Show G C e en n joh J 0 h n H HM 0 a n cavalier C ava ier of off theold f h e 01 d south S out 4 N W xam A L 4 C 1 K 4 k gen xo there took place in InrA lexing xIng ton ky a ceremony which was the theme of many news stories in papers papera throughout the country and which recalled for a moment the name of 0 one of the most picturesque figures la in american history it was the formal opening to the public of the oli old home of gen john hunt bout morgan famous confederate prate commander la a the civil war this home now onnel by a lexington woman mrs lira joha joba johnstone linstone Jo has hall been restored to the tha architectural style of antebellum da days vs and containing as it does many relies relics of this cavalier cavalle of the old sou south th it now stan stands d a as a memorial menior lal to a man whose deeds marked him as one ona of the boldest and most dashing cavalry leaders in our history among those who attended the opening was a little group of aged men to 16 whom this ceremony had a special significance there were only 10 19 of ft them and they were the survivors of the thousands ba 11 ds who rode with morgan on those spectacular lar raids which made him the idol of his followers rs they entered the front door through which on once C a rode general morgan and his lexington rifles and walked reverently through its high rooms ell characteristically a ly Pout southern bern Is in their simpli simplicity elty and spaciousness they ahr saw the massive chandeliers the heavy doors and the circular stairway which are just as they were when this fine old mansion housed tile the gallant and debonair horseman only mellowed and made even more mor beautiful by the passing years they pointed out to each other the south gateway into the paved courtyard through which according to local tradition the general pursued by his fits enemies rode his beloved mare black ness bess and clattered up the side steps to bid farewell to his adored nother mother john hunt morgan was born lif in huntsville ala june 1 1820 the oldest of the at six x sons of calvin 0 morgan when he was four years old his father moved to kentucky where he bought a farm in payette fayette county there the future cavalryman grew to manhood and at the outbreak of the mexican war enlisted in the service rising to the position of first lieutenant in a cavalry regiment when ahen thi the civil war started lie fie was a prosperous young business man of lexington having married the daughter of a leading merchant of that town john W hunt and being engaged in the m manufacture nu facture of bagging it Is said that at first morgan morgan remained neutral hoping that impending conflict would be settled amicably but when a federal force from camp dick robinson entered lexington he was angered by the invasion and decided to cast his fits fortunes with the confederacy morgans morga aa 0 position in the civil war Is something of an anoina anomaly ly in that respect it resembled Bein bled the position of lila fits homeland kentucky it was 0 one no of the border bolder states which both the north find and the south tried to win to their sides and it furnished thousands of men for both armies in it the horrors of civil conflict were shown at their worst w 0 families were divided and frequently brother fought against brother it was a fertile field for guerilla warfare and such was the nature of much of tile which took place upon its soil boll morgan became such ft a thorn in the side of various union commanders and gave the citizens of two northern states such a scare by his spectacular raids that amid the blind passion and prejudice of the war tie lie came to be regarded la in the north US 03 a guerilla leader on the other hand the south regarded him film as a regular reg u lar confederate cavalryman subject to the orders of higher confederate officers and tile the government it at Richi richmond nond certainly lie he was regularly regul aily corn com as a captain of kentucky volunteers attached to the division of gen simon B buckner early in the war as the colonel of a cavalry regiment in gen braxten braggs army in and later as a brigadier general one of general morgans men was an expert telegraph operator who carried his behind his fits saddle on one occasion morgan wanted to know inow if there were any federal F troops at louisville who could bo be sent quickly to howling green to reinforce the large force stationed there and cut ilia him olt off while he was raiding behind the union lines general boyle was in command at louisville and general granger at boyling bowling oreen green the main railway line between the two cities morgan tied had his fits telegrapher tap tali the telegraph lire and put film himself self in communication with boyle whom he fie informed that morgan had find been seen in the vIcIn vicinity itil of dowling bowling green and that there was danger of his attacking the town how many troops can you send immediately to reinforce roe me tapped out the telegrapher on hla his key ending the he demage mes ingo with alio name granger back came tile reply there are no troops in louisville who can be made tit at once available are there troops elsewhere who could be sent to bowling bowline green if so where are they now V 11 1 4 44 U I 1 K 7 statue in lexington courtyard Coutt Yard how soon could they he be brou brought at up to strengthen then the towns defenses was tile the next message from tho the bogus granger boyle bote replied naming the places where troops were then stationed stating their exact number and calculating the time mile required to transport them to bowling green ilav ing ine received this morgan sent a final telegram thanking boyle for giving him so much valuable information and praising him as a very smart boy then he signed the message with his own name I 1 the most spectacular enterprise of this cavalry leader was vaa ids his raid into indiana and ohio in the summer of 1803 a feat of daring and skill almost unequaled during the whole course of the war and one which ft won on him even the admiration of his fits enemies boldly conceived and skillfully executed it 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 presented ills his reaching safety at the last moment it was his own idea carried out in his own way and undertaken in spite of tile the disapproval of his theoretical oret ore leal superior officer general bragg at that thai time morgan was operating in tennessee where the military situation was far from encouraging for the confederates general buckner was in east tennessee lenn essee and general braggs army lay around Tul tullahoma lahoma confronted by general rosecrans with a superior force bragg dared not detach any troops to strengthen buckners BucL Buck nera ners inadequate force which was essential to holding his part of the state because general burnside Burnsl de was preparing an army of men in kentucky to in move ove against buckner so bragg decided to retreat across the tennessee river and in order to create a diversion to over cover his retreat lie he decided upon a cavalry expedition into kentucky morgan wils was selected for the job with orders to go anywhere in kentucky he wished and capture louisville it if possible fi morgan lorgan was willing to make tile the atempa but did not believe that lie could hold out long enough tor for dragg bragg to accomplish his withdrawal lie ile proposed to carry the war into enemy territory by crossing the ohio river believing thit tile the scare would not only hold burnsed Burns lda in kentucky but also reduce the pressure on buckner and bragg but bragg could not see it that way and gave the cavalry leader orders to confine his operations to kentucky morgan however had set his mind upon handling bandling adling the expedition in lils his own way and when on june it 11 his division of approximately 1500 men divided into three brigades crossed the cumberland and started north his secret destination was ohio after a number of skirmishes with union troops stationed as garrisons of towns along the line of march he ha reached the ohio nt broadens Brog dens burg july 7 captured capture rl two steamboats drove off F federal nill itla and two bedea I 1 gunboats gun boats and then cro crossed seed the river to indiana lie was now in the heart of enemy territory his little force pur e at le n 07 on ku 10 sued by thousands ol of federals federal a from the kentucky kenta camps and facing ho hostile stile militia populace and soldiery wherever he might turn descending on corydon Cory aon he be found militia drawn up to bar his iny ay lie he dispersed them and moved on with out halting through salisbury and palmyra to gadth there he tapped telegraph lines and learned of the frantic efforts 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 va u up the ohio destroying ying and burning as he be went vent I 1 in an effort to cripple the transportation system and deprive the federate federals of their stores at versailles he encountered a a trong strong force of enemy troops sent seat to capture him but eluded them and continued on his bis way after threatening cincinnati he skirted the city and reached camp shady there he destroyed a large number of federal army wagons much forage and other supplies continuing east laying waste to rail tines lines he be finished his dash through ohio at pomeroy at that time it was estimated federal troops were in hot pursuit of the daring raiders even then morgan might have made his escape into virginia but tor for an unexpected rise in the tha 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 the pursuers caught up end and made their escape hemmed federals the remainder of the command split up in small groups some escaping some being captured general morgan and an d a large number of lis his men escaped doubled back on the tha trail and headed toward athens and zanesville cut but the game was almost up and ironically enough tt it took a kentuckian to catch a kentuck lun inn for when morgan was finally surrounded and forced to surrender near lisbon to in columba ana county ohio the man to who whom in he surrendered was maj george W rue hue of the ninth kentucky cavalry of the union army a 11 native alive of lexington on an old acquaintance of morgans Morgan 8 before the war and an old adversary of his during the first two years of the war rue hue had entered the union service as the captain of a cavalry company which he had bad organized and according to his fits reminiscences published in the ohio archeo logical and historical society publications several year he was kept busy chasing joba bohai 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 Cu baugh farm where the alie monument has hai been erected that monument stands south of lisbon and bears this inscription this stone atone marks the spot where the confederate raider general john morgan surrendered his command to major george W rue july 20 1803 1863 and Is the farthest point north ever reached by any body of confederate troops troops during the civil war erected by will L thompson east liverpool ohio 1009 1 after his surrender morgan was sent to colum bus where he was imprisoned in the ohio penitentiary tent iary lary four months later however he be and six of ills his men dug through the stone atone floor of the dungeon in which they were confined tunneled under undo ithe the walls and after a series of hairbreadth escapes from capture while making their way south finally managed to reach the confederate lines in safety after taking part in some minor engagements in west virginia Virgin li and kentucky he went to tennessee and them on september 4 1804 while stationed at a farmhouse near greenville tenn he ha was surrounded in the night by I a detachment of federal troops loops under gen A 0 gollem lits his presence there had bad been betrayed by a young wornall woman who was living in the house willie attempting to escape a trooper shot him through tile heart thus bringing to a close hla his gallant ald colorful colot ful career LQ 0 by union vanloa |