MAJ.-GEN. JOHN H. MORGAN.

CHAPTER LIX.

Morgan raises a company in the Mexican war.-"The Captain."-His natural apti tude for arms. His personal appearance.-His escape from Kentucky.—A tr.ck on the enemy. His early services on Green River.-How he captured six Federals. -Adventure with a telegraph operator.-His first expedition into Kentucky.-A new engine of war.-Freaks of the telegraph.-The affair of Hartsville. His cxpedition through Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.-Its captures and ravages.-Gen. Morgan a prisoner.-Cruelty and indignities of the enemy.-His escape from the Ohio penitentiary.-Detailed account of his escape and travel through the enemy's lines. -An ovation at Richmond.-His new command on the Virginia border.-Disfavour and prejudice of the Government.-Gen. Morgan's last expedition into Kentucky. -Its defeat.-Affair of Mt. Sterling.-Cruel slanders of Gen. Morgan.-Attempts an expedition to Bull Gap, East Tennessee.-Surprised and killed by the enemy. -Different versions of his death.-A brief review of his campaigns.

JOHN H. MORGAN was the oldest of six brothers, all of whom, save one too young to bear arms, did military service for the Southern Confederacy. He was born at Huntsville, Alabama, June 1, 1825, was reared in Kentucky, and was a lineal descendant of Morgan of revolutionary fame.

In 1846, when the call came for "more volunteers" in the Mexican war, John H. Morgan, then scarcely of age, raised a company; but before it could enter upon active service the news came that a treaty of peace had been concluded. Upon the disbanding of the company, the conduct of young Morgan was remarkable. He indemnified out of his own means every man for the loss of his time during the period of recruiting. It was at this time that he gained the title of captain; and so familiar and dear was the word that, for a long time, when he was ascending the heights of fame in the great war between North and South, and had made a name for the world's tongue, many of the

Kentuckians in his command refused to recognize or apply any other title to him than that of "THE CAPTAIN."

Shortly after the Mexican war Morgan purchased an establishment, and engaged in the manufacture of jeans, linseys and bagging for the Southern market. He was detained by the sickness and death of his wife from taking up arms at the outset of the war, which President Lincoln had fully declared in his proclamation of April, 1861; but some months thereafter he secretly collected a little band of followers, not over twenty-five in number, and left his home, making his way to Green River, where he reported himself to the Confederate officer in command "ready for duty."

Such was the small beginning of a career that was to obtain the applause of his countrymen and the wonder of the enemy. Morgan's little command was rapidly increased by the arrival of exiles from Kentucky, who knew well the worth and valour of the man as a leader. He was not a graduate of West Point; but he had a natural aptitude for arms, a restless activity, and a faculty of adaptation in his manners which made him a favourite in every grade of society. He was six feet high, broad-shouldered and magnificently proportioned; had soft auburn hair, gray eyes, a fair complexion, and a smile of wonderful sweetness. Of excessive animal spirits and a jovial disposition, he was at home among the rudest people; and although there he would sometimes display an uncultivated humour and join in the coarsest entertainment, yet he readily adapted himself to whatever company he entered, and his perfect self-possession and modest, unassuming style of speech. indicated him in the highest classes of society as a genuine and thorough Kentucky gentleman. His general appearance was that of a gentleman of leisure,-his carriage exceedingly graceful and manly, with rather an inclination to be fastidious in his dress. But the man who graced a parlour, and practiced all the accom plishments of polite society, presented another picture in the field. There the neat dress, the dainty gloves, les objets de luxe were laid aside, and "the Captain" appeared wearing a grey roundabout, a wide-brimmed black felt hat, with boots drawn over his pantaloons, and presenting that carelessness of attire which denotes severe and earnest work. At the commencement of the war, he was possessed of great wealth, all of which he left

in the hands of the enemy when he came South. In this respect his generosity was unbounded; he always dispensed his means with a liberal hand; and he was one of those who would have spent his last dollar on the score of principle, or shared it with the necessity of a friend.

Morgan's escape from Kentucky was attended by a little. incident showing his characteristic adroitness and fondness for a practical joke. An order had been issued by the authorities of Kentucky, from head-quarters at Frankfort, that all the arms in the State should be forthwith forwarded to the State armory, there to be inspected and repaired for the use of the "State Guard," who were to maintain what the Lincolnites in disguise called Kentucky's "Armed Neutrality." Morgan, then captain of the "Lexington Rifles," was suspected of having evil intentions against the peace and quiet of the Federal Government, and hence the Lincolnites kept a sharp eye on the guns held by his company. He knew that they had determined to get the arms out of his hands, and he had made up his mind that they should not have them. So in the dead of night the guns were removed some distance from the city, and the boxes, in which they were to have been placed, were neatly filled with bricks instead, and marked, "Guns from Capt. Morgan, State Armory, Frankfort." The next day, while the boxes were exposed to view at the dépôt, and Morgan's political enemies were chuckling over the acquisition, he, at the head of his brave band, was thirty miles on his road to the South, having in his possession eighty excellent United States rifles.

The command of Morgan, upon reporting, were placed with some other cavalry upon duty on the Green River. Here he at once began a series of daring exploits, unequalled for their boldness and the manner of their execution. As the leader of a partisan force he was in his element, and for months the country between Green River and Bacon Creek was scoured by his roughriders to the terrour of the enemy.

After the fall of Fort Donelson, he was attached to Gen. Hardee's command, and put to watch the movements of the Federals, which he not only did effectually, but enacted a number of daring adventures within the lines of the enemy, even approaching their stronghold at Nashville. While the main armies were

resting, he and his active partisans were at work. They attacked scouting parties; they rushed into the camps of regiments and carried off trains of wagons, and scarcely a day passed when they did not bring in a lot of prisoners. A picket of six of the enemy was once taken by Morgan himself. Riding, alone, towards Murfreesboro', he discovered the picket in a house, and having on a Federal overcoat, assumed a bold front, and confronting the sergeant rebuked him for not attending properly to his duty, and ordered that the whole party should consider themselves under arrest, and surrender their arms. The soldiers, not doubting for a moment that they were addressed by a Federal officer, delivered up their muskets. As they were marched into the road, with their faces turned from the camp, the sergeant said, "We are going the wrong way, Colonel." "We are not," was the reply; "I am Captain Morgan."

On one occasion, with forty of his men, he appeared at Gallatin, twenty-eight miles from Nashville. After capturing all the Union men in the place, and confining them in a guard-house, Capt. Morgan, dressed in a Federal uniform, proceeded to the telegraph office at the railroad-dépôt, a short distance from the town. Entering the office, the following conversation took place between him and the telegraph-operator: Capt. Morgan."Good day, sir. What news have you?" Operator.-"Noth ing, sir, except it is reported that that d―d rebel, Capt. John Morgan, is this side of the Cumberland with some of his cavalry. I wish I could get sight of the d-d rascal. I'd make a hole through him larger than he would find pleasant." While thus speaking, the operator drew a fine navy revolver and flourished it as if to satisfy his visitor how desperately he would use the weapon in case he should meet with the famous rebel captain. "Do you know who I am?" quietly remarked Capt. Morgan, continuing the conversation. "I have not that pleasure," remarked the operator. "Well, I am Capt. Morgan," responded that gentleman. At these words the operator's cheeks blanched, his knees shook, the revolver dropped from his hands, and he sank to the floor. After the frightened individual had recovered himself sufficiently, Capt. Morgan required him to telegraph some messages to Louisville. Awaiting the train for Nashville, he captured and destroyed it, burned all the cars to cinders, and

with a large addition to his prisoners, including the luckless telegraph man, made his way safely to the Confederate camp.

The rising genius of Morgan in the war appears to have attracted the attention of Gen. Beauregard strongly; and it was by his earnest recommendation he was promoted Colonel, and very shortly thereafter he was nominated by Gen. Bragg Briga dier-General. With this enlarged command, he had an opportunity now to fulfil what appears to have been the first, the last, the constant desire of his military life-to return to his native, beloved State, Kentucky, and take revenge upon her invaders. When he was compelled to flee from his home, he made a vow, should his command ever become numerous enough, to return to pay the debt of vengeance he owed. He was now, in the summer of 1862, able in some measure to make good his vow. following appeal, which he made to the people of Kentucky, as soon as he entered the State, shows the spirit of the man and the hopes which animated him:

The

"Kentuckians, I am once more among you. Confiding in your patriotism and strong attachment to our Southern cause, I have, at the head of my gallant band, raised once more our Confederate flag, so long trampled upon by the Northern tyrants, but never yet disgraced. Let every true patriot respond to my appeal. Rise and arm yourselves! Fight against the despoilers! Fight for your families! your homes! for those you love best! for your conscience and for the free exercise of your political rights, never again to be placed in jeopardy by the Hessian invader. Let the stirring scenes of the late Richmond fight be constantly before you. Our brave army there and everywhere is victorious. McClellan and his foreign hordes are groveling in the dust. Our independence is an achieved fact. We have bought it with privation and suffering, and sealed the contract with the seal of blood. Be not timorous, but rise, one and all, for the good cause, to clear our dear Kentucky's soil of the detested invaders. Kentuckians! fellow countrymen! you know you can rely upon me. "JOHN MORGAN.”·

The expedition was a complete success, a circuit of victories. It was the first exploit which gained for Morgan an extensive reputation, and made his name familiar to the country. On the