I have tried several times to send part 1 of this message -'puter hates me! So here's the whole thing; Jamie Abel is my brother, who is very into Morgan's Raiders and has gone along on a couple of archaelogical digs at Morgan battle sites. I set him the task of finding out more about Morgan's Raiders burning the courthouse in Marion Co. -----Original Message----- From: Jamie Abel <jabel@nike.heidelberg.edu> To: bjones@npoint.net <bjones@npoint.net> Date: Tuesday, September 14, 1999 3:03 PM Subject: Rambling Morgan Information >This is interesting. The raid where Morgan reputedly burned the county >courthouse would have occured in 1863 as the preliminary movements before >the Ohio Raid. Morgan actually visited Lebanon several times during the >course of the war. The text of a web page for Marion County reads: > > >>Lebanon, the county seat, was incorporated in 1815. At one time, the >>style, beauty, and elegance of its homes and its flourishing businesses >>made Lebanon a serious contender for the site of the state capitol. During >>the Civil War, General John Hunt Morgan's Raiders descended on Lebanon, >>and after Morgan's young brother, Tom, was killed during a battle, the >>raiders burned much of the town in retribution. Even though twenty >>buildings were destroyed in the attack, Lebanon recovered, and more >>recently the downtown historic district was placed on the National >>Register of Historic Places. Its Historic Homes and Landmarks Tour is part >>of The Civil War Discovery Trail and includes twenty-four listings. > > >In reading "The Longest Raid of the Civil War," the most authoritative, >detailed and up-to-date account of the raid, Lester Horwitz descibes the >scene thusly: > > >> July 5, 1863 -- In Lebanon, the Confederate raiders met the 20th KY >>Infantry (Federal), a force of 380 men under the command of Lt. Col. >>Charles S. Hanson, occupying the town.... The Confederates sent in a flag >>of truce and demanded that the Union garrison surrender. Hanson sent >>Morgan his respects but declined the offer. Morgan ordered an assault on >>the Union garrison and, at the same time, he sent Col. Johnson with his >>brigade to the Danville road to cut off reinforcements. .... Now after >>seven hours of fighting, Duke's regiment rushed forward with Morgan's >>nineteen-year-old brother, First Lt. Thomas H. Morgan (Co. I, 2nd KY) in >>the lead cheering the men on with his enthusiasm and bright nature. From a >>window above the railroad depot, a Union soldier sighted on young Morgan >>and pulled the trigger. Tom was fatally wounded in the chest .... Hanson >>surrendered. Tom's death was not the only one suffered by Morgan's men. In >>all, nine Confederates were killed and twenty-five wounded. ... Union >>casualties were six killed and six wounded.... Many of Morgan's men wanted >>to execute their Union prisoners because they had killed John's brother, >>Tom. John's brother, Charlton, grabbed Lt. Col. Hanson by his long, >>flowing beard, shook a fist in his face and shouted. "I'll blow Your >>brains out, you damned rascal." But General Morgan, his eyes filled with >>tears and grief-stricken, rushed into the railroad depot. With drawn >>pistol, he stood between Hanson's men and his own and declared, "I'll >>shoot the first one who molests a prisoner." .... In the aftermath of the >>battle in Lebanon, Kentucky, the Confederates took possession of a large >>quantity of ammunition, many fine rifles, an abundant supply of medicines, >>and a field full of ambulances and wagons. > > > >That's all the discussion the book has about the encounter. The Col. >Hanson, however, was a Col. Charles Hanson, commanding the 20th Kentucky >Infantry with detachments from three other Kentucky Union regiments! That's >the same name as the commander of the 37th Kentucky Volunteer (Mounted) >Infantry Regiment, a unit with a muster roll I sent you earlier listing a >Corporal Samuel C. Abell! > >Another book, "Morgan's Raiders" by Dee Alexander Brown mentions a visit in >1862: > >By ten o'clock, the 2nd Kentucky (Confederate) had occupied the town, >capturing almost two hundred soldiers who were guarding Federal >storehouses. According to a later report in the Louisville Journal, "The >destruction was immense . . . sugar, coffee, flour; guns were bent double >by hard licks over rocks -- powder, cartridges, and caps were thrown into >the creek." .... Not until noon of the following day, July 12, was the 2nd >finished with its work in Lebanon, destroying by the Federals' own estimate >more than one hundred thousand dollars' worth of military supplies. While >the boys were burning these stores, Morgan and his forerunner of the modern >propoganda officer, Gordon Niles, were distributing recruiting posters and >welcoming new additions to the regiment. > > >Your M. Dean Hunt story said of the night before: > > On December 25, 1862, the 2nd Brigade started from Gallatin under the >command of Col. John M. Harlan in pursuit of rebel Gen. John H. Morgan, and >to protect the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. Morgan was overtaken on >December 29th at Rolling Fork and driven from the line of the railroad. Gen. >Duke of Morgan's command was dangerously wounded there. > >Dee Alexander Brown continues: > >In December, 1963, approaching a well-defended Lebanon on his "Christmas >Raid," Morgan decided not to engage the large enemy force and put his men >on a forced night march around the city, only sending in a skirmishing >squad. The small unit drove in the pickets and then torched a mile-long >series of "campfires," leading the Union troops to believe that Morgan had >gone into camp in preparation for a daybreak assault. > > > >However, I question whether or not any Abell's were here, as the test said >that Company H had been captured at Courtland, AL in July of 1862. Do we >have any prisoner of war rosters? Sorry this isn't all chronological. > >I haven't found any references to burning a county courthouse, but I will >continue to look. > > >Jamie > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >___________________________________________________ >Mr. Jamie Abel, APR >Director of College Relations and Marketing Communications >Heidelberg College, 310 E. Market St., Tiffin, OH 44883-2462 > > Voice: (419) 448-2032 > Fax: (419) 448-2034 >E-mail: jabel@heidelberg.edu >