Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan
Born: June 1, 1825
Huntsville, Alabama
Died: September 4, 1864
Greenville, Tennessee
1846: Enlisted as Cavalry private
Elected 2nd Lieutenent
Promoted to 1st Lieutenenat
September 1861: Captain
April 4, 1862: Colonel
December 11, 1862: Brig. General
Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan
1846: Enlisted as a Cavalry private during the Mexican-American War
Elected 2nd Lieutenent
Promoted to 1st Lieutenent
February 22-23, 1847: Battle of Buena Vista
1852: Raised a militia Artillery company, but it was disbanded 2 years later by the state legislature
1857: Raised an independent infantry company known as the "Lexington Rifles" and spent much of his free time drilling them
Initially did not support secession. In November 1860, after Lincoln's election, he wrote his brother:
Our State will not I hope secede I have no doubt but Lincoln will make a good President, at least give him a fair trail and then if he commits some overt act all the South will be a unit.
September 1861: Capt. Morgan and his militia company traveled to Tennessee and joined the Confederate States Army.
Raised the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment and became its Colonel April 4, 1862
April 6-7, 1862: Battle of Shiloh
July 4, 1862: 1st Kentucky raid - left Tennessee with nearly 900 men and in 3 weeks swept through Kentucky. Captured nearly 1,200 Union soldiers, whom he later paroled. Gained several hundred horses and destroyed massive quantities of supplies
December 7, 1862: Battle of Hartsville
December 11, 1862: Promoted to Brig. General
Summer of 1863: Morgan's Raid - crossed the Ohio into Indiana and then Ohio
July 19, 1863: Battle of Buffington Island, Ohio. 700 of Morgan's men were captured while trying to cross the Ohio into West Virginia. Most of his men spent the rest of the war in infamous Camp Douglas Prisoner of War camp in Chicago
July 26, 1863: near Salinsville, Ohio, Morgan with exhausted, hungry and saddlesore soldiers surrendered
November 27, 1863: Morgan with 6 officers escaped their Ohio Penetentiary
After returning from Ohio, Morgan returned to Active duty
June 1864: "Last Kentucky Raid" - Battle of Keller's Bridge near Cynthiana, Kentucky
September 4, 1864: was surprised by a Union raid on Greenville, Tennessee. While trying to retreat, was shot in the back and killed.
Boatner, Mark M. III. The Civil War Dictionary. New York: David McKay, 1967. p 566, 567, 567-569
John Hunt Morgan. 23 July 2022. Web. 23 Aug 2022
Johnson, Robert Underwood and Clarence Clough Buell, ed. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. Grant-Lee Edition. Volume III
Part II. New York: The Century Company, 1884, 1887. The National Historical Society, 2006. p 634-635
Ezra, Warner J. Generals in Gray Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State, 1992. p 220-221