The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-10-26

ceeded In passing themselves of as Union cav
airy and fooled not only northern sympathizers
In that region but the men in blue as well
His next raid took him into Kentucky, as a
part of the movement made by Gen. Kirby Smith
to threaten Cincinnati movement which had
the state of Ohio in something of a panic for
awhile. Lexington, Morgans home town, was
their first objective-"They rode north for the
beloved bluegrass through green forests and be-
side the clear Tennessee waters. There was
nothing like it again, the long column singing
from end to end, delirious with the glowing Sep
TENDER weather and the beauty of their beloved
state. Duke was intoxicated with the romance
of the rendezvous and wrote the Song of the
Squadron the march," Thus, the romantic
kind Of warfare which fits so well into the south
ern version of the Morgan myth
Another element of the same kind came the
following winter. During the Christmas season
Morgan was married again (Rebecca Gratz
Bruce Morgan had died In 1S61)-this time to
Martha Ready, a young girl scarcely half his
age. President Jefferson Davis himself came to
Murfreesboro for the wedding and they were
married by Leonidas Polk, the bshop-general.
who wore his Episcopal robes over his Heuten-
ant-generals uniform. OF this wedding, more
later, for it marked turning point in Morgans
career.
In 1868 came the great raid into Indiana and
end and upon which his fame Is principally
based. 1t ended disastrously-with his capture
near East Liverpool and the Imprisonment of
Morgan and his officers in the state penitentiary
at Columbus from which he and six of his Of
6eers escaped few months later. Making his
way through the lines Morgan went to Richmond
where he was given a great ovation and new
command.
But his next raid into Kentucky was not only
failure but brought down upon him suspicion
of Incompetence or worse The star of John
Hunt Morgan was waning fast and it set for
on September 3, 1864 when he was killed
by Union troopers in the garden of the Williams
home in Greeneville. Tenn. THAT he should be
killed In action In that year "a when the cavalry
saddles were emptying has not seemed unfit
ting" says Swiggett
Dashing and romantic a figure as Morgan was
and successful as he was In the short swift
raiding type OF warfare, he may have been q
magnificent fighter In battle but he was not a
great soldier Says his biographer: "a technical
military book asserts that he permanently al
tered cavalry tactics and operations by giving I'D
the saber and fighting his command as rif1emen
The final Judgment of the Confederate high CON-
mand. however, was pretty much that of Brax-
ton Bragg who said that, IL he came back at all
from one of his raids, 1t would be usual after
severe losses and with a demoralized command
For Morgan allowed himself to be surprised and
defeated by the enemy too often to be consid-
cred great soldier and the way In which he
alienated his best neutenants and eventually
lost the confidence and respect of his men weak
ems any claim he may have to being a great
commander.
Although he may have altered cavalry tactics
he seems to have been lacking In an understand
ing of the principles of strategy and unable to
view the conflict in which he was fighting In its