THE MORGAN RAID IN
OHIO.
R. W. MCFARLAND.
In the article under the above heading,
published in the
January number, there are several errors
which ought not to
pass unnoticed. The paragraph to which
reference is made, is
as follows, viz.: "The Ohio Raid
practically ended at Buffing-
ton Island, although Morgan himself was
not captured there,
but with a small portion of his men
escaped and fled to Lake
Erie, being captured at New Lisbon in
Columbiana county, Ohio,
within one day's ride of Lake
Erie." Morgan was not cap-
tured at New Lisbon, but six or eight
miles further south, at
Salineville. From this village it is
about a hundred miles to
Lake Erie. Exhausted cavalrymen are not
likely to travel a
hundred miles a day. Further, Morgan was
not making for
Lake Erie, but for the Ohio River. And
still further: The
"small portion of his men, numbered
about nine hundred, accord-
ing to Reid's 'Ohio in the War.'"
See Howe's History of Ohio, Vol. 1, p.
457: "After the bat-
tle, Morgan with not quite 1,200 men escaped.
Twenty miles above Buffington he struck
the river again, got
300 of his men across, when the
approaching gunboats checked
the passage. Returning to the 900 still
on the Ohio side, he once
more resumed his hurried flight. His men
were worn down
and exhausted by enormous work. When
foiled in the attempted
crossing above, he headed for the
Muskingum. Foiled here
by the militia under Runkle, he doubled
on his track, and turned
again towards Blennerhassett's Island. The
clouds of dust
which marked his track betrayed his
movement, and on three
sides the pursuers closed in on him.
"While they slept in peaceful
expectation of receiving his
surrender in the morning, he stole out
along a hillside that had
been thought impassable, his men walking
in single file and
leading their horses, and by midnight he
was once more out of
(243)
244
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
the toils, marching hard to outstrip his
pursuers. At last he
found an unguarded crossing of the
Muskingum, at Eaglesport,
above McConnelsville, and then with an
open country before
him, struck out once more for the
Ohio."
The writer of this article confronted
Morgan at Eaglesport,
and was in the chase till the final
surrender at Salineville. It
may be well to explain the part taken by
my regiment in the
pursuit of Morgan. When this bold raider
entered Ohio, the
86th regiment was in process of
formation at Cleveland. Five
or six companies had been completed, and
there were men
enough in camp to finish the enrollment,
but every squad of 25
or 30 men had at least one person who
sought to become an
officer. But there were more aspirants
than there were offices
to fill, so the consolidation moved
slowly. Gov. Tod knew the
condition of affairs in the camp, and
telegraphed to the effect
that if the several squads should not
voluntarily combine into
companies that same day, he would on the
next day order a con-
solidation to be directed by outside
officers. The regiment being
completed we were sent immediately to
Zanesville, to give aid
in heading off Morgan. Four companies
were put under my
charge, and we were placed on board a
steamboat, and ordered
to stop at Eaglesport, and prevent
Morgan from crossing. The
time now was 2 o'clock at night,
and as I caused the gangway
plank to be taken aboard, I heard the
clatter of a galloping
horse. Thinking that there might be
further orders, I waited a
moment. The rider came up and said he
was told to tell me to
wait for further orders. There was thus
a delay of two hours,
and this delay caused the failure of the
attempt to prevent Mor-
gan's crossing, for when the boat came
in sight of Eaglesport,
the last of Morgan's men were on the
ferry boat crossing the
river. Landing on the east bank a half a
mile from the village,
we made haste to occupy the crest of the
second range of hills,
with the intent of holding Morgan in
check until his pursuers
should come up. He was so held for an
hour or more; but
divining my object, he made vigorous
efforts to escape; and by
dividing his troops into two parts, he
sought to divide my forces.
I thought it best to keep my men
together, and so we headed off
the one part which was proceeding up the
river. It faced about
The Morgan Raid in Ohio. 245
and disappeared down the river in a
hurried flight. But soon
being met by a regiment of militia
marching northward, he
again turned north, but bearing away to
the northeast. Clouds
of dust showed where he was, and aided
my troops in their pur-
suit. In about two miles we came to the
road on which Morgan
was retreating. The soldiers at the
front of the column were
able to give Morgan one volley at long
range. No one was hurt
but some of the raiders dropped a part
of their plunder. We
picked up a bolt or two of calico and
also a bolt of muslin. On
the west side of the road, and about a
hundred yards distant,
there was a small frame house on the
face of the hill. The
woman living there was on the porch at
the east side of the
house, watching Morgan's men as they
passed along the road.
One of the soldiers shot at her as she
was leaning against a post.
The bullet hit the post about a foot
above her head, and half
buried itself in the hard wood. This
outrage occurred about the
time when my men discharged their guns
at long range. I saw
the mark of the bullet, and gave the
woman the dry goods which
we had picked up in the road -to offset
as far as possible the
fright which she had suffered.
Early in the morning, only an hour or so
after my troops
had landed, there occurred the following
incident, which prob-
ably gave Morgan an exaggerated estimate
of the number of
my men. While waiting for developments,
I saw two cavalry-
men approaching my position. They were
in the woods, a
couple of hundred yards distant, but
proceeding very cautiously.
They were attempting to make some
reliable estimate of our
numbers. I called on the half dozen
soldiers who were closest
to me, "to shoot those spies."
The guns rang out in an instant,
but the soldiers further away from my
position, knowing noth-
ing of the facts, all fired their guns
also, but fired at random.
The roar of these 350 rifles was grand;
and as we were con-
cealed by the timber, our numbers were
likely overestimated.
Within two or three hours after Morgan's
departure, the
advance columns of the pursuers came up,
and inquired after
the fugitives. The maneuvers of the
morning being ended, I
returned to Zanesville; there the four
companies were put on
cars, and started east with the object
of preventing Morgan
246 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. from crossing the railroad to the south-he had reached the National Road not far eastward from Cambridge. The train carrying my men was divided into two sections and ordered to move in easy supporting distance of each other. We were near Bellaire when Morgan surrendered. Morgan and nineteen other officers were put aboard of one train and sent forward to Columbus. The men were put on another. On my return west- ward, I fell in with the train carrying the body of Morgan's men, as that train reached Zanesville. In each car carrying Confederate soldiers only two or three guards had been put; deeming such guard insufficient, I took charge of the train and took it to Columbus. Being formed in line for the march to Camp Chase, I counted the prisoners, 565. They marched be- tween lines of Union soldiers to the camp, and there they were counted again,-the same number. In the first volume of Howe's History of Ohio, there is a very full account of the operations against Morgan at the time of his surrender. Thus it is easily seen that the truth of history demanded some cor- rection of the statements which are herein criticised. And hav- ing personal knowledge of the case, I have given this brief out- line of the facts, but many interesting incidents have been omitted. |
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