The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-03 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 3, 1864.

The Death of General Morgan.

(From the Abingdon Virginian.)

On the 3d September, accompanied by the brigades of
Giltner, Hodges, and Smith, a detachment of Vaughan's,
with four pieces of artillery, Gen. Morgan and his staff
approached the town of Greenville, Tennessee. Scouts
had brought the information that the enemy were not
nearer than Bull's Gap, 16 miles distant, and, in addi-
tion, a guard had been sent into the village to recon-
noitre. Upon the report of the entire absence of the
enemy, Cassel's battalion, commanded by Captain I. M.
Clarke, together with four guns, were posted some 3QO or
400 yards from the Courthouse, when General Morgan and
his staff entered and established their headquarters at the
residence of Mrs Williams, near the centre of the town.
Shortly after the advent of the guard in town, young Mrs
Williams, daughter of the lady at whose house General
Morgan had his headquarters, disappeared—a scout was
sent for, but could not find her, and as she returned with
the enemy next morning, it appears she had ridden
all the way to Bull's Gap, and had given information of
Morgan's whereabouts, and the strength of the guard.
After visiting the camps and seeing that pickets had been
duly posted, General Morgan and his staff, at a late hour
of the night, retired to rest. They were startled from their
slumbers about 6 o'clock on Sunday morning by the elder
Mrs. Williams, who informed them that the Yankees had
surrounded the house. The General and his staff at once
sprang from their beds, armed themselves, and rushed out
at the opposite door to that at which the Yankees were
thundering. On the side of the house where they escaped
there is a very large yard and garden, with a great deal Of
foliage and a vineyard. These, together with the basement
of the oil hotel at the south-western extremity of the
grounds, enabled them to conceal themselves for a time ;
but the Yankees by this time began to appear so thick and
fast around them that concealment became hopeless, and
they rushed out to attempt to fight their way through, in
the hope of succour and assistance from the battalion so
near at hand. The officers with General Morgan were
Major Gassett, and Capts. Withers, Rogers, and Clay, and
a young gentleman named Johnson, a clerk in the office of
the Adjutant General. At this time they were all, except
Withers and Clay, in the basement of the old hotel, occu-
pied by Mrs. Fry, who was all the time calling to the Yan-
kees, informing them of the hiding place of the "rebels."
Seeing escape almost hopeless. General Morgan directed
Major Gassett to examine and see if there was any chance
of escape from the front of the basement into the street.
Major Gassett looked, and replied that there was a chance,
but it was a desperate one, which Gen. Morgan did not hear,
as at that instant the Yankees charged up to the fence
separating the hotel from Mrs. Williams's ground, when
the General, with Major Gassett, Captain Rogers, and Mr
Johnson, sprang out in the direction of the vineyard, when
the two latter were captured and the General killed. The
latter had just fired his pistol, and was in the act of firing
again when he fell. Capts. Withers and Clay had not been
able to get out of the house, and concealed themselves in or
near it. Major Gassett, in the meantime,sought shelter in the
basement and vineyard alternately, but could not elude the
vigilance of Mrs Fry, who was all the time directing
attention to his whereabouts. Being the only rebel left—
Withers and Clay having been discovered and betrayed by
a negro—Major Gassett's ingenuity was put to work to
avoid capture. Mrs Fry knew he was in the basement, and
the Yankees were as thick around him as snakes in harvest.
After passing to and fro several times between the basement
and the garden, all the time under fire, he finally took shelter
in the former, and at an auspicious moment sprang into
the street, gave, Mrs Fry a parting blessing in his exit,
mounted a horse hitched mar by, and made his escape. A
great many shots were fired by the Yankees, but the only
one which took effect was that which killed Gen. Morgan,
piercing his right breast, and ranging through diagonally.
Withers, Rogers, Clay, and Johnson are now, we presume,
in a Yankee prison, and Major Gassett is again on duty
with his command. The general was determined never to
surrender, and told members of his staff they must not give
up. He was heard to say, " They have got me sure," when
he drew his pistol and commence i firing. After General
Morgan had been killed, the unfeeling brutes threw his
lifeless body across a horse, and paraded it through the
streets.