Cumberland

Cumberland. Horse Dealing and Stealing. Around 3 pm on the afternoon of July 23, 1863, Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan and about 600 Confederate raiders entered Cumberland. Morgan and a handful of his officers found respite at the Globe House. Others entered the home of a Dr. Stone. , Some of Morgan’s men went to Stone’s barn, intending to steal the doctor’s horse. When the doctor protested and adamantly claimed he needed the horse to visit housebound patients, the raiders offered to not take it in exchange for $75. The doctor paid and kept his horse. The horse, alas, was taken by later raiders who came through Cumberland. , Inviting themselves as dinner guests, the Confederates requested and received home-cooked meals. Meanwhile, Morgan’s men acquired fresh horses from the Cumberland area, along with cash and goods from the Holmes and Colonel Squire stores. , A Cumberland man was ordered to guide the raiders to Point Pleasant (now Pleasant City), where he was released. The innkeeper, Harrison Secrest, became the next unwilling guide for the Confederate raiders. Passing through Hartford (now Buffalo), Morgan’s troops burned bridge across the Seneca branch of Willis Creek and proceeded to Senecaville. , (sidebar) , A Friendly Fire Victim. Stragglers from Morgan’s command came through Point Pleasant for several hours. While resting, a few raiders saw a single rider approaching. The rider failed to respond when challenged, and they shot him. He turned out to be John Happs, one of their own soldiers who had fallen asleep in the saddle. The Confederates were forced to leave their friendly fire victim behind, where a local Christian family reluctantly nursed Happs back to health.