaped doubled back on the trail and headed toward athens and zanesville but the game was about up maj george rue of the ninth kentucky cavalry had thrown a cordon of troops across the path of the fleeing raider south of new lisbon and there on july 26 1803 morgan surrendered to his big fellow ken tucklan who ho tor for the past two years had been kept busy chasing john morgan out of kentucky A bronze tablet set in a huge bowlder boulder on the little traveled beaver creek road today marks the high water mark of the confederacy even if morgan tailed failed to water his bis horses horbes in lake erie it remained for two other confederate leaders john Y beall and david H n ross floss to enjoy a spectacular though brief career on that body of water and to create almost as much consternation in union hearts as had the bold kentuckian Kentuck lan at the outbreak of the civil war ross was as an eighteen year old cadet in the macon guards the pride of georgia captured at the battle of knoxville tenn ross iooss was sent to a union arl bon camp on oil the thores shores of lake erie crie from which he h soon escaped and made his way to toronto where he became acquainted iab alth jacob thompson formerly secretary of the interior in P president rest buchanann Bucha nans cabinet but now an all agent for the confederacy in enlisting southern sympathizers among the canadians and in aiding confederate sympathizers to escape thompson sent ross rosa to windsor to report to qt 3 T where morgan surrendered capt john reates beall another confederate begent who had a plan which had been turning oer in his mind for some time it was to raise a crew of refugeo confederates in canada take possession of the philo parsons ansons arsons ar sons one of the lake steamers plying between detroit and sandusky ohio and with it capture the war steamer alch igan a side wheeler armed with 14 pins guns and use it to attack fort johnson on johnson island in sandusky bay where more than 1010 confederates most of them of officer officers s were held as prisoners of war it if the plot were successful the confederates would have control of the great lakes and could cause incalculable damage to union shipping and the union cause before they could be suppressed the intelligence department of the union forces in michigan learned of the plot but allowed it to go forward in the hope of capturing the ringleaders ring leaders before any serious damage could be done so on the morning of Sep september r 19 ISM hen the pallo palillo parsons left detroit with 40 passengers on board among them were several of bealls conspirators one of these asked the boats clerk walter 0 ashley who was also part owner of the boat to stop at sandwich ont to take on a party of men desiring to go down the river accordingly this was done the new passengers were nere well dressed and gave every appearance of being prosperous travelers at malden maiden about twenty miles below detroit twenty more came on board these had a trunk with them as their only piece of baggage the philo parsons continued on her way stopping at north bass middle bass and south bass islands and finally reached kellys island where tour four more men joined the passengers then soon after the pallo parsons left kellys island on its way to sandusky the alie officers crew and the rest of the passengers found themselves looking into the barrels of pistols flourished by the newcomers the trunk had yielded its stock of firearms hatchets and other formidable weapons the captain of the boat was persuaded to relinquish command and the crew and the male passengers were given temporary lodgment in the vessels hold beall took command of the boat as captain and toss loss was mas first mate with true southern chivalry beall and ross ordered a banquet to be spread and the confederates entertained the women passengers as befitting southern gentlemen while these festivities were going on the island queen with federal soldiers on board pulled up alongside the philo pallo pa parsons esons this was just what captain beall wanted it was all very well to impress non noncombatants combatants with his prowess but the enemy in uniform anol and fully accoutered accouter ed promised more excitement it never will be known perhaps why the union on soldiers did not make short work of this handful of confederates at any rate beall beal and ross leaving a few men to guard the palillo pallo parsons took the rest brebt of their command I 1 and after firing a few shots into the island queen on board and captured the crew iho ho were too astonished at this unexpected sally even to fire a shot in return with the island queen and the union men icon in tow the philo parsons set get her prow toward sandusky to capture fort johnson there and seize the michigan at that time the fastest steamer on the likes lakes the commander of the michigan had however been warned that a daredevil band was making g things uncomfortably warm for lake shipping the commander therefore carefully laid his plans and got his men ready for tile the pirates ile he had the fort at his back bach to help him in the event matters threatened to get out ot of hand beall and his men had scuttled the island queen and taken their prisoners aboard the philo parsons preparatory to attacking the michigan when the commander of the latter vessel sighted the enemy he set out in chase and the phalo parsons turned about and fled the michigan as ross explained years later had twelve guns we had only our pistols 1 I so it Is evident that the confederates took the only wise course in heading for safety de despite spite the igans superior SID speed eed the parsons gained the shelter of the detroit river there the prisoners were landed lande d many of the pirates also went ashore and disappeared then beall find ross with c only a handful of men left steered the philo parsons out into deep water and scuttled her after that it was every man tor for himself most of them escaped but captain beall was captured tried by court martial found guilty ot of piracy and was hanged on governors island N Y on february 24 1865 ross went to hamilton ont where he was wa given refuge by a family whose relatives were we re in the confederate armies in spite of the pla cards and hills posted everywhere offering re wards for his capture ross got to halifax and was even bold enough to have his picture e taken while there A blockade runner took him to wilmington N C the confederate authorities recognized his services by making him a captain in the secret service he was however impatient to get back into the fray and rejoined his old company in time to participate in the battles around richmond ile he remained on duty duly until lee surrendered at appomattox and was again wounded shortly before the cessation of hostilities grant in his big second administration issued a special pardon relieving captain ross of the charges of piracy for more than 40 years he lived at grand haven in the state which he find and his fellow pirates had once thrown into an uproar and he finally moved to minneapolis minn where lie he died in 1027 at the age ot of eighty three thousands of visitors to A century of progress in chicago this year have seen a relic of another famous civil war raid the locomotive the general which stands across from the travel and transport building this was the engine used by the andrews raiders named for their leader james J andrews who like gen john 11 morgan was a kentuckian Kentuck lan only in this case a kentuckian Kentuck lan was leading a union raid through confederate territory and instead of being mounted on the kind of thoroughbred horses for which kentucky Is famous as morgan was their steed was an iron horse it was on the morning of april 12 1862 that the train drawn by the general en route from atlanta ga to chattanooga tenn stopped at marietta ga here a considerable party of strangers dressed la in civilian clothes and claiming to he be refugees from within the yankee lines who were inere desirous of joining the confederate forces boarded the train and paid their fares capt W A fuller who was in charge of the train did not have the slightest inkling that these strangers were union soldiers who nho were planning to capture his train and use it to paralyze traffic on the western and atlantic railroad one ot of the vital arteries of transport for or the confederacy by burning the 15 bridges which lay between chattanooga and big shanty their opportunity came when the train stopped at big shanty for breakfast while they were thus occupied the strangers whose leader was jaines allies J andrews a citizen of flemingsburg Flemings burg ky who had volunteered to perform this dangerous task cut away all but three cars car 8 in the train climbed into the engine cab and teamed steamed away captain fuller believed that those who had taken his train were deserters from camp mcdonald a recruit camp at big shanty at once he dashed to the telegraph office to send a warning to stations farther up the line only to discover that the telegraph wires had been cut accompanied by two or three others he ran to moons station two miles away and obtained a handcar on which they set out in our dur suit of the raiders then followed the race which has become a classic in american history andrews and his party leading the way with the general set ting fire to bridges tearing up the tracks in places and putting obstructions on it la in others and behind them fuller and his men first tile hand car then on the engine yo nah all and on finally on the texas racing after them and gaining on them until at last the fugitives in a desperate effort to shake off their a pursuers set fire to the last freight car and cut it loose lono on a bridge but before the bridge could ore fire fuller had run up to the car catch coupled and pulled it away on by tills this time the fugitives had deserted engine and escaped into tile the woods but the militia were soon hot on their trail and mounted within within it a short time all of the andrews num number ber were captured they party 1 22 2 in were taken hn to atlanta and tried before a military military back eight court co thera them among andrews the leader found guilty and were 0 executed as spies six and re pa eight later escaped from atlanta on march 25 1803 medals prison at of were ere presented by honor secretary of war the six who were paroled and aker stanton St the antonto eu to who eight escaped from prison were also given elven als 0 of those who had bad been executed LT med r were nere delivered to the mothers of medals one and to the widows of two to others of them 0 lur by western r union |