It at once became the dream of General Bragg to gather as large an army as possible, then march northward clear to the Ohio River, sweeping everything before him. This dream came near being realized. It was made possible by the efforts and deeds of two men, General John H. Morgan and General N. B. Forrest. These two great raiders and leaders of cavalry nearly turned the scale in favor of the Confederacy. They raided the rear of the Federal army, tore up railroads, destroyed millions of dollars"
worth of property, and captured thousands of prisoners. They ran General Buell nearly distracted, and caused him not to know which way to turn.
They made it possible for General Bragg to reach Kentucky unopposed; and if, after reaching Kentucky, General Bragg had proved as able a leader of infantry as Morgan was of cavalry, Buell"s army would have been destroyed.
While Bragg was organizing his army at Chattanooga, another Confederate army was being organized at Knoxville under General E. Kirby Smith; this army was to invade Kentucky by way of East Tennessee, while General Bragg was to invade by way of Middle Tennessee. Once in Kentucky, the two armies were to unite.
This programme was successfully carried out, and yet the whole movement was a failure, as far as the occupancy of Kentucky was concerned.
After the fall of Corinth, Colonel Morgan rendezvoused his little force at Chattanooga. From Chattanooga he proceeded to Knoxville, where he at once began the preparations for another raid. As c.u.mberland Gap was held by the Federals, Colonel Morgan decided to cross over into Middle Tennessee before invading Kentucky. His command consisted of about nine hundred men, made up of two regiments and two independent companies. His own regiment was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Basil Duke. All through Morgan"s career Colonel Duke was his chief adviser, so much so that many claim that Morgan"s success was mainly due to Colonel Duke.
"Why don"t some one shoot Basil Duke through the head, and blow out John Morgan"s brains?" exclaimed a disgusted Federal officer, after a fruitless effort to catch Morgan.
But the officer was mistaken; both had brains. Like Grant and Sherman they worked hand in hand, and one needed the other. Together they were invincible.
Before leaving Knoxville Morgan picked out twenty-five men, mounted on the best and fleetest horses, and placed them in the command of Calhoun Pennington. They were to be the scouts of the command, and well did they do their duty. More than once did they save Morgan from heavy loss by ascertaining the movements of the enemy.
Morgan left Knoxville July 4th. His route lay directly west over the c.u.mberland Mountains to Sparta, a distance of one hundred and four miles.
This, in spite of the rough roads, he made in three days. Many of the mountaineers of East Tennessee clung to the Union, and much of the way he had to ride through almost as hostile a country as if raiding through the North. The utmost vigilance had to be used, and Calhoun, with his scouts, was kept well in front to see that the road was clear.
On the second day"s march there was the crack of a rifle from a mountainside, and one of the scouts tumbled from his horse dead. A little cloud of smoke up the mountain showed from where the shot was fired. With a cry of rage the scouts sent a volley where the little cloud was seen, then springing from their horses, clambered up the mountain to hunt down the murderer; but their search was fruitless.
About a mile beyond where the shooting took place they came to a rough log cabin, surrounded by a few acres of comparatively smooth ground. A small patch of corn and potatoes was growing near the cabin, and an old man with tangled gray hair and beard was hoeing in the field. An old woman sat in the door calmly smoking a corn-cob pipe. Neither seemed to notice the soldiers as they came riding up.
"You, man, come here!" sternly called Calhoun.
The mountaineer deliberately laid down his hoe, and slowly came to where Calhoun was. He seemed to be in no hurry, nor did he appear to be disturbed.
"What is your name?" demanded Calhoun.
"Nichols-Jim Nichols," drawled the man.
"Are you well acquainted around here?" demanded Calhoun.
"Hev lived heah goin" on twenty years," was the answer.
"We have just had a man shot, by one of you skulking mountaineers. Do you know of any one likely to do such a deed? Tell the truth, or it will be the worse for you."
The old man shook his head. "The men be all gone in one army or de other,"
he answered.
"Are you Union or Confederate?" asked Calhoun.
"The wah is nuthin" to we-uns," he drawled; "we-uns own no n.i.g.g.e.rs."
"That"s no answer," fiercely replied Calhoun, "I have a mind to hang you up like a dog. A little stretching of the neck might loosen your tongue."
At the word "hang" a strange look came into the old man"s eyes, a look as of mortal hatred, but it was gone in a moment, and the drawling answer came, "We-uns knows nuthin"; thar may be strange men hidin" in the mountin. We-uns don"t know."
"Have you a family?"
"A gal."
"Where is she?"
"Done gone over the mountin to see the Jimson gals."
"You have no son?"
At the word "son," again that deadly glint came in the old man"s eye.
Again it was gone in a moment, and the answer came, "No."
The cabin was searched-the mountaineer and his wife apparently perfectly unconcerned as to what was going on-but nothing suspicious was found, and Calhoun had to confess himself baffled. But after Morgan"s column had pa.s.sed, a tall, lank girl with unkempt hair might have been seen coming down the mountainside, carrying a long rifle in her hand. Swiftly and surely as a deer she leaped from rock to rock, and soon neared the cabin.
Carefully concealing her rifle beneath a huge rock, she came slowly up to the door of the cabin, where the old man sat smoking. He looked up at her, inquiringly, but did not say a word.
"We-uns got one, dad," she said, as she pa.s.sed in. Not another word was spoken, but the old man sat and smoked and watched the sun as it slowly sunk to rest behind the mountain.
If Calhoun had known that Nichol"s only son had been hanged the winter before by the Confederate authorities for bridge-burning, and that his sister had sworn revenge, he would not have been at a loss as to who had fired the deadly shot, for every mountain girl can use a rifle.
From Sparta Morgan made a rapid march to Selina, where he forded the c.u.mberland River. At Selina he learned that there was a Federal force at Tompkinsville, which is just over the line in Kentucky. By a swift advance he hoped to surprise and capture this force. As the command crossed the line from Tennessee into Kentucky, the enthusiasm of the men knew no bounds. They sang "My Old Kentucky Home," and cheered again and again.
Tompkinsville was reached at five o"clock on the morning of the 9th of July. The Federals, under the command of Major Thomas J. Jordan, of the Ninth Pennsylvania Cavalry, though surprised, made a stand, and the battle at once opened. But a few shots from Morgan"s mountain howitzers utterly demoralized the Federals, and they fled in confusion.
Major Jordan, after retreating about a mile, succeeded in rallying about seventy-five of his men, and made a stand to cover the retreat of his force. Calhoun, with some fifteen of his scouts far in advance of the main column, charged down on them without hesitating a moment. The Federals, although they outnumbered the scouts five to one, were ridden down, and throwing down their arms they cried for mercy.
In this fight the gallant Colonel Hunt was mortally wounded. He was one of Morgan"s best officers, and his loss was deeply mourned.
From Tompkinsville Morgan moved to Glasgow, arriving there at one o"clock in the morning.
The Federal garrison had heard of his approach, and had fled, leaving everything behind them. A large quant.i.ty of military stores fell into Morgan"s hands, and was destroyed.
Although it was in the middle of the night, the glad news spread through the town, and the citizens were hailing each other with the glad shout, "Morgan has come again! Morgan has come again!" Soon from every house lights were flashing, and every woman was engaged in cooking. When morning came, not only a steaming hot breakfast of the best that the place afforded was set before the men, but three days" cooked rations were given each man.
At Glasgow Morgan gave out that he was again to raid the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. In order to carry out the deception, when he left Glasgow he followed the road which would lead him to strike the railroad in between Woodsonville and Mumfordsville; but when he was within a few miles of the road, he halted his command, and taking only Calhoun and his scouts, he struck the road at a lonely place a short distance from Horse Cove. Here he had his telegraph operator, a sharp young fellow named Ellsworth, attach his private instrument to the telegraph wire, and for two hours Ellsworth, in the midst of a driving storm and standing in water up to his knees, took every message that pa.s.sed over the wire. It was rare fun to hear the Federal officers telling all their secrets, and revealing the terror they were in over Morgan"s raid. After listening to their plans of how they would try to capture him, Morgan had Ellsworth send the following dispatch to the provost marshal at Louisville:
Nashville, Tenn., July 10, 1862.
General Forrest, commanding brigade, attacked Murfreesboro, routing our forces, and is now moving on Nashville. Morgan is reported to be between Scottsville and Gallatin, and will act in concert with Forrest, it is believed. Inform general commanding.
STANLEY MATHEWS, Provost Marshal.