HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHT

35-star flag with map of Bluffington Island and portrait of Confederate BG John Hunt Morgan superimposed.

West Virginia and Ohio. (Library of Congress image)

In July 1863, Confederate Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan, pictured, led over 2,000 cavalrymen on a 13-day raid across southern Indiana and Ohio to divert Union troops during the Civil War. Ohio Militia troops were called up as part of Union forces that pursued Morgan, ultimately defeating him and his men during the Battle of Buffington Island, located on the Ohio River in between West Virginia and Ohio.

Ohio troops halt Morgan’s Raid at Battle of Buffington Island

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Mann, Ohio National Guard historian

In July 1863, Confederate Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan led over 2,000 cavalrymen on a 13-day raid across southern Indiana and Ohio with the goal to divert Union troops from the front lines in Tennessee during the Civil War.

After spending five days in southern Indiana, Morgan crossed into Ohio near Harrison on July 13. Ohio Gov. David Tod immediately issued a proclamation calling out the Ohio Militia. In addition, thousands of Union cavalry and infantry units were dispatched to Ohio from Kentucky and West Virginia to pursue Morgan’s forces.

Between July 13 and July 18, Morgan encountered Ohio Militia and Union cavalry in various skirmishes as he alternated moving his whole division together and splitting his forces into various elements, snaking through Ohio’s southern counties. The building resistance led Morgan to pursue the low-water ford at Buffington Island, where his cavalryman could slip across the Ohio River and back into Kentucky.

Late on July 18, Morgan’s forces encountered a small earthwork near the island defended by Ohio Militia. The roadblock, combined with an unusual flood of the Ohio River, delayed Morgan and enabled the Union cavalry to catch up to the raiders. The next morning, Morgan’s men attempted to ford the river when two Union gunboats appeared out of the thick fog. Joined by a Union force of 3,000 men, Morgan’s troopers were surprised, and a running battle ensued as they fled northward. Only a small number of confederates were able to cross at Buffington Island, while 57 were killed, 63 wounded and 71 captured. The next day, an additional 570 of Morgan’s men were captured in Meigs and Gallia Counties.

Morgan and his remaining troopers, numbering roughly 1,100, continued north hoping to find a place to cross the river. Over three hundred succeeded in crossing near Reedsville in Meigs County before the two Union gunboats arrived. A running battle with Union cavalry ensued until July 26, when Maj. G.W. Rue’s Union cavalry surrounded the confederates near West Point in Columbiana County, ending Morgan’s Raid of the North.

While Morgan’s men were confined in Union prison camps in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, the general and 68 of his officers were sent to the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus for confinement. Morgan and six of his officers escaped in November 1863 and returned to the south. Morgan returned to the Confederate army but was killed a year later at Greenville, Tennessee.

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In July 1863, Confederate Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan, pictured, led over 2,000 cavalrymen on a 13-day raid across southern Indiana and Ohio to divert Union troops during the Civil War. Ohio Militia troops were called up as part of Union forces that pursued Morgan, ultimately defeating him and his men during the Battle of Buffington Island, located on the Ohio River in between West Virginia and Ohio.