Morgan’s Cavalry

1863

THE 2ND (MORGAN’S) CAVALRY WAS FORMED DURING THE SUMMER OF 1862. The regiment had as its commander Colonel John Hunt Morgan, a dashing leader and the embodiment of the Confederate cavalier, who referred to the 2nd Kentucky as his Regulars.

With their flamboyant commander as an example, the troopers of the 2nd Kentucky gained a reputation for being able fighters both mounted and dismounted. In addition to Kentuckians, the regiment contained men from Tennessee, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama. The regiment quickly displayed their discipline under fire, a quality that would serve them well on raids in both Tennessee and Kentucky during the remainder of 1862 and early 1863. The experience gained during this period would soon be put to the test in one of the most daring cavalry actions of the war.

On June 11, 1863, Morgan, now a brigadier general, left Sparta, Tennessee, and headed north with a cavalry force of about 2,000 men, including eight Kentucky regiments and one from Tennessee, along with two howitzers and two Parrott guns. The 2nd Kentucky rode proudly with their former commander. Upon reaching the Ohio River, the men captured two steamboats and crossed into Indiana on July 8. This move was made in spite of explicit orders not to cross. From that day until July 26 the Confederates raided across Indiana and Ohio, fighting several small skirmishes, primarily with local militia. The men lived off the land and replenished supplies from stores and farms. The sight of the rebel column inspired numerous eyewitness accounts.⁸⁹

The Cincinnati Daily Gazette issue of July 25, 1863, reported:

The Rebels were dressed in every possible manner peculiar to civilized man, but generally speaking their attire was very good. They wore in many instances large slouch hats peculiar to the slave States, and had their pantaloons stuck in their boots. A dirty gray colored coat was the most prevalent, although white “dusters” were to be seen. They were armed with carbines, Enfield rifles, sabers and revolvers, were well mounted and looked in good health although jaded and tired.

Confederate slouch hat worn by Private John Boyd of Georgia. From the crest of a hill covered with dead and wounded, swords, guns, and other paraphernalia of war, Lieutenant Lot D. Young of the Kentucky Orphan Brigade C.S.A., at Atlanta, remarked, “I found here the thing I needed and coveted most . . . a fine black sombrero, which furnished me ample protection thereafter from the intense rays of the August sun. I swapped my spoon billed cap with the fellow who had worn this hat, to which he, of course, raised no objection.” WILLIAM ERQUITT COLLECTION

Nearly all the horses . . . bore the brand “MC” such is placed on all the animals of Morgan’s Cavalry.⁹⁰

To the civilian population of both Indiana and Ohio, the raid and the raiders presented a close encounter with the war that their fathers and brothers were fighting. They saw rebels up close for the first time, and the sight left a lasting impression. “I remember I was struck with the odd appearance of some of these soldiers, particularly observing their large rattling spurs and broad-brimmed hats, many of which were pinned up on one side with a crescent or star.”⁹¹

The raid was the longest of its kind of the war, covering nearly 1,100 miles from Tennessee to eastern Ohio. While it drew some Federal troops away from Kentucky and caused some concern, it accomplished little of real military value. Crossing the Ohio River going north was one thing; recrossing it to return south was another. While attempting to get back at Buffington Island in southeastern Ohio, the column found its way blocked by entrenched Federal troops. After a battle on July 19, which resulted in a Confederate loss of 52 killed, 100 wounded, and 750 captured, the remaining troops, along with General Morgan, turned north only to be surrounded by Union militia at Salineville, Ohio, on July 26, which resulted in the surrender of Morgan and the remainder of his men.⁹² The officers were taken to Columbus, where they were imprisoned in the Ohio State Penitentiary.⁹³ The enlisted men were held in the Camp Dennison prison. A reporter from the Cincinnati Commercial remembered seeing the officers on July 26:

Not one of the seventy officers before us had any indication of his rank in or on their dress. They were all more or less in citizen’s dress; some of them having blue, and some grey pantaloons; some of them had military blouses, but most of them had on citizen’s vests and coats. What there was of military dress among them, was more of the Federal style than Confederate. We asked why they dressed in this style—whether it was for convenience in passing themselves off as citizens when they found it more convenient to be citizens than soldiers? They replied that they just kept flying around so that they never saw the Quartermaster’s supplies, and that they found it handier just to take what they could find—whether it was from citizens or from Union soldiers.

It is not surprising that the legendary Morgan himself was the subject of curiosity. Two surviving descriptions of him from the period provide similar impressions. In both cases the one thing that drew immediate attention was his hat. “He was dressed when captured with a black soft, slouch broad brimmed hat, gray round about [jacket], gray pants, fine kip-skin boots, pants inside his boot legs. He was not dressed different from [a] private soldier.”⁹⁴

A reporter from the Wilmington Daily Journal described, “His dress was plain, with no military insignia but a single row of buttons on his well-fitting cavalry jacket of mixed green and gray casimere [sic, cashmere], which he wore unbuttoned. He wore no vest and had on a black silk watch-guard and diamond pin. His hat was black felt, pinned up on the left side, and ornamented with a crescent of quilled work in porcupine or palm leaf.”

The trooper shown here, with his Enfield rifle slung across his back, has equipped himself with a mixture of gear and clothing. Although his jacket shows no indication of rank, his boots are of officer’s quality. The tin canteen is typical of those issued to the Western Confederate army, while his saddle and personal items may well have been obtained from a captured Union soldier. The comforter attached to the front of his saddle was likely found hanging on a clothesline on an Ohio farm. The trousers may well have been part of the stock of a general store in Indiana. Of particular note is the black felt hat pinned up with a crescent badge. A silent but unmistakable tribute to his commander.

Astylish gray hat worn by famed partisan leader John Singleton Mosby. Left behind in a house at Rector’s Cross Roads and returned to Mosby decades later. Mosby later presented his hat to the President of the United States at the White House. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, DON TROIANI PHOTOGRAPH

Although Colonel Mosby wore a number of different uniforms over the course of the conflict, this double-breasted tunic is most closely associated with him. Trimmed with buff facings, the buttons are regulation United States cavalry officer’s eagle with a “C.” SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, DON TROIANI PHOTOGRAPH

Confederate General’s short jacket. This garment is embellished with the rank of general (restored) and is decorated with a single row of several small staff officer buttons. It was worn by General William Raine Peck, who was the final commanding officer of the famed Louisiana Tigers. Peck enlisted as a private on July 7, 1861, and by 1863, as lieutenant colonel, he led the 9th Louisiana at the battle of Gettysburg and was involved in the twilight attack on Cemetery Hill. Later, at the third battle of Winchester, he was wounded by a shell fragment and unable to return to the field. ALEXANDER STEPHENS STATE PARK AND MUSEUM, CRAWFORDVILLE, GEORGIA

This classic Confederate cartridge box with a bullet hole through the flap was captured at the fall of Fort Fisher, near Wilmington, North Carolina. The flap is embossed with a “CS” within an oval and the shoulder strap is painted canvas. MICHAEL D. KRAMER COLLECTION

This .54-caliber Confederate cartridge box with a lead finial was most likely used by the cavalry. The large outer flap was purposefully removed, probably to provide easier access when mounted. DON TROIANI COLLECTION

Both of these percussion cap pouches with rounded fronts display the embossed “CS” within an oval on the flap. The example on the left is marked as a product of the Danville Arsenal and has a lead finial. The right-hand pouch has a wooden finial. MICHAEL D. KRAMER COLLECTION

An undyed natural leather cartridge box with a bold “CS” stamped on the flap and with a circle “ORD. DEP. HOUSTON, 1864, CAPT H.T. SCOTT.” Captain Hugh T. Scott was officer of artillery and ordnance at the Houston Depot from March 1862 until the end of the war. Two examples of this cartridge box exist; the other is dyed black. MICHAEL D. KRAMER COLLECTION

Yankee canteens were always a popular item for Confederates to take from the battlefield. The user attached a Confederate-painted canvas cartridge box shoulder sling to this corrugated example. NELSONIAN INSTITUTE

Atin drum canteen with a slightly raised, convex surface and a raised, embossed “CS.” This type of canteen was an early Confederate issue and is usually from the Shiloh–Corinth campaigns of 1862. The strap is canvas material. MICHAEL D. KRAMER COLLECTION

This tin canteen has raised concentric rings with an inverted, stamped “CS” in the center. It retains much of the original cloth covering, stopper, and a woven cotton sling with an iron roller buckle. MICHAEL D. KRAMER COLLECTION

Confederate satinet trousers worn by Captain Claiborne Snead, who enlisted into a company known as “Confederate Light Guards” from Richmond County, Georgia. The unit became Company G, 3rd Georgia Infantry, Army of Northern Virginia. First Lieutenant Snead was wounded at Malvern Hill, Virginia. He was captured at Gettysburg on the second day and later paroled from Johnson’s Island Prison, Ohio, in April 1864. Upon his return to service, he rejoined Wight’s brigade and was appointed lieutenant colonel in August 1864. He surrendered at Appomatox. The trousers are heavily worn from rigorous service and feature a 1½-inch-wide black velvet stripe. AUGUSTA MUSEUM OF HISTORY, GEORGIA, WILLIAM ERQUITT PHOTO