John Hunt Morgan and His Raiders by Edison H. Thomas

Author:Edison H. Thomas [Thomas, Edison H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Military, History, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877), State & Local, South (AL; AR; FL; GA; KY; LA; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA; WV)
ISBN: 9780813146706
Google: yvpDAgAAQBAJ
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Published: 2014-04-23T02:43:13+00:00

THE CHRISTMAS RAID, 1862–1863

After “Lightning” Ellsworth had cut his key into the telegraph wire and sent messages up and down the line telling of Morgan’s plans, both real and fictitious, the Raiders broke camp at Upton and rode out along the railroad track, laughing and joking with the same utter lack of discipline as in the old days. On the way, they wrecked culverts and cattle guards, tearing up vast sections of track, “just to keep in practice,” as one man said. At Nolin River, where another blockhouse was located, the bridge was fired and the garrison overcome in less time than it had taken at Bacon’s Creek.

With all this activity, Morgan had little time to think about missing his wife’s ball that night.

The morning of the twenty-seventh dawned cold but with a clearing sky, and Morgan and his regiment rode away toward Elizabethtown. At the Hardin County seat a garrison of 650 Federals set up a strong resistance, just as Morgan had expected. For protection they had fortified a number of brick warehouses near the railroad station, complete with loopholes through which they could aim rifles. Upon arrival Morgan threw a cordon about the town and placed his artillery pieces on a hill that commanded a clear view of the entire area. From that vantage point shells were lobbed into the Federal stronghold. The bombardment, along with a quick Raider “cavalry” charge on foot along the streets, soon convinced the enemy that Morgan meant business, and they surrendered.

By midafternoon Morgan had set up a temporary headquarters at Elizabethtown and was receiving visitors. Many came because they were sympathetic to the Southern cause. Others, learning that the Confederate commander who made the raid was John Hunt Morgan, stopped by just to see the man upon whom the newspapers of the country had lavished so much attention. Between visits from the local dignitaries, Morgan and his officers were busy checking maps. It was quite evident that the Muldraugh trestles, the big targets for which they had ridden all the way from Tennessee to wreck, were only five short miles away!

December 28, another important Sunday, Morgan and his regiment marched away from Elizabethtown with only one thought—to wreck the Muldraugh trestles. Muldraugh’s Hill is actually a rugged range of hills that extends from the Ohio River in the vicinity of present-day Fort Knox some forty or fifty miles in a southeasterly direction across Kentucky. When the railroad was built, the formation was the most formidable barrier along the route south of Louisville. The track makes the climb from the floor of the valley to the top of the hill, a rise of some four hundred feet, in a distance of less than five miles. The two trestles were located about midway up the hill.

Morgan’s command made a leisurely march along the track running north of Elizabethtown, “destroying it thoroughly,” a report said. They moved on through a deep cut beyond the top of the hill, rounded a curve, and then came out into the open.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.