28

MORGAN’S CAVALRY DURING THE BRAGG INVASION.

After Perryville, Morgan was ordered to rejointhe army, when everything was concentrated atHarrodsburg, as if for a battle which GeneralBragg could have won but never meant to fight.When the army, leaving Harrodsburg, withoutbattle, began its retreat to Tennessee , Morgan,assisted by Col. Henry Ashby with a small brigadeof cavalry, was employed in covering its rear.This rear-guard was engaged very arduously, andalmost constantly, in contact with Buell’s advanceregiments until the 17th. At that date Morganreceived permission to retrace his march, captureLexington, which was, of course, in the hands ofthe enemy, and then move southward, directlyacross Buell’s rear, doing the latter all possibledamage. Marching rapidly for twenty-four hours,he reached Lexington at dawn of the followingmorning, and immediately attacked the 4tli OhioCavalry, which was encamped at Ashland — once theresidence of Henry Clay — about two miles fromthe city. The enemy was defeated after a shortcombat, and nearly six hundred were made prison-ers. The loss in killed and wounded on either sidewas slight. Resuming his march at noon thatday, Morgan encamped on the following night atShryock’s ferry on the Kentucky River. At mid-night he was attacked by Jlumont, and fearingthat he would be surrounded and entrapped in therugged hills of that region, he marched with allspeed for Lawrenceburg, four miles distant, reach-ing and passing through that little town just as aheavy Federal column, sent to intercept him there,was entering it upon the Frankfort turnpike. Pass-ing around Bardsto wn on the next day, we encampedbetween that place and Elizabethtown. We werenow directly in Buell’s rear, and during the nexttwenty-fourhours capturedmany laggards, and sev-eral wagon trains — one quite largo and richly laden.

From the 20th to the 25th of October Morgancontinued to march in a south-western direction,reaching Hopkinsville on the 25th. Here he hadentirely passed beyond the zone of Federal garri-sons in middle Kentucky , but still had arduous workbefore him in Tennessee and in front of Nashville ,whither Buell, having turned aside from pursuitof Bragg through the mountains of south-easternKentucky , was now directing his course. After ashort sojourn at Hopkinsville for much-needed rest,Colonel Morgan moved directly to Gallatin, Ten-nessee , with a view of completing the destructionof the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in thatvicinity, and to that extent impeding the transpor-tation of troops and supplies to Nashville . Whileengaged in this work he received orders from Gen-eral John C. Breckinridge , who was stationed witha small infantry force at Murfreesboro ’, to coop-erate with Forrest in a movement intended to effectthe destruction of the rolling-stock of the Louis-ville and Nashville Railroad Company collected atEdgefield, on the bank of the Cumberland River,opposite Nashville . It was planned that Forrestshould make such a demonstration south of Nash-

■fe General Buell was succeeded in tlio command ofthe troops of the Army of the Ohio by General W. H.Roseerans on the 30th day of October. Under General

ville that the attention of the garrison would beattracted, while Morgan should dash into Edgefieldand burn the cars, several hundred in number.

Leaving Gallatin on the night of November the4th, Morgan entered Edgefield at daybreak thenext morning, and immediately attacked the 16thIllinois and part of another regiment stationedthere. After a sharp fight he drove this force backand obtained possession of the cars it was intendedhe should destroy. We heard Forrest’s artilleryat the same moment on the other side of the river.But Nashville was so strongly fortified on thatside, and perhaps, also, the inadequacy of the smallforce under Forrest to make any serious attemptupon the place was so apparent, that although headvanced resolutely upon the works, the movementfailed: a largo portion of the garrison was dis-patched to reenforce the detachment we had at-tacked ; and before the work of demolition wasfairly commenced, a column of infantry streamedat the double-quick over the pontoon-bridge, andreenforced the troops with which we were alreadyengaged. The fight grow too hot to be maintainedso near to yet stronger hostile forces, and under theheavy batteries which commanded the ground onwhich wo stood. Morgan accordingly withdrew,followed a short distance by the enemy. Our lossin killed and wounded was not so heavy as the en-emy’s, and we carried off a few prisoners. Only asmall number of the railroad cars were burned, andthe expedition was a failuro. Rosecrans’s army -fawas now close at hand, marching upon three or fourroads leading into Nashville , and we were immedi-ately in its path. Crittenden’s corps was in advance,the major part of it marching on the Louisville andNashville turnpike. Morgan sent strong detach-ments to harass these troops, and, if possible,delay their march. The leading division was am-buscaded near Tyree Springs, and a volley deliv-ered at seventy-five yards’ rango inflicted someloss. Similar attacks were kept up all day on the8 th, but of course the efforts of so small a bodyagainst more than twenty thousand men weremerely annoying. Early on the morning of theOtli Wood’s and Van Cleve’s divisions moved intoand on either flank of Gallatin, nearly sutroundingour people, who incautiously resisted the advanceof the central column too long, thus necessitatingbrisk movement as well as sharp fighting to effectan escape. That afternoon Morgan crossed theCumberland and encamped in a safe position be-tween Lebanon and Murfreesboro ’. Morgan’s lossduring the entire campaign, in killed and wounded,was not more than one hundred. He had inflicteda much gi'eater loss on the enemy, and had capt-ured nearly twelve hundred prisoners. He hadentered Kentucky with less than 900 effectives;his command when ho returned to Tennessee wasnearly 2000 strong. It was admirably mounted, andwell armed, ami the recruits were fully the equals ofthe original “Morgan Men,” in spirit,intelligence,and capacity to endure.

Orders of October 24tli the Department of the Cum-berland was created, and tlio troops within it weredesignated the Fourteenth Army Corps.— Editors.