The Civil War in Kentucky by Lowell H. Harrison

The Civil War in Kentucky by Lowell H. Harrison

Author:Lowell H. Harrison [Harrison, Lowell H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky
Published: 2021-10-15T00:00:00+00:00


Most of Forrest’s men returned to Tennessee, but a portion of General Buford’s command was temporarily disbanded at Mayfield so that the men could visit their homes and secure better clothing and horses. They promised to report to Trenton, Tennessee, on April 4, and members of the outfit later claimed that every man returned as promised to his unit. Some Unionist newspapers carried gleeful stories that the government’s horses and mules in Paducah had been hidden so well that Forrest had obtained only the animals stolen from private citizens. Incensed by this report, Buford went back into Kentucky to get the animals they were alleged to have missed. A small force demonstrated against Columbus to draw Union attention there, but Buford’s main unit arrived at Paducah on April 14 and again drove Hicks into the safety of his fort. The Confederates found 140 good horses in a foundry, just as the newspapers had reported, and Buford took them with him as he rode southward to rejoin Forrest. In the aftermath of these raids, there was a considerable shakeup of Union commanders in western Tennessee and Kentucky.

Soon after Forrest left Kentucky, Morgan moved back in. Despite strong reservations among top officials about his reliability, Morgan had succeeded in building up his command to some 2,700 men, about one-third of them dismounted. Although his command area was southwestern Virginia, Morgan’s heart was in the Bluegrass; and during the spring some of his scouts drifted into the state to ascertain the enemy’s strength and dispositions. On May 31 he informed the War Department that he was leaving Wytheville to raid in Kentucky; he was out of touch with Richmond before he could be ordered to return.

The horseless soldiers delayed the others despite doubling up. For a week the column stumbled through difficult terrain that one officer maintained had “little for man to eat and nothing for horse.”14 The weary survivors reached Mount Sterling in early morning on June 8, and 300 surprised Union soldiers surrendered almost immediately. Then came the main blemish on Morgan’s record. Some of his men and officers got out of control, looting the town thoroughly and taking more than $70,000 from the bank. Morgan did not order a full investigation when the outrages were called to his attention, and his reputation was tarnished by rumors that he had shared in the loot. At the least, he was inexcusably negligent in failing to take prompt, decisive action against the offenders. Grenfell was gone and Duke was still in a Union prison; they had provided much of the discipline in earlier years.

When Morgan moved out toward Lexington, he left Colonel Henry Giltner’s troopers and Lieutenant Colonel Robert M. Martin’s reluctant infantry behind to destroy supplies and search for horses. But General Stephen G. Burbridge had learned of the Confederates’ location, and their camp was suddenly overrun by Union troopers and the Forty-fifth Kentucky Infantry. Two hundred fifty Confederates were captured; the rest escaped because the Federal troops were too exhausted by their forced march to take up the pursuit at once.



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