Kentucky’s Civil War leaders…
Dashing, daring John Hunt Morgan
became legendary Civil War figure

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 28th in a series about Kentucky’s officers and battle leaders during the Civil War.)

Although he was not a native Kentuckian, Confederate Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan is one of the most colorful, legendary and best-known cavalry commanders of the Civil War.

He also is one of the first War Between the States characters to be associated with the Bluegrass state.

A fearless leader, the native of Huntsville, Ala., had little military training, but possessed an instinctive talent that made him a picture perfect cavalry fighter.

Gen. Braxton Bragg, in the late spring of 1863, sought to distract Union forces in Tennessee and Kentucky. To accomplish this, he turned to Morgan, a veteran of the Mexican-American War who had proven himself a capable cavalry leader and who had led several effective raids into the Union rear.

Morgan had been a businessman in Lexington in 1857 when he organized the Lexington Rifles, a militia group. He was commissioned a captain in September 1861 and given a squadron of cavalry for scouting purposes. He was promoted to colonel of the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry in April 1862 and was named a brigadier general in December. Assembling a select force of 2,462 men and a battery of light artillery, Morgan received orders from Bragg in ’63 directing him to attack through Tennessee and Kentucky. He was ordered not to cross the Ohio River, something Morgan did later as he was driven to carry the war into Indiana and Ohio.

Assembling his men at Sparta, Tenn., Morgan rode into action on June 11, 1863, and, on July 1, entered Kentucky. He won battles at Tebbs Bend, captured Lebanon and led his main body through Bardstown and Garnettsville before reaching the Ohio River at Brandenburg. He captured and burned two riverboats there before violating Bragg’s orders and moving into Indiana.

Morgan overwhelmed a force of Indiana militia at the Battle of Corydon on July 9.  He then turned east into Ohio, moved through Vienna and Dupont and burned the railroad depot, rolling stock and two railroad bridges at Salem. He also looted the town and took cash and supplies.

His troops passed through Springdale and Glendale and on toward West Virginia, but Union leaders blocked his passage and Morgan elected not to attack. Union forces, however, arrived during the night and Morgan found his command nearly surrounded near Portland, Ohio. In a battle at Buffington Island, 750 of Morgan’s men were captured, including executive officer Col. Basil Duke. In addition, 152 men were killed and wounded, but Morgan escaped with about half of his troops.

Morgan’s men were on the run and the general’s forces continued to be reduced in fighting at Salinesville, Ohio on July 26. He escaped with a small party, but was captured later that day and incarcerated at the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus along with his officers.

On Nov. 27, 1863, Morgan and six of his officers escaped and returned south.

Placed in command of Confederate forces in eastern Tennessee and southwest Virginia, Morgan attempted to rebuild the raiding force that he had lost during the 1863 campaign. Bragg, however, never fully trusted Morgan again because he had violated orders to remain south of the Ohio River.

In the summer of 1864, Morgan was accused of robbing a bank in Mt. Sterling, but while some his men were involved, there’s no evidence that Morgan played a role. While working to clear his name, Morgan and his men encamped at Greeneville, Tenn. On the morning of Sept. 4, Union troops attacked the town. Taken by surprise, Morgan was shot and killed while attempting to escape.

Morgan, who died at age 39, is buried in Lexington Cemetery.