Replies

According to an article in the Scott County Journal of September, 1924, written by Alice Jones now of San Diego, California and formerly of Lexington, Morgan's Raiders reached Lexington on July 4, 1863, this date differing somewhat from other accounts:

"On the Fourth of July, 1863, the little town of Lexington had arranged a celebration of the nation's independence. The boys too young for the army and the few elderly citizens dragged the old brass cannon that had been presented to the county by General Charles Scott, to the eastern slope of graveyard hill and greeted the early dawn with war-like thunder until the powder ran out.

"Beside the courthouse in the center of the public square surrounded by a grove of Locust trees a platform was set up with benches facing it. A bench from the courthouse hall was on the platform for the speakers and prominent citizens who would be participating in the simple program. There was no special music for too many boys had gone over the hill to the strains of "The Girl I Left Behind Me" and the drummers and fifers had followed.

"The audience was small, consisting mostly of women. Someone read the Declaration of Independence and a minister prayed and then introduced a Union soldier, a refugee from the South.

"In a few simple words this soldier told what it meant to be a Union soldier below the lines and the many hardships he endured before reaching the Union army. Sitting immediately behind him was a Southern sympathizer from Kentucky who had fled north when his neighbors had made it too warm for him in neutral Kentucky, and perhaps a half dozen Rebel sympathizers, 'Copperheads' as they were called. The soldier spoke in warm praise of Mr. Lincoln and Governor Morton and convincingly of the success of the Union Army.

Montgomery, Ohio, July 14, 1863

"The Kentucky Rebel sprang to his feet and shouted, "You are a liar. There are many Yankee bones bleaching on Southern soil and there will be many more before this unholy war will be beaten and the glorious South will be triumphant." A copperhead on the platform jumped up shouting, 'Hooray for Jefferson Davis.' At that point the women rose as one and started for the platform. One elderly lady, who had two sons in the army, pointing her parasol and pushing her way through the crowd said, 'Let me get to him. I'll pull every hair out of his head.' The Rebel was hustled off the platform by his friends and hurried away from the crowd. The meeting then broke up and in some confusion.

"During the program Morgan was making his way toward Lexington. The lanterns were still burning that night in the courthouse yard when a messenger came riding over the hill telling the people that Morgan was within two miles of the town. As the Raiders came over the hill the town's lights could be seen by the riders twinkling like campfires and the old brass canon lay at the foot of the hill where it had been last used. Morgan entered peacefully and without force.

"His men reconnoitered and a few came into the square and formed a line. As no citizen seemed to object or resist, Morgan and his staff rode up to the only hotel in the town and ordered supplies and feed for his horses. The rest of the band came straggling in and made camp below the community.

Steamboat Alice Dean

"By twelve o'clock the lights were out. About sunrise the Madison Home Guards swept into the town forming a line on Main Street. The Captain was just preparing to give a command for a cavalry movement to show off their horsemanship and new uniforms when a citizen informed him that John Morgan and his staff were asleep in the hotel and his men were camped by the cave spring northeast of the town. Upon hearing this, the Captain and his men wheeled their horses and made haste to leave the area.

"As the morning progressed, the Postmaster was held up, the office looted of all cash and postage stamps.

"According to Josephine Shea, Morgan and a few of his men took the mail bags down to her grandfather Patrick Shea's home and emptied the contents on the living room floor, opening all letters. Many of the letters contained money from soldiers to their families which was also stolen. After opening the mail Morgan demanded that the Shea family cook dinner for him.

"The three general stores in town were broken into and the men fitted themselves in new clothes and boots and took corn and sides of bacon.

Brig. Gen. Basil W. Duke

"At about eleven o'clock the raiders left town. Two miles east of Lexington a farmer hailed them shouting 'Hooray for Jeff Davis.' Morgan 's response was 'good, now bring your best horses and help the cause' and they forced him to lead the way to Dupont. He walked home later a much wiser man.

"All horses were not so easy to come by for Morgan, however. A lawyer living in Lexington decided to ride to Vienna on July 10th to catch a train to Seymour. He rode a neighbors horse called "Old Bill," known throughout the county as having spells of temperament.

"On this day when a Raider attempted to steal Old Bill and mount him, the cantankerous old horse wouldn't budge. The Raider finally gave up and let the lawyer mount him at which time Old Bill relaxed and moved on down the road, having demonstrated his loyalty!

"General Shackford's advance guard rode through Lexington that evening in search of Morgan. Many of Shackford's men were asleep in their saddles, tired from the long pursuit." So ends Mrs. Jones' account of Morgan's raid into Scott County.

In Lexington, as in many other places, the Confederates plundered dwellings and stores and appropriated horses and supplies. On Saturday, July 11th, they moved north to Blocher, Deputy and Paris, Indiana. The northern route was chosen because Morgan' s scouts had learned that Colonel Sering, with 2000 troops, was between him and the Ohio River. However, Morgan's right wing under Colonel Smith, went eastward, threatened Madison, and fought Jefferson County Home Guards at Kent. And at Paris the Raiders robbed a store before leaving.

From Paris they continued north to Vernon where they encountered a well-entrenched force of 500 men under Colonel Williams. In order to conceal his weakness, Morgan sent in a demand under a flag of truce to surrender. Colonel Williams replied, "that he was abundantly able to hold the place; if General Morgan got it he must take it by a hard fight."

Under cover of minor skirmishes, Morgan continued on to Dupont, eight miles southwest of Vernon. They arrived there at midnight and raided stores and F. F. Mayfield's new packing factory. The Confederates also destroyed the depot and tracks of the Madison & Indianapolis Railroad. Morgan continued on to Versailles and Osgood, burning bridges and plundering as he traveled. Finally he crossed the White River into Ohio on July 13th.

General Morgan was captured and imprisoned in the Ohio State Prison at Columbus, from which he escaped on the night of November 27, 1863, and eventually rejoined the Confederate forces in the South.

General James M Shackelford

The colorful career of this daring capable Southern leader was brought to an abrupt end on September 4, 1864 in the town of Greenville, in Eastern Tennessee. He was betrayed by a woman, Mrs. Lucy Williams in whose home he was quartered at the time, to a group of Federal cavalry. General Morgan, realizing the enemy had surrounded the house, attempted to make his escape through the garden behind the house, but while mounting his horse, he was shot and killed, although, it is said, he had attempted to surrender.

Morgan's Raid: Mr. J. B. Epply's Narrative

At the time of Morgan's Raid, Mr. Epply said although he was only six yours old, he could remember Morgan's men stacking their guns outside of their yard fence and coming to the door for food. The men left taking a young horse which Mr. Epply's father regained six months later. He had to make a trip to Cincinnati for his horse which he found uninjured.

General John Hunt Morgan, CSA

One of Mr. Epply's stories of the raid, included the anecdote on Mr. Matthew Henry Gray. Mr. Gray met Morgan and his men at the door with a gun. The gun was immediately seized, stuck in the fork of an apple tree and bent around the tree. Then Mr. Gray was placed upon avery bony old mule -- the worst the raiders had -- and compelled to ride with them for approximately five miles and walk or hobble home.

Another story was told of the experience of Reuben Rice with Gen. Morgan:

Mr. Rice was a citizen of Graham township, Jefferson County. He was taken by Morgan as far South as Frankfort Kentucky, where he was forced to pray all night that the South might be victorious in the War.

General Bushrod R. Johnson

In 1910 Mr. Epply visited Morgan's tomb at Lexington, Kentucky. Before driving out to the cemetery, he was told by a friend living there not to say anything in opposition to Morgan's raid or he would soon stir up trouble in the community.

Morgan's Raid: Mrs. J. B. Epply's Narrative

Brigadier-General Edward Hobson

Mrs. Epply said her grandparents had often told her stories of Morgan's Raid. When Morgan's men left Lexington they traveled north on the present State road . The Jennings home was off the main highway but may of their neighbors gathered on a high portico of the house where they might watch "Morgan and his terrible men" march down the road.

The next day four of the horsemen came and asked for food. Being invited to come in while the meal was prepared for them, they did nothing to molest the property of their host. At one house nearby they were refused admittance, so they entered anyway. Then empties a barrel of flour in the floor and mixed bread and cooked it for themselves.

Mrs. Epply's aunt and a girl friend were in Lexington at the time of the raid. As they were riding home they met General Morgan leading his men. The girls thought their horses would be stolen, so dismounted being ordered to, by Morgan. They were surprised when their horses were not taken, and were informed that, "Southern Gentlemen Don't Steal Ladies Horses."

Additional Sources:

members.aol.com/wastle
www.thinkwestkentucky.com
www.tennessee-scv.org/Camp1513
www.masonpl.lib.oh.us
users.erols.com/kfraser
www.enquirer.com
www.mortkunstler.com
hhhills.org
www.lastsquare.com
members.tripod.com/~Morgans_Men
www.heidelberg.edu

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on January 15:
1432 Afonso V "the African" king of Portugal (1438-1481)
1622 Molière France, dramatist (Tartuffe, Le Misanthrope) (baptized)
1716 Philip Livingston merchant (signed Declaration of Independence)
1798 Thomas Crofton Croker Irish story teller (Fairy legends)
1809 Cornelia Connelly Philadelphia PA, founder (Society of the Holy Child Jesus)
1809 Pierre Joseph Proudhon France, politician (libertarian socialist)
1815 Henry Morris Naglee Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1886
1817 Lewis Golding Arnold Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1871
1821 Lafayette McLaws Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1897
1841 Lord Frederick Stanley presenter of hockey's Stanley Cup
1850 Sonya Kurtovsky Kovalevsky Russia, mathemetician (Academy of Science)
1870 Johan Peter Koch Danish officer/explorer (Greenland)
1877 Lewis M Terman Indiana, psychologist (developed Stanford-Binet IQ test)
1902 Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Faisal al-Saud king (Saudi Arabia)
1908 Edward Teller Budapest Hungary, fathered H-bomb (Manhattan Project)
1909 Gene Krupa Benny Goodman's drummer (Sing Sing Sing)
1913 Lloyd Bridges San Leandro CA, actor (Sea Hunt, Roots, Airplane)
1918 Gamal Abdel Nasser President of Egypt (1954-1970)
1920 John J "Cardinal" O'Connor Philadelphia PA, Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York
1929 Reverand Dr Martin Luther King Jr Atlanta GA, dreamer (Nobel 1964)
1929 "Queen Ida" Guillory Ziadaco music
1935 Robert Silverberg US, sci-fi author (Hugo, Regan's Planet)
1941 Captain Beefheart [Don Van Vilet], rocker (Bongo Fury, Shiny Beast)
1948 Ronnie Van Zant rocker (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
1953 Randy White NFL tackle (Dallas Cowboys)
1974 Aubrey Jo Hiller Missoula MT, Miss Montana-America (1996)

Deaths which occurred on January 15:
0069 Servius Sulpicius Galba 6th emperor of Rome (68-69), killed by Praetorian guard in the Forum Rome, at 70
1896 Matthew B Brady US photographer (Civil War), dies at about 72
1919 Karl Liebknecht Marxist revolutionary, murdered at 47
1919 Rosa Luxembourg Marxist revolutionary, murdered
1922 John Kirk Barry Dr/explorer David Livingstone's companion, dies at 89
1934 Patrick O'Malley US policeman, killed by John Dillinger
1949 Black Dahlia murder victim found in Los Angeles (basis of the movie)
1964 Weldon John "Jack" Teagarden US jazz trombonist/singer, dies at 58
1965 Pierre Ngendandumwe premier of Burundi, murdered
1966 Betsy Mitchell US 100m backstroke swimmer, dies at 25
1968 Bill Masterson 1st NHLer fatally injured during game (Jan 13), dies
1978 Margaret Bowman & Lisa Levy Chi Omega, FSU, killed by Ted Bundy
1981 Emanuel Celler (Representative-D-NY, 1923-73), dies at 92
1982 Red Smith sportscaster (Pulitzer, Fight Talk), dies at 76
1983 Meyer Lansky reputed mobster, dies in Miami Beach FL at 81
1987 Ray Bolger actor/dancer (Wizard of Oz), dies at 82
1988 Sean MacBride Ireland, commander of Irish Republican Army, dies at 83
1994 Harry Nilsson rock vocalist (Without You, Everybody's Talkin'), dies at 52
1996 Moshushu II King of Lesotho (1966-90), dies at 51
1998 Amos "Junior" Wells blues harpist, dies at 63

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1968 SKARMAN ORVAL H.---DULUTH MN.
[NO RETURN FROM R&R]
1970 TUBBS GLENN E.---AMARILLO TX.
1971 HARWOOD JAMES A.---DALLAS TX.
1971 KINSMAN GERALD F.---FOXBORO MA.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
0708 Sisinnius begins his reign as Catholic Pope (dies 20 days later)
0946 Caliph al-Mustaqfi blinded/ousted
1535 Henry VIII declares himself head of English Church
1552 France signs secret treaty with German Protestants
1562 3rd sitting of Council of Trente opens
1582 Russia cedes Livonia & Estonia to Poland, loses access to the Baltic
1624 Riots flare in Mexico when it is announced that all churches are to be closed.
1680 French explorer Sieur de la Salle builds Fort Crèvecoeur
1777 People of New Connecticut (Vermont) declare independence from England
1780 Continental Congress establishes court of appeals
1785 Mozarts string quartet opus 10 premieres
1797 1st top hat worn (John Etherington of London)
1831 1st US-built locomotive to pull a passenger train makes 1st run; Mr & Mrs Pierson of Charleston SC make 1st US railroad honeymoon trip
1844 U of Notre Dame receives its charter in Indiana
1861 Steam elevator patented by Elisha Otis
1863 1st US newspaper printed on wood-pulp paper, Boston Morning Journal
1865 Fort Fisher, NC falls to Union troops
1870 Donkey 1st used as symbol of Democratic Party, in Harper's Weekly
1877 US Assay Office in Helena, Montana opens
1882 1st US ski club forms (Berlin NH)
1895 Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake" premieres, St Petersburg
1907 3-element vacuum tube patented by Dr Lee de Forest
1915 Japan claims economic control of China
1920 The United States approves a $150 million loan to Poland, Austria and Armenia to aid in their war with the Russian communists.
1919 2 million gallons of molasses "Tidal wave" Boston MA, drowning 21
1922 Irish Free State forms; Michael Collins becomes 1st premier
1934 8.4 earthquake in India/Nepal, 10,700 die
1934 Babe Ruth signs a 1934 contract for $35,000 ($17,000 cut)
1935 300 Dutch ice cream salesmen protest against Italian competition
1936 Non-profit Ford Foundation incorporates
1942 FDR asks commissioner to continue baseball during WWII
1942 Cubs, drop plans to install lights at Wrigley due to WWII
1943 1,000 workers complete the air conditioning system for the Pentagon
1943 Japanese driven off Guadalcanal
1943 1st transport of Jews from Amsterdam to concentration camp Vught
1944 European Advisory Commission decides to divide Germany
1945 Red Army frees Crakow-Plaszow concentration camp
1949 Mao's Red army conquers Ten-tsin
1951 "Cloud of Death" rolls down Mount Lamington, New Guinea kills 3-5,000
1951 Supreme Court rule "clear & present danger" of incitement to riot is not protected speech & can be a cause for arrest
1953 German Democratic Republic Minister of Foreign affairs Georg Dertingen arrested for "espionage"
1955 USSR ends state of war with German Federal Republic
1957 Brooklyn Dodgers sign a new 3 year lease for Ebbets Field
1961 Supremes signed with Motown Records
1964 Teamsters negotiate 1st national labor contract
1965 Rock group The Who releases 1st album "I Can't Explain"
1967 Super Bowl I Green Bay Packers beat Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10 in Los Angeles; Super Bowl MVP Bart Starr, Green Bay, Quarterback
1970 Republic Biafra disbands/joins Nigeria
1971 George Harrison releases "My Sweet Lord"
1971 Aswan Dam official opens in Egypt
1972 Heavyweight Joe Frazier KOs Terry Daniels
1973 4 Watergate burglars plead guilty in federal court
1973 Pope Paul VI has an audience with Golda Meir at Vatican
1973 President Nixon suspends all US offensive action in North Vietnam
1974 Expert panel reports 18½-m gap in Watergate tape, 5 separate erasures
1974 "Happy Days" begins an 11 year run on ABC
1975 Portugal signs accord for Angola's independence
1976 Sara Jane Moore sentenced to life for attempting to shoot President Ford
1976 US-German Helios B solar probe launched into solar orbit
1977 Coneheads debut on "Saturday Night Live"
1978 Theodore Bundy kills Florida State University co-eds Lisa Levy & Margaret Bowman
1981 "Hill Street Blues" premieres on NBC-TV
1981 Bob Gibson elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame
1983 Thom Syles keeps a life saver intact in his mouth for over 7 hours
1988 Arab uprising in Israel begins
1988 Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder makes racist remarks about black athletes
1990 42 year old George Foreman KOs George Cooney in 2 rounds
1991 UN's deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait passes - (they don't)
1993 Top mafia leader Salvatore "Totò" Riina arrested in Palermo
1997 Chicago Bull Dennis Rodman kicks cameraman, Eugene Amosin the groin
1997 Space Shuttle Atlantis docks with Mir Space Station
1998 NASA announces John Glenn, 76, may fly in space again
2002 John Walker Lindh, a 20-year-old American seized with the Taliban in Afghanistan in December, was charged with conspiring to kill U.S. citizens and abetting terrorist groups.

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Guatemala : Esquipulas
Japan : Adults Day/Seijin-No-Hi
Jordan : Arbor Day
Venezuala : Teachers' Day/Dia Del Maestro
US : Martin Luther King Jr Day (1929) (Monday)
Virginia : Lee-Jackson Day (Monday)
Florida : Arbor Day (Friday)
US : Guys Night Out
US : Man Watcher's Week (Day 5)
National Barbecue Month.

Religious Observances
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Paul of Thebes, the 1st hermit
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Maurus, abbot

Religious History
1697 The citizens of Massachusetts spent a day of fasting and repentance for their roles in the 1692 Salem Witch Trials. Judge Samuel Sewall, who had presided over many of those 20 capital judgments, published a written confession acknowledging his own "blame and shame."
1844 The University of Notre Dame was chartered under Roman Catholic auspices in Indiana.
1852 Mt. Sinai Hospital was incorporated by Sampson Simson and eight associates in NY City. It was the first Jewish hospital in the U.S.
1873 Lutheran founder of the Missouri Synod, C.F.W. Walther warned in a letter: 'Inactivity is the beginning of all vice.'
1970 Israeli archaeologists reported uncovering the first evidence supporting the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by military forces of the ancient Roman Empire.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"When all is said and done, too many people keep on saying and doing."

Question of the day...
If the cops arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?

Murphys Law of the day...(Sodd's Second Law)
Sooner or later, the worst possible set of circumstances is bound to occur.

Astounding fact #76...
Camel's milk does not curdle.