Capture of the Alice Dean

Capture of the Alice Dean. Great Raid. After pushing through Bardstown, Kentucky the lead elements of Gen. John Hunt Morgan’s command arrived in Brandenburg. Captains H. Clay Merriwether and Samuel Taylor and their men encamped on farms in and around Brandenburg. They were soon joined by Capt. Thomas Hines, who had led a scouting raid into Indiana. When his party encountered Union Soldiers Hines alone had managed to escape by swimming across the Ohio., The Confederates in Brandenburg placed one cannon on East Hill and second on West Hill. Shortly after lunchtime July 7, 1863 the mailboat John T. Combs arrived and docked at the foot of main street. The Confederates stormed the boat and captured it without firing a shot. The Confederates then moved the John T. Combs to mid-stream where they hoisted distress flags. The Alice Dean, a luxury boat carrying passengers to Louisville came into sight. The side-wheel packed owned by the Dean Company of Cincinnati, Ohio shifted course and came alongside the John T. Combs to offer assistance. The Confederates boarded the Alice Dean and took control, again without firing a shot. The boats were lashed together and steamed into the Brandenburg dock. All passengers were put ashore with a warning not to raise the alarm. The Confederates treated the passengers of both boats with the utmost respect; even returning $10,000 the passengers of the Alice Dean had placed in the safe in the purser’s office., (captions) , Alice Dean. The Alice Dean was less than a year old when captured by Morgan. It was a 411-ton wooden hull sidewheel packet boat built in Cincinnati. Her captain was James Pepper., Capt. Samuel B. Taylor . Capt. H. Clay Meriwether , Taylor and Meriwether, both of the 10th Kentucky Cavalry, were onboard the John T. Combs when they captured the Alice Dean. They had been sent ahead by Col. Adam r. Johnson with orders to capture boats for the Ohio River crossing.