Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1909-12-03
Capture of General Morgan.

is around the death of General John
H. Morgan, the Confederate leader,
who led a raid into Ohio and Indiana
and penetrated farther into northern
territory than any other Southern COM
mander. General Morgan was cup
tured near the Ohio river, carried to
the Ohio penitentiary, escaped, reor-
ganized his command and was killed
at Greenville, Tenn.
N. H. Gaines, dentist at No. 1116
Main street, Kansas City, was an adj
jutant in General Morgan's command
and saw his commander killed at
Greenvtlle He had investigated the
causes of the surprise, capture and
shooting of Morgan. An answer to
letter written to Greenville recently
is, he believes, the true story.
Il had always believed that young
woman, the daughter-in-law Of Mrs.
Catherine D. Williams, whose husband
was with the Union army, gave the
Federals information which led to the
surprise, capture and death of General
Morgan" Mr. Gaines said. When we
approached the Williams home on the
day before Morgan was killed we saw
this young woman ride away from the
house. General Morgan was supicious
and asked Mrs. Williams who the
young woman was and where she was
going The reply was that the young
woman was going to ne1ghbor's
house for watermelons. The answer
was franE1- given and we believed 1t
at the time. But after the generals
death every one believed that the wo-
man who was seen to ride away from
the house went to where General A. G..
Gillem, the Federal commander, was
camped and told him where Morgan
could be found. Morgan stayed all
night in the Williams house and was
captured early the next morning. He
was shot after he had surrendered and
given up his arms.
II wrote to Greenville some time
ago, asking the postmaster to refer
my letter to some one who knew Of
the circumstances of General Nor
gan's death. / received an answer
from A B. Wilson, Of that place, who
looked into the matter His answer
acquits the young woman of treachery
forty-five years after the death Of
Morgan"
Mr. Wilson's account of the death Of
the Southern raider follows:
"It Is impossible to down or refute
all reports in relation to this event.
Because a woman left the home Of
Mrs Williams shortly after the arrival
of Morgan, General Duke jumped to
the conclusion that she had acted trail
tor and reported Morgan's where
abouts to General Gillem. This is
false. The young Mrs. Williams,
daughter-in-law Of Mrs. Catherine d.
Williams, while her husband was, I
suppose, a Union man and within the
Federal lines, was Southern sympa-
thiZer just the same. She was, before
her marriage, Runbaugh, one of the
best families of Virginia, and had two
brothers in the Southern army. One
was a captain and the other a major.
1.-The truth is that she went to a
farm owned by her mother-in-law,
four miles from Greenville, where she
was seen by number of persons.
She intended to return with water
melons for the distinguished guest
On account of a heavy rain she did
not return until the next day, but
spent the night with Mrs. Bartly, a
tenant on the farm, and came into
Greenville that morning just after
was escorted into town by Federal
pickets, thus arousing the suspicion
that she had betrayed Morgan.
IT have also seen a dispatch from
Washington giving the credit of Nor
gan's death to Mrs Sarah E. Thomp
son, who died August 26, this year.
This is equally false. Mrs. Thompson
had been married about four times
Her first husband, Thompson, whose
name she chose to go by, was a Fed
eral scout, or, perhaps, bushwhacker,
during the Civil War. I have heard Of
her setting up the claim of having
caused the death Of Morgan with the
idea of getting a pension by act of
Congress. I am certain that she had
nothing whatever to do with the mat
ter. 1t would have been impossible
for woman to have made the trip Of
eighteen miles to General Gillem's
camp.
THE person who did give the in
formation to General Gillem, which
caused Morgan's death and the capture
of his command, was a boy named
John Leady and others, who gave the
directions as to how to move in order
to effect the surprise of General Nor
gan. In fact, General Gillem sent a
dispatch to his superior officers in
tended to put an end to the rumors Of
a woman having betrayed the Con-
federate general. In this ne stated
that no woman had given him the in
formation that led to the capture and
killing of General Morgan"
The young woman who was suspect