The Oskaloosa herald., 1903-07-16
REDMON WAS THERE.
Thrilling IneiGent Of the Famous
Morgan Raid.

neHO me other morning. and IN This
offica met the venerable Thomas Ter
ren TIE two boys" soon discovered
that they used to live in the same
part Of Ohio. and the conversation
drifted from one thingto another until
Morgan's famous raid was mentioned
The incident electrified both men. as
both we're right there at the time. Mr.
Terrell spoke about the railroad wreck
and how ne rendered the locomotive
being turned upside down in a corn
field. Imagine his surprise when Mr..
Redmon said that he guessed that he
was the guilty party, as he ran the
identical engine as far as it would go.
II is useless to say that no further in
PRODUCTION was necessary and the two
gentlemen thoroughly enjoyed an
hours conversation.
AS the incident has never. before
been written by the engineer of the
now famous train, we called on Mr.
Redmon this morning, the anniversary
OF the event, and in reply to our ques-
ton he said:
What do I know Of the Morgan
raid? Well, you can depend upon il
/ have a very vivid recollection Of it
CT at least that part that bumped up
against.
"Just forty years ago to-day. Tues
day, July II, about o'clock o. m. at
a point some sixteen miles east Of
Cincinnati and two or three miles from
the famous Camp Depison on the ] -.
tie Miami rialrcad with west bound
train carrying soldiers to Camp Deni-
son, we encountered this daredevil
general and his forces several thous-
and strong and having met the enemy
we were theirs in short order. But to
commence the story properly it would
seem necessary to go back some days,
as the whole country at that time was
electrified and astounded at the freaks
of this madcap rebel. He had. crossed
the Ohio river from Kentucky 20 the
stateof Indiana, not far from the
southern Ohio line, ostensibly to cap
tureth city Of Cincinnati, though his
real motives were not generally
known, and have my doubts if the Of
ficers and command had any definite
idea. At any rate it was happy-go-
lucky, haphazard undertaking on the
part of Morgan and very sensational,
even at that period Of the war when
there was a good and plenty doing in
the east, west, north and south, keep
ing every one guessing what was to
come next. At Morrowtown, some
forty miles east of Cincinnati, this
train was made up and should have
left at 6 o'clock a. M, but was delayed
BY the president of the Little Miami
railroad who resided at this point and
was tryingto get definite information
as to the exact locality and movements
of Morgan. Nothing satisfactory
could be learned, however, though ru-
mors were thick and wild, AS the
men we're supposed to be badly need
cd IN assist in defending Camp Denf-
son u was settled to make the trip if
it could be done
= s'Your subscriber was the locomotive
engineer of that train, consequently
had a deep interest in knowing the 10
cality of this hostile force. l found
we were going at a speed OF fully nifty
miles an hour after we left Morrow
town and until we arrived at Loveland.
About fourteen miles from this place
we found the road crossing swarming
with soldiers afoot and horseback,
armed Unfortunately with shotguns,
squirrel rifles and anything that would
shoot, and all expecting that was the
road Morgan was sure to come, but ne
was still east of Loveland, at which
point we again endeaycTed to locate
the rebs. The only information OBJ
tanned here through the operator was
that he felt sure Morgan's expert tel
eqrapher had tapped the line and was
already fully advised OK Our and all
other moves being made by the mil
FAIRY and railroad officials. This being
the existing condition conference
was held and it was agreed that II
woulS be safest TO remain there and
take no so-called improper risks. Then
Il was further argued that this was q
very cowardly position The Inres
hundred men aboard this train were
volunteers going to Camp Denisoa 20
he armed and equipped TO resist the
invaders and they we're all anxious 70
Get there. Then you observe 1t was
nm TO your subscriber TO either nunE
or show his patriotism and go forward
.,s take the chances Wen we
w4nt forward and ar a point some 81
ines from LoTelznd a river ford
.--,nssss,t the Little Miami river close :;
"a. railroad. the wagon road rssn.
s-oru as Danger crossing Here w
onzz-v=s = large force OF rne1 El'o'1lR
~ hns ns they wore mo- uzE.nruAs q
,ss.Hsar-5sa them We At FIRST supposed
49, were more of the U1i00 mem see.
~ Tns other rcEnHs, hut were soon 40
$50 MI 5I-re Inference when they o'a
80 In IRE vuEEay after vnHAsy al 0As
s-u-a,tgu Knowing tratn- had no H1-lz-
rr--9-