Bevis

Bevis. "The Darkest of All Nights". , In the twilight of July 13, 1863, flames from the New Baltimore bridge lit the northwest sky. Slow-moving columns of dusty cavalrymen approached Bevis crossroads from the shadows Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan's Raiders quietly secured their first rendezvous point in Ohio. The main column of 1,500 men arrived around 7:30 pm after passing through Schwing's Corner (Barnesburg). Later, a detachment of 500 joined them after fighting off Union home guardsmen defending the Miamitown Covered Bridge., With thousands of Union troops in pursuit, Morgan ordered his men to keep moving eastward without torches, noise, or rest. When horses collapsed, replacements were taken from civilians., According to Lieutenant Kelion Franklin Peddicord a Confederate scout from the 14th Kentucky Cavalry, "It was without doubt the darkest of all nights. The troops were almost exhausted for want of sleep. Many of them during the night, while asleep, wandered off on some of the many side roads, notwithstanding the officers vigilance to keep all awake by riding from the head of their companies to the rear and back again, and constantly urging them, if they loved their country's cause, to keep each other awake. Oftentimes I have seen on that raid both man and horse nodding together, and at such times the horse staggering like one intoxicated.", Camp Colerain , In 1863 the area before you was an open field owned by Martin Bevis, which served as a camp meeting ground for Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky Methodist congregations. From May to August 1861, it was the site of Camp Colerain, a temporary rendezvous for Union army recruits. Among those who gathered here were Colonel Augustus Moor's 28th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, seven companies of Colonel John Groesbeck's 39th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and Major Edward F. Noyes, who would serve as Ohio's governor in 1872.