Morgan’s Great Raid

Morgan’s Great Raid. Six Days of Terror. July 8, 1863. Confederate General John Hunt Morgan and 2,000 cavalrymen crossed the Ohio River into Indiana. They were transported from Brandenburg, Kentucky, on two captured steamboats. For six days, the Raiders rode through Southern Indiana. Morgan and his men had conducted earlier raids, but this would be remembered as his Great Raid of 1863. It also was the only major military activity in Indiana during the Civil War., July 9, 1863. The Battle of Corydon occurred as Morgan’s men outflanked 450 men of the Indiana Legion (local Home Guards). It was a written that the men, after entering Corydon, plundered to their “hearts’ content”., July 10, 1863. The Raiders entered Salem where they looted the businesses and burned the railroad depot – no town in Indiana would suffer more. A Union cavalry force of 4,000, led by General Edward H. Hobson, was in pursuit. At Indianapolis, Governor Oliver P. Morton asked General Lew Wallace to command 13 regiments of “Minutemen”. The Raiders passed through Vienne, advancing into Lexington, Indiana at dusk., July 11, 1863. At Vernon, the Raiders were turned back. This was the first and only time that they were forced to fall back while in Indiana. Morgan camped that night in Dupont., July 12, 1863. The Raiders arrived in Versailles. Union General Hobson’s cavalry was four hours behind. The Raiders left Versailles at 4 p.m. and headed east. The exhausted cavalrymen camped for the night in an area now known as St. Paul. Two miles to the north were 1,800 Union soldiers sleeping in railroad boxcars., July 13, 1863. Morgan and the Raiders resumed their eastward course. Although tired from the rigorous travel and the lack of sleep, the Raiders continued to devastate the countryside. During the afternoon, Morgan’s cavalrymen crossed the bridge into Harrison, Ohio. So ended the Indiana segment of Morgan’s 1,000-mile Great Raid.