498

CONDITION OF KENTUCKY.

CHAPTER XIX.

EVENTS IN KENTUCKY AND NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI.

E left the Lower Mississippi, from its mouth to New Orleans, in possession of the forces under General Butler and Commodore Farragut, at the beginning of the summer of 1862;' and at the same time that river was held by the National forces from Memphis to St. Louis. General Thomas was at the head of a large force holding Southwestern Tennessee, and Generals Buell and Mitchel were on the borders of East Tennessee, where the Confederates were disputing the passage of National troops farther southward and eastward than the line of the Tennessee River. Beauregard's army was at Tupelo and vicinity, under General Bragg. Halleck had just been called to Washington to be General-in-Chief, and Mitchel was soon afterward transferred to the command of the Department of the South, with his head-quarters at Hilton Head.

Although the great armies of the Confederates had been driven from Kentucky and Tennessee, the absence of any considerable Union force excepting on the southern borders of the latter State, permitted a most distressing guerrilla warfare to be carried on within the borders of those commonwealths by mounted bands, who hung upon the rear and flanks of the National forces, or roamed at will over the country, plundering the Union inhabitants. The most famous of these guerrilla leaders was John II. Morgan, already mentioned. He professed to be a leader of cavalry attached to the Confederate army, and so he was, but such license was given to him by the Confederate authorities, that he was as frequently a commissioned free-booter in practice as a leader of horsemen in legitimate warfare.

Morgan's first exploit of much consequence having the semblance of reg ularity was his invasion of Kentucky with about twelve hundred followers, under the conviction that large numbers of the young men of his native State would flock to his standard, and he might become the liberator of the commonwealth from the "hireling legions of Lincoln." He left Knoxville, in East Tennessee, on the 4th of July, crossed the Cumberland Mountains, and entered Kentucky on its southeastern border.

On the 9th of July, Morgan, assisted by Colonel Hunt, routed a detachment of Pennsylvania cavalry under Major Jordan, at Tompkinsville, in Monroe County, when the commander and nineteen others were made prisoners, and ten were killed or wounded. The assailants lost ten killed, inclu2 See page 296. See page 294.

1 See the latter part of chapter XIII.

4 See
page

264.

MORGAN AND HIS GUERRILLAS.

499

ding Colonel Hunt. On the following day Morgan issued a characteristic proclamation to the citizens of Kentucky, declaring that he and his followers (who from the beginning to the end were mere guerrillas, in the fullest sense of that term) appeared as their liberators, and saying:-"Everywhere the cowardly foes have fled from my avenging arm. My brave army," he continued, "is stigmatized as a band

of guerrillas and marauders. Believe it not. I point with pride to their deeds as a refutation of this foul assertion." He declared that the Confederate armies were rapidly advancing to their protection, and said:-" Greet them with the willing hands of fifty thousand of Kentucky's bravest sons. Their advance is already with you." Morgan's men, at that time, really formed the advance of the Confederate hosts, whose business was to terrify the Unionists of Kentucky, recruit from the ranks of the secessionists, and prepare the way for a formidable invasion by Bragg.

a July, 1862.

Morgan's force was soon increased by several hundred recruits from the young men of Kentucky, and he roamed about the heart of the State, plundering and destroying with very little molestation. On the 12th he attacked and defeated Unionists under Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston at Lebanon, Kentucky, the termination of the Lebanon branch of the Louisville and Nashville railway. He captured the place, and made the commander and twenty-six soldiers and Home Guards prisoners. His raid was so rapid and formidable that it produced intense excitement throughout the State. General Boyle, who was in command at Louisville, issued a proclamation ordering every able-bodied man to "take arms, and aid in repelling the marauders;" and directed him, if he did not, to remain in his house forty-eight hours under the penalty of being shot if found out of it.

6 July 3.

e July 17.

Morgan pressed on toward the Ohio. On the 14th he destroyed the long railway bridge between Cynthiana and Paris, and the next day he laid waste. a portion of the track of the Lexington and Louisville railway, and the telegraph along its border. Two days afterward he led his entire force against three hundred and fifty Home Guards at Cynthiana, on the Covington and Cincinnati railway, under Lieutenant-Colonel Landrum. These maintained a severe fight with the guerrillas, but were overpowered and dispersed after losing thirteen killed and thirty-four wounded, and inflicting a loss on the assailants of twenty-four killed and seventy-eight wounded.

Cincinnati was now not far distant, and Morgan cast longing eyes toward its treasures of every kind. His approach had inspired it and its

1 Morgan's force was now about 2,200 in number, and was composed of three regiments, comprising Kentackians, Tennessecans, Georgians, Mississippians, Texans, and South Carolinians.

500

MORGAN DRIVEN FROM KENTUCKY.

neighbors on the Kentucky shore with terror, and its capture appeared to be probably an easy task. But Morgan went no farther northward at this time, for Green Clay Smith, of Kentucky, with a superior cavalry force, was on his track, and he retreated southward by way of Richmond, and rested at Clarksville, on the Cumberland,' which, with a large quantity of military stores, was captured a month later" by nine hundred roving Confederates under Colonel Woodward. Morgan's band, on the retreat, was practically nothing but a marauding party, everywhere stealing horses and robbing stores, without inquiring whether their plunder belonged to friend or foe. Other marauding bands, mostly Kentuckians, were harassing the citizens of that commonwealth throughout its length and breadth, and terror prevailed in all its borders.

a Aug. 19, 1862.

Another bold leader of Confederate horsemen at this time was BrigadierGeneral N. B. Forrest, who commanded the Second Brigade of cavalry.

1 See page 232.

5

2 The garrison consisted of a portion of the Seventy-first Ohio regiment, under Colonel Mason.

3 At about this time guerrillas entered Henderson (July 15), on the Ohio below Louisville, and robbed the hospital there of its blankets and other supplies. Piloted by some Indiana traitors, the same party crossed the river, captured the hospital at the village of Newburg (July 21), paroled the sick found there, and carried away the supplies. A few days before, some guerrillas dashed into Memphis, captured the militia force stationed there, robbed the stores, and fled with their plunder.

4 This picture shows the appearance of the front of the Capitol or State-House at Nashville, looking toward the Cumberland below the city. In the immediate foreground are seen the earth-works thrown up directly in front of the granite steps leading up to the entrance, and near the group of three persons is seen the platform for cannon at an angle of the works. The fine lamp-posts and lamps seen in the picture, which flank the steps a each of the four great entrances, are made of iron, the group of figures being life-size and beautifully modele A portion of the city is seen below, and the Cumberland and ranges of hills beyond in the distance. This was the appearance when the writer made the sketch, in May, 1866.

5 See page 213.

FORREST IN TENNESSEE.

501

While Morgan was spreading consternation in Kentucky, he was operating as boldly in the heart of Tennessee, and, like the former, was preparing the way for a more formidable invasion. On the morning of the 13th of July he suddenly appeared before Murfreesboro', below Nashville, with about three thousand men,' and attacked the smaller National force there under General T. L. Crittenden, and Colonel W. W. Duffield of the Ninth Michigan. After a severe engagement in and near the town, the Nationals were defeated, and, with their leaders, were made prisoners. Forrest seized a quantity of valuable stores and decamped with his booty for other hostile operations.

Forrest's appearance so near Nashville produced much anxiety for the safety of that city, and the strengthening of the post by fortifications upon the surrounding hills was pushed on with great vigor by General Nelson, who was in command there. The State-House in the city was strongly fortified by casting up earth-works for cannon immediately around it, so that it became a powerful citadel overlooking the town and the surrounding country; and the most active preparations were made to meet an expected attack. At the same time the guerrillas were bold. They made raids to within sight of the city, and during the whole month of August it was seriously threatened. An attempt was also made by some guerrillas, under Woodward, who captured Clarksville, to retake Fort Donelson, then held by 1862. a part of the Seventy-first Ohio, under Major J. H. Hart. Woodward had about seven hundred men, foot and horse. He demanded the surrender of the fort. Hart refused, and Woodward made an attack. He was soon repulsed with heavy loss, and fled; while the Nationals behind their intrenchments did not lose a man.

a Aug. 25,

While these raids were agitating Tennessee and Kentucky, Bragg was moving with a view to the recovery of these States. He and Buell had marched in nearly parallel lines eastward toward Chattanooga, the former on the north of the Tennessee River, and the latter south of it. Bragg moved with the greatest celerity, and

won the race, and with full forty thousand men he turned his face toward the Ohio. His force was divided

into three corps, commanded respectively by W. J. Hardee, Leonidas Polk, and E. Kirby Smith. The latter was sent to Knoxville, and the former two held Chattanooga and its vicinity. Buell disposed his army in a line stretching from Huntsville, in Alabama, to McMinnsville, in Warren County, Tennessee. His headquarters, late in August, were at Huntsville, and General Thomas commanded the left wing at McMinnsville.

E. KIRBY SMITH

1 Forrest's force was composed of one regiment each from Texas, Alabama, and Tennessee, and two from Georgia.

2 The National force was composed of portions of the Ninth Michigan and Third Minnesota infantry regiments, companies of the Fourth Kentucky and Seventh Pennsylvania cavalry, and two companies of Hewitt's Kentucky battery; in all about 2,000 men.

502

INVASION OF KENTUCKY.

So lay the opposing armies when E. Kirby Smith left Knoxville, and passing through Big Creek Gap of the Cumberland Mountains, with about six thousand men and a train of one hundred and fifty wagons, penetrated Kentucky by way of Knox County. By this movement he so completely outflanked and imperiled General G. W. Morgan, at Cumberland Gap,' that the latter blew up the works there and fled toward the Ohio, harassed nearly all the way by seven hundred of John Morgan's guerrillas.

Smith's troops marched rapidly with very little encumbrance, and subsisted most of the way over the mountain region upon green corn, with the anticipation of living on the fat of the land in the Blue Grass region of Kentucky, and perhaps reveling in the luxuries of Louisville and Cincinnati. His cavalry, under Colonel J. S. Scott, nine hundred strong, led the invasion, and scattered among the people a proclamation, telling them that good treatment would be the reward of good behavior, but hanging and destruction of property would be the fate of every man who should fire from the woods on the Confederate troops.

Smith's course was in the direction of Frankfort, at which point he might choose Louisville or Cincinnati as his grand objective in further movements. His invasion caused wide-spread alarm; and to Indiana and Ohio, where troops were in readiness for the field, all eyes were turned for power to roll back the fearful tide. Major-General Lewis Wallace had just been assisting Governor Morton in raising troops in Indiana. He offered to command a regiment for the crisis, and one was given him. He took with him to Louisville the Sixty-sixth Indiana, and offered his services to General Boyle, whom he ranked. They were accepted, and with the Sixty-sixth he hastened to Lexington, where he was put in command of all the troops there. But they were too few. He called for more from the region north of the Ohio, and they hastened to his standard in large numbers, for he was exceedingly popular. Leading men of Kentucky also flocked thither, and he was about to move forward to relieve Morgan at Cumberland Gap, and confront Smith with men full of the most glowing enthusiasm, when he was suddenly superseded in cominand by General William Nelson. The change dampened the ardor of the troops, especially those of Indiana.

Meanwhile Smith moved rapidly forward. His cavalry penetrated to Richmond, in Madison County, fighting and routing a battalion of Union cavalry at London, capturing one hundred and eleven of them, and repeating the exploit on a smaller scale at other places. The main body pushed on with celerity, and when approaching Richmond it was met by the force organized by Wallace and then commanded by General M. D. Manson, for Nelson had not arrived. That force was superior to Smith's in the number of its men and weapons; but it was largely composed of raw troops. Yet Manson pressed forward to meet the invader. They came in collision a little beyond Rogersville," and a severe battle was fought for three hours, when Manson was driven back, fighting gallantly. At this juncture Nelson arrived and took command, and half an hour afterward his troops were utterly routed and scattered in all directions. Nelson was wounded, and Manson resumed command; but the day was

@ Aug. 30, 1862.

1 See page 303.