North End Valley

North End Valley. Last Stand. While Confederate Colonel Basil Duke attempted to stop the Union advance up the Ohio River Valley from the south early on July 19, 1863, Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan still thought that the path to the Buffington Island ford was clear. , Around 6 am, sporadic fire from the west signaled that Union cavalrymen under Brigadier General Edward Hobson had arrived. They were soon pressing Colonel Adam Johnson's Confederate troops. The Confederate situation deteriorated further as gunboats on the Ohio River began firing. , Morgan realized the crossing was impossible, and he abandoned all his wagons that had stretched along the roads awaiting the morning crossing. His baggage train came under heavy fire from the Union gunboats and from artillery units to the west. Gathering as many horsemen as he could, Morgan ordered Colonel Duke to delay the Union forces while he escaped with the rest. , [Photo captions]: , Top left: Despite being exposed to artillery fire and running short of ammunition, Confederate troops under Colonel Basil Duke and Colonel Adam Johnson fought a valiant rear guard action, allowing the escape of a large portion of Morgan's force. , Bottom left portrait: For nearly two weeks, Kentucky-born Brigadier General Edward Henry Hobson led Union forces on a 600-mile pursuit of Morgan through Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. , Bottom second portrait: Kentuckian Adam R. "Stovepipe" Johnson commanded Morgan's Second Brigade. He escaped the battlefield and later successfully crossed the Ohio River near Reedsville, Ohio, with several hundred Confederate raiders. , Top right map: When pressure from the Union land attack under Generals Hobson and Judah combined with the naval bombardment from Lieutenant Commander Fitch's tinclads became too great, Morgan ordered a retreat to the northern end of the Portland valley. To prevent the capture of Morgan's whole division, a portion of Duke's and Johnson's brigades fought a delaying action in this immediate vicinity. The field on the opposite side of SR 124 was the scene of bloody fighting as Morgan's troopers were overpowered by Spencer carbines and heavy cannon fire. Overturned wagons on the Old Portland Road in Lauck's Run ravine 0.3 mile northwest of here blocked the Confederates' escape and created great panic. Around 7:30 am, Duke and his 50-man rear guard were captured, but not before Morgan, Johnson, and 1,100 men had escaped to the northwest. , Text: Edd Sharp and David L. Mowery , Illustrations: Bev Kirk . This historical marker was erected in 2013 by the Ohio Department of Transportation, the Ohio History Connection, and the Ohio Civil War Trail Commission.. It is Near Portland in Meigs County Ohio