The Coolidge examiner., 1934-10-26

magnificent fighter In battle but he was not
great soldier. Says his bioErapher; a technical
military book asserts that BE- permanently al
tered cavalry tactics and operations by giving up
the saber and fighting his command rs rlhemen.
The final Judgment OF the Confederate high com
mand. however. was pretty much that Of Brax
ton Bragg who said that. n he came back al all
from one ~ his raids. IL would be as usual after
severe losses and with a demoralzed command +"
defeated By the enemy too often TO be cousid
cred great soldier and the way IN which b.
alcnated his best lisutennuts and eventually
lost the confidence and respect of his men weak
ems any claim be may have 10 being a great
commander
Although he may have altered cavalry tactics.
be seems 10 have been lacking ia an understand
Ing OF the principles of strategy and unable 10
view the conflict in which he was aghting In iis
larger aspects, Some OF his raids were not only
futile but foolish and apparently based solely
upon bis vanity. In the early days of the war
be- experienced the thrill Of riding in triumph al
the head of his troopers into his home town of
Lexington. there 20 he given a tremendous ova-
ton after that he tried above almost anything
else 20 make a triumphal entry into Lexington.
COS; what II might in military advantage"
But Morgan Is not 10 be entirely blamed for
the futllty OF his famous raid Of G3 into Indiana
and Ohio According 20 the evidence presented
in this book. he made this raid under direct
orders from President Jefferson Davis as n par,
of the Copperhead conspiracy in the Old North.
west IL was timed 10 correspond with Lees
advance into Pennsylvania and II, as Davis
hoped, southern sympathIzers rallied 10 the Stars
and Bars as Lee crossed the Mason and Dixon
line and Morgan crossed the Ohio. the North's
support OF Lincoln's prosecution OF the war
would collapse and there would be demand for
peace which the northern President dare not
disregard. But Davis undoubtedly had been de
ceiyed as to the power Of the Copperheads In
the North and they did not rally to the Con.
federate flag as he had hoped.
Morgan. pushing on through Ohio. found the
populace celebrating the victories az Gettysburg
and vIcksburg and most certainly not in a re.
ceptive mood toward him and his raiders. SO he
became the victim OF Davis mistake. although
he must bear some OF the responsibility OF his
failure because he allowed his men TO get out OF
hand and their looting of the property Of South
ern sympathizers as well as Northern "a mis-
take that was later repeated In Kentucky and
Tennessee) probably would have doomed the ex
pedItion to failure II nothing else had However
Morgans connection with the Copperhead con
spiracy had one important result for him later.
II aided him 70 escape from the Columbus peni
tentiary by means of bribery, and not by tunnel
legend has IL
There a number OF factors in Morgan :
failure as a military leader. according to this
bographer 1T appears that during the months
from April TO July, 1862 there began In Nor
gan a subtle decay OF viii He had TO com
promise with himself /. He seems to lack
all balance OF mind. He Is one time too gay,
another too depressed. In July, 1864
he was going to pieces rapidly. His mental in
stability close TO mania
"Hs whole career followed the tragic pattern
OF those lives which never effectively emerge
from the irrational and imaginative ideas OF
child. The great issues OF the war became
personalized for him so that, like a child, he
thinks himself the center of 1t all He is occu-
pied with impossible fantasies, there Is seldom
assurance that he can hold to a decision.
There is no doubt Of his vast attraction for both
men and women. but gradually even these rela-
tons turn to conflict and antagonism, so that
In the end his whole command turns away from
the place where he is dying.
after the war his body was brought back TO
Lexington to lie In the lot with the Morgans, the
Hunts the Dudleys and the Dukes Morgan lies
In the inner ring OF standing stones next TO his
mother. The ring Of stones is very close ara
curves slightly outward as though all me great
clan had rallied close around him against his
enemies
eby Western Newspaper Unsn-