Jackson

Jackson. Morgan's Raiders: "The Scum of the South". The advanced guard of Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan's Confederate raiders arrived in Jackson about 9:30 pm on July 16, 1863, and found a tree barricade near the Isham House on Main Street defended by old men and boys. Local militia forces were busy guarding Portsmouth to prevent a possible Confederate crossing. As soon as the advance guard of raiders arrived the defenders scattered. , Morgan's main force arrived a half-hour later. The defenders were rounded up, marched to the fairgrounds, and kept under guard through the night. Some raiders ransacked the town while others rested. During the night, the raiders burned the depot and other valuable railroad facilities including two bridges. , The next morning, Morgan visited the office of the Jackson Standard. When he read an editorial that referred to him and his men as "the scum of the South," the troops located the printing room on the third floor, threw the type boxes out a window, and smashed the press itself with a pick axe., The raiders began to leave Jackson about noon on July 17. Morgan's forces split, as Colonel Basil Duke's column moved northeast through Jamestown toward Berlin Crossroads, while Colonel Adam Johnson and his men moved southeast toward Vinton in Gallia County. All were heading toward Middleport in Meigs County on the Ohio River. , The Search for a Crossing , By mid-July 1863, Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan had made it around several obstacles, the largest being the Union garrison at Cincinnati, Ohio, commanded by Union Major General Ambrose Burnside. A scouting party led by Morgan's brother, Colonel Richard Morgan, was sent to Ripley, Ohio, in search of an Ohio River crossing, but after discovering a fortified guard at Ripley, they returned to the main column., Morgan and his raiders also faced increased local delaying tactics, such as felled trees across the main roads and the strategic burning of bridges to slow their advance and aid the Union pursuit. Morgan continued across southern Ohio seeking another river crossing He could not have predicted he was heading for a showdown. , [Photo captions] , Top left: Confederates ransacked numerous stores in Jackson and destroyed the office of the Republican newspaper, the Jackson Standard. When Union forces arrived several hours later, they retaliated by attacking the newspaper office of the Jackson Express, owned and edited by a "Peace" Democrat. , Bottom left: Brigadier General Edward H. Hobson, a Kentucky banker-turned-soldier, led the Union mounted troops chasing Morgan's Raiders. After rebuilding the canal bridge at Jasper, Hobson's men headed for Jackson, where they encamped on the night of July 17. They were back in the saddle by 3 am. , Text: Edd Sharp and David L. Mowery , Illustrations: Bev Kirk