Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-08-07
THE MORGAN RAID.
JOURNAL OF 1T. Col. ASTON, Gen. MORGAN:
CHIEF OF STAFF.

''Loyalst" of July II. The 'Loyalst," we
think, is published in Lexington. Ky. That
paper says:
We have obtained the Journal of Lieut.-Col.
Aston, Morgan's Chief Of Staff. who was cap
turcd by our pickcts on the 9TH, and brought
to this city on the 9TH instant, The Journal
is complete from the morning Of the lst 10
noon of the Sth. at which time he was sent to
Camp Chase Ohio.
July lsT lSG3-On the banks of the Cum
berIand. The river ycry high. No boats.--
Gen. NJ. obliged to build Il number of boats
which he accomplished with very little delay
and commenced crossing ut SHUTDOWN.
July Charlottesville. Had great difficult.
" in making the horses swim, but by united
and systematic cxcriions succeeded in getting
the entire command o!-----c:,iincnts over
! by 10 a. H., though the command was very
much scattered. At / | o'clock scouts came into
/ Bucksviilc and reported the enemy advancing
and within iourmilcs the town. twas sup
posed 10 be only IL small scouting party anda
! portion Of Col. Dick Morgan'S command was
s,nt out to make Il reconnaissance. The re-
! port of the scouts OF the enemy advancing
/ proved to be correct. and Il message WAS re-
-.
! Col. Grig>Iv was sent tn reinforce him. and
succeeded ndrivin. the Yankees back, in great
confusion. upon their reinforcement. My rcgi-
ment lostiwo mortally wounded and two others
! slightly. Five of the Yankees were known 20
he killed and a number wounded with about
Is prisoners. No tidngs heard of the ID
brigade until dark, when they arrived and re-
ported that Col. johnson, commanding, had
! l.Ir,,1ty in nd
that in addition to the prccipitnu> banks and
absence Of all boats or other Il can OF. trans
portati0n, the enemy were lowering on the
river and harassing him as far as they could.
| He was, however. quite successful in driving
them back. Yesterday Il young man. calling
himself Charles Rogers, dressed in full Con-
federatc uniform came into our lines and cx
pressed desire to Join our command. sns-
picioncd him. and after icw questions, | was
convinced tina; he was spy. threatened to
shoot him, when lie confessed be had been ~
ing. and that his name WAS Simon Blitz-in
fact he cnn"irtel himself nE being spy.-
what to DO With him was the next thing.
hated 10 shoot him, although he deserved IT,
July 3l.-My regiment behaved very GAL
lanty in yesterdays fight with the enemy.
frequently having hand To hand encounters
I
ty in getting the artillery on. and had to press
number Of oxen for the purpos,. After two
halts for the column +" close up, our advance
proceeded to Columbia. They were met by
,ictarhmcnts from three regiments i4j;h Ohio,
"a Ohio and lSt kentucky said 10 be under
command Of Col. Wexford. a brief engage
ment followed, in which We drove the enemy
in great haste through the town, capturing six
prisoners, killing two. among them Capt. Car
ter and wUunding three. Our loss was two
killed and two w0Indcd, among them Captain
Casscl. most dashing and daring officer
wounded in the thigh. Our men behaved lady
ar Columbia. breaking open Il store and plum
dcring it. | ordered the men to return the
goods and made all the rcnaraton in my pow
or. These outraccs are very disgraceiuI, and
arc usually pcrpetrated by men accompanying
the army simply for plulnlcr. Thcv arc not
worth d-n, and arc disgrace t" both ar
mics. Passed through Columbia aud campci
six miles from Green River Bridge
New MARKET. Ky, July -Ith.--A day Of
gloom. deep gloom. IT, our cntirc cnmmamd.--
How many who rose this morning full of
enthusiasm and hope, now " sleep the sleep
that knows no waking" The sun rose bright
and beautiful. the air was cool and balniv all
nature wore the appearance Of peace and har-
mnnv. While riding along. affected By the
stiffness Of all around, Captain MagcnnS. with
the Adjutant General, rode Up and remarked,
how dreadful to reflect tia. We were marching
on to engage i'll deadly strife, and how many
ppor fellows would pass into eternity before
! the setting OF von!cr sun. | have no doubt
the poor fellow was moved 10 these reflections
By one of those unaccouutahlc prescntlmcntS
which are ST. (Itcn the harbingCrs Of evil
Before dark he was corpse About sun
rise we drove in the cnemy's rickct> am, were
soon near their iortiiicatiGnS, which had
been erected 10 prevent our crossing.-
General Morgan sent in Il flag Of truce
and demanded the surrender, but the
Colonel quietly remarked. I'll 1t was
any other day he ght consider the demand:
but the 18th of July was Il bad day to talk
about surrender, and he must, therefore, de-
cline" This colonel is Il gallant man. and
| the entire arrangement Of his defence entities
him to the highest credit FOR military skill
We would mark such Il man in our army Tor
promotion. We attacked the place with two
regiments sending the remainder OF our force
across at another ford. The place was judi
ciously chosen, and Skilfully defended, and
the result was that we were rcpulscd with
severe lOsS-abOut twenty-five killed, AMI
twenty wounded. Among the killed, as usual,
were our best men and officers. including Col.
Chenault Major Brent. Capt. Trhblc. Licuts'
Cnwan, Ferguson, and another lieutenant
whose name | do not remember. Our march
| thus far has been very iatiguing-bad roads.
| little rest or sleep, little To cat, and fight
! every day. Yet our men are cheerful, even
bunyant and to see them pressing along
| barcfDoted, hurrahing and singing, would
cause one to appreciate what those who are
| fighting in a holy and inst cause will endure.
| About = o clock H. | rode on about forty yards
| in advance, | heard the General cxcaj inn some
thing in Il very exalted tone which could not
understand: and heard at the same time y re-
port of Il pistol | turned, and, Great God.
t. my horror. | saw Capt. Magcnnis falling
from his horse. with the blood rushing out Of
his mouth AMI breast His only remark was,
'lct me down easy In another moment his
spirit had fled. lie was killed by Capt. Muir
phv, because MagCnnis. by the direction Of
Cen Morgan. had ordered Murphy to restore
Il watch taken from Il prisoner. Thus was the
poor fellows language Of the morning dread
| fully realized was terribly affected. had
seen blood flow freely "n manga battlefield.
MY friends had been killed in the morning:
but this caused a deeper impression than any
occurrence ] ever witnessed. Truly has this
been sad day. Gen. Morgan looks haggard
and weary, but he never dcSpairs. May to-
morrow dawn more bright than to-day closes.
july 5rH.-Anothcr day of gloom, fatigue
and death. Moved on Lebanon at SUNRISE
Placed our mcn in line. Sent around Col. j..
with his brigade 70 the Danville road to cut
off rcinfnrccments, which we knew were ex-
pected from Danvillc. | went in with flag
of truce. 1t was fired on five times. Officer
apologized, saying he thought it was man
with a white coat on. Very dangerous mis-
take, at least, for we. Demanded uncond.
tional surrender. Told Col. Hanson we had
his rcinforcemcnts cut of, and resistance was
useless. He refused to Surrender, and ! then
ordered him TO order ont the non-comhatants,
rs we would be compelled to shell the town.
!