The Flickr Johnhuntmorgan Image Generatr

Lexington, Indiana is a small, unincorporated community located in southeastern Scott County. It served as the original Scott County seat from the early 1820s to the early 1870s.

The well preserved building is empty but dates back to 1797. Once a road house on the route from the Chillicothe heading south west to Maysville, Kentucky. During the Civil War General John Hunt Morgan stayed at this inn. The inn operated until 1870. The owner tried to get historical funding to restore the building. A couple gathering bags of walnuts on this site said no luck in funding.

On July 24, 1863, Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan ordered his 500 remaining Confederate raiders to burn the Cambridge Road bridges to the west. This delayed pursuing Union forces long enough to allow four hours for a much-needed stop at Moorefield.

The general rested in the Mills Hotel, while his men, refusing to forcibly enter occupied homes, caught catnaps in town yards and at a nearby church. Among the vacant houses the raiders explored was that owned by the Reverend Thomas Crawford. On discovering a sermon in the study, the rebels held a mock worship service as the text was read aloud. A picket's shot from the west warned the Confederates of the approach of Union forces under Brigadier General James Shackelford. Morgan ordered his troops to mount up and quickly ride east.

Because scouts reported that a strong militia force occupied Cadiz, the Confederates turned toward New Athens. That town was a Union and abolitionist stronghold, and its citizens were terrified to learn that Morgan was headed their direction. Morgan, however, chose a route through a heavily wooded area north of the village to avoid any engagements with Union or militia forces. While Shackelford's troopers crept into town, the raiders camped that night barely two miles northeast of them.

Picture 1 Caption:
While General Morgan slept in the Mills Hotel, his bodyguard reportedly occupied time by reading local newspapers, often a good source of intelligence on the Union pursuers.

Picture 2 Caption:
By the time Morgan's raiders entered Harrison County, they had been riding for more than three weeks and had lost many men. Morgan avoided further trouble by taking a route through heavy woods around New Athens.

After leaving Old Washington, Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan and about 500 remaining cavalrymen were soon slowed down by several skirmishes, including one at Hanna's Mill.

Morgan's men were by now relegated to using farm horses and such buggies and wagons as they could find along their path. It was a challenge to keep ahead of their Union pursuers. Desperation or temptation, still forced Morgan's Raiders to pause and loot several stores as they passed through Antrim.

The commander directing the Union pursuit, Brigadier General James Shackelford, was having his own difficulties. His men were showing serious signs of fatigue. Shackelford pushed forward, pausing at Antrim only for food and a short rest before renewing the chase.

In an effort to slow his pursuers, Morgan ordered the burning of the covered bridge over the Stillwater Creek at Collinsport (now under Piedmont Lake). Shackelford's men were so close behind Morgan that they could see the burning bridge in the distance.

Picture 1 Caption:
Smoke burning from the billowing bridge over the Stillwater Creek near modern-day Piedmont alerted both residents and Union forces of the Confederates' approximate location.

Picture 2 Caption:
Brigadier General James M. Shackelford, a fellow Kentuckian and former infantry leader, was the field commander of mounted Union forces pursuing Morgan after the Battle of Buffington Island. Shackelford knew Morgan's men from having been wounded by them during a cavalry skirmish in September 1862.

On the morning of July 23, 1833, Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan and 600 Confederate raiders rode down Island Run Road to the Muskingum River just below Eagleport where Island Run forms a small island. Farmers and young boys in Rokeby Lock, on the other side of the river, fired hunting rifles at the Confederates. The raiders returned the fire and quickly dispersed the defenders.

Morgan needed to cross the river as quickly as possible and sent half his column to Hiram Winchell's ferryboat, near the Eagleport Methodist Church (now St. Saviour by the River Anglican Church). While on the ferry, a Confederate soldier swapped his worn-out kepi (military cap) for Winchell's new hat, leaving them both with something to wear.

The remainder of Morgan's cavalry crossed south of Eagleport at Island Run. The Confederates ordered a local boy, traditionally thought to have been either Lon Woodward or Johnny Fouts, to ride back and forth across the ford at Island Run to aid their passage.

Morgan reportedly went into the church to pray as his troops crossed the river. The general would cross safely on the ferry. Just as the last of the raiders waded across, Union infantry, dispatched by Ohio governor David Tod, arrived from Zanesville on a sternwheeler.

Picture Caption:
Morgan's Confederate raiders engaged local farmers and youth while crossing the Muskingum River near an Eagleport church.

Erected by Ohio Civil War Trail Commission, Civil War 150 Ohio, Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 37.)

Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan and 600 Confederate cavalrymen entered Deerfield Township, Morgan County, about dusk on July 22, 1863. Morgan rested his men for the night at the John Weaver Farm near the Island Run headwaters.

General Morgan entered the Weaver cabin and, after assuring the family that they would not be harmed, pulled a "straw tick" from a bed and fell asleep on the floor. The raiders slept in the orchard. Although the Confederates burned some fence rails for firewood and fed a small amount of the Weavers' newly harvested wheat to their horses, they did no other harm to the farmstead. Mrs. Weaver stayed up all night making breakfast of griddlecakes and biscuits for the soldiers. The following morning Morgan asked Weaver to guide him to Eagleport, a recognizable landmark on his map. As the Confederates approached Eagleport, they released Weaver unharmed. County Name Origin: Morgan County was named in honor of John Hunt Morgan's ancestor, Brigadier General Daniel Morgan, of American Revolutionary War fame. Picture Caption: The Weavers' log farmhouse was moved to Dublin Ohio, and converted into a restaurant called the Morgan House.

Erected by Ohio Civil War Trail Commission, Civil War 150 Ohio, Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 36.)

In July 1863, Confederate General John H. Morgan led a force of 2,000 cavalrymen across southern Ohio. Morgan's force entered Ohio from Indiana on July 13. A chase ensued as Union cavalry pursued Morgan's men across twenty Ohio counties. Most of Morgan's troops were captured in Meigs County at the Battle of Buffington Island. Morgan, with several hundred cavalry, managed to escape. They raced northeast, fighting skirmishes along the way, and forded the Muskingum at a point near Rokeby Lock on July 23, 1863. As they went, the soldiers raided local farms for food and replacement horses. They were finally captured in Columbiana County on July 26. The raid marked the northern-most point ever reached by Confederate forces. Across southern Ohio, frightened residents burned bridges over fordable streams and buried silver and jewelry to hide them from the marauders.

This tablet erected by
E. D. Shafer
on the farm of W. L. McElhiney
marks the place where the
Morgan Raiders
crossed the Muskingum River
July 23, 1863

Lexington Trip 2022-05
May 26 - 29, 2022
Homeward Bound
U.S. Route 68
11:41 AM EDT, May 29, 2022

U.S. Route 68 takes us into and through downtown Lebanon, Kentucky. Located in central Kentucky, Lebanon was founded in 1814 and incorporated January 28, 1815. The town became the county seat of Marion County in 1835. At one time, the town was once considered for the site of the state capitol.

L&N Railroad built a branch through the town prior to the American Civil War. The town became a hotspot during the war as both the Confederate and Union armies fought for control of the railroad. Three battles were fought in and around Lebanon resulting in the railroad changing hands a few times between the two armies. One of those battles the Battle of Lebanon brought destruction to a number of buildings within the town. The Battle of Lebanon occured on July 5, 1863 as Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan's 2,460 troops fought for 6 hours against a small Union garrison of 350 to 400 men of the 20th Kentucky Infantry Regiment. The Union troops were hold up in the depot when Morgan ordered for nearby buildings to be set on fire to force a surrender from the Union commander. In the end, Union Lt. Col. Charles S. Hanson surrendered.

For about 15 years in the mid 20th Century, Lebanon became a entertainment hotspot as nationally known acts appeared at a number of nightclubs throughout the town. The Plantation, Club Cherry, Club 68, and the Golden Horseshoe nightclubs. These clubs hosted a number of famous acts such as Tina Turner, Nat King Cole, Jerry Lee Lewis, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Steppenwolf, The Platters, the Amazing Rhythm Aces, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Jackie Wilson, The Supremes, Ray Charles, James Brown, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett, B.B. King, Percy Sledge, Bobby Blue Bland and Count Basie. After the day the music died, Lebanon is now Kentucky's best kept secret.

East Main Street at Spalding Avenue, Lebanon, Marion County, Kentucky.
T6i 2022-0529_114137
raw to jpg

Built in 1895 by Thomas Hardman of Brookville. This bridge still carries traffic, is 176' long, 15.5' wide and 16.5' tall. Crossing Laughery Creek, it was bypassed in the 1930's by a new concrete bridge a mile to it's south. It's Howe Truss design is sturdy to this day making it one of two covered bridges, out of 11, that exist in Ripley County, indiana. Hardman achieved fame by rebuilding 7 covered bridges damaged by John Hunt Morgan, Morgan's Raiders, during the Civil War. Note the steep embankment leading to the bridge to prevent flood damage.

A slave owner from a wealthy and deeply connected family from Lexington, Kentucky, John Hunt Morgan was a descendent of buccaneer Henry Morgan. His grandfather, who settled in Lexington, was the first millionaire west of the Allegheny Mountains. Unfortunately, while attending Lexington's Transylvania College, John Morgan was suspended for dueling. That made him not quite West Point material. He enrolled as a cavalry private in the U.S. Army and fought in the Mexican-American War, where he gained war experience and was promoted.

After his wife became sick and lost her leg, Morgan became known as a lady's man around town. And at home among his enslaved women, he had at least one son, Sidney.

Although Kentucky stayed with the Union, after Morgan's young wife died, Morgan left his family horse farm, businesses and Kentucky for Tennessee in order to fight with the Confederacy. He recruited friends, family, and acquaintances to follow.

He fought and lost against the troops of Ulysses S. Grant at Shiloh.

Morgan's time was ticking away. His star was bright in the Confederacy. He married again. This time he wedded the daughter of a former U.S. Congressman from Tennessee, a member of the Know-Nothing Party (American Party).

Morgan was instrumental in persuading General Braxton Bragg on the strategic merits of the Confederacy taking the battle away from defending Tennessee and into an offensive war in Kentucky, much against the wishes of his home state.

Morgan became famous in the North and South for marauding around Kentucky, creating chaos.

His commanding officers gave him a direct order not to cross the Ohio River to invade Indiana and Ohio; however, he decided to disobey the order, becoming even more famous when he began to take an offensive fight by the Confederacy to the North. Caught by the United States, Morgan and hundreds of his men were imprisoned. But amazingly he and six of his officers managed to escape prison in Ohio. He would recruit again and lead other marauding campaigns into Kentucky.

In 1864 while in Greeneville, Tennessee, Morgan was reported to the U.S. Army by a pro-Union Tennesseean while he stayed at her inn. He was shot dead trying to escape by U.S. troops.

John Morgan's statue used to be next to the former Cheapside Slave Auction Block in Lexington. It now rests in the Lexington Cemetery, where I took this photo.

(Read more details about John Hunt Morgan at Wikipedia.)

The small town of Brandenburg, population 2,700, sits on the banks of the Ohio River, across from the shore of its great trade partner, Indiana (pictured in the background). The Ohio River runs along the borders of once Union-embracing states–Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky. It ends far west in Illinois, where it merges into the Mississippi River.

Brandenburg, Kentucky, had no Confederate statue during or after the Civil War. However, a few years ago it had an opportunity to obtain this statue, which had been discarded by the University of Louisville.

Tourism!

It should be noted that in 2017 City-Data.com recorded Brandenburg's African American population as only 1.9 percent of its total population.

So what is this town's tie into the Confederacy?

Confederate John Hunt Morgan and his men went through Brandenburg in order to cross the Ohio River into Indiana. A state plaque on the eastern side of this soldier speaks specifically of John Hunt Morgan, who headed a group of raiders that pillaged their way through Kentucky. As the U.S. Army was cutting up and occupying large swaths of Tennessee, the Confederacy's idea was to use Morgan and his men to confuse and distract Union troops away from key battle areas and armies as well as disrupt Union supply lines in his home state.

When it became obvious that Kentucky was not going to fight for the Confederacy, Morgan, who was born in Alabama, fled from Kentucky to Tennessee. After his first marauding escapade into the Bluegrass State, he became wanted for treason by his home state. In response, he burned down Kentucky county courts to send a message of what he thought of such charges against him.

Morgan rested here on his way north of the river. He was under direct orders not to cross the Ohio River, but at Brandenburg, Morgan disobeyed the Confederacy. He hijacked a commercial sidewheel passenger steamer, the Alice Dean, to transport his troops to the other side and then burned and sank the ship.

The town wants to remember him with this statue of a generic Confederate soldier.

Morgan and his men were caught by the United States and imprisoned in Ohio. He escaped. He was later shot dead by U.S. soldiers on the grounds of an inn he was staying as he tried to escape them in Greeneville, a town in Eastern Tennessee, which also was not a Confederate-friendly area.

The Harshaville bridge dates to 1855, crosses Cherry Fork Creek having a span of 110'. Used by Morgan's Raiders during the Civil War. It's the last covered bridge opened to vehicle traffic in rural Adams County in southwestern Ohio. Surrounded by a huge Amish settlement.

Historical marker to confederate southern cavalryman John Hunt Morgan.

An "ideal romantic hero" to some, but a confederate slave-owner & slave trader to others.

I guess history depends on who's writing it.

Somewhat related:
The Confederacy's Final Retreat | New Yorker Magazine

Statue to confederate southern cavalryman John Hunt Morgan @215 W Main St. -- erected in 1911. Ironically (and perhaps cruelly) at the same location where slave auctions were once held.

I don't claim to know a whole lot of Kentucky history (weren't they neutral in the civil war?), but I'm guessing culturally & socially, they were probably more closely aligned with the south, than with the North-- at least one might think so-- due to the prominent displays of confederate soldiers and and other antebellum figures in the area.

As I gazed at this monument (and at others close by), I thought to myself, this is rather odd; given that I'm in the home State of Abraham Lincoln-- the great emancipator, orator, and statesman. Aside from this very impressive work of art, I saw very little (as in none at all) statues, memorials, historic markers or monuments dedicated to 16th President who presided over the most turbulent moral, constitutional, and political crisis in US history.

It just puzzled me; given the history of the area-- and out of all the monuments downtown Lexington, KY could have chosen to display on the lawn of one its most prominent & iconic downtown buildings, they chose to go with a confederate antebellum slave holder.

All in all, it was the horse that drew me to this statue. Equestrian statues have always fascinated me, and the horse depicted here looks like a fine Kentucky Saddlebred!

Somewhat related:
The Confederacy's Final Retreat | New Yorker Magazine

UPDATE: I recently learned that in July 2018 the monument was relocated and placed in the Confederate section of the Lexington Cemetery.
[Source: Kentucky.com news]: Confederate Statues Quietly Removed to Lexington Cemetery

McMinnville TN.

Huntsville, Alabama

Constructed in 1823.

Marker:
www.flickr.com/photos/auvet/48912934228/in/dateposted-pub...

Huntsville, Alabama