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

larger aspects. Some of his raids were not only
futile but foolish and apparently based solely
upon his vanity. In the early days of the war
he experienced the thrill of riding in triumph at
the head of his troopers into his home town Of
Lexington, there to be given tremendous ova-
ton. after that he tried above almost anything
else to make triumphal entry into Lexington,
cost what it might in military advantage"
But Morgan is not to be entirely blamed for
the futlity Of his famous raid of SO into Indiana
and Ohio. According to the evidence presented
in this book, he made this raid under direct
orders from President Jefferson Davis as part
of the Copperhead conspiracy in the Old North
west 1t was timed to correspond with Lees
advance into Pennsylvania and if, as Davis
hoped, southern sympathizers rallied to the Stars
and Bars as Lee crossed the Mason and Dixon
line and Morgan crossed the Ohio, the Norths
support of Lincoln's prosecution of the war
would collapse and there would be demand for
peace which the northern President dare not
disrega ID. But Davis undoubtedly had been de
ceiVed as to the power Of the Copperheads in
the North and they did not rally to the Con-
federate flag he had hoped.
Morgan, pushing on through Ohio, found the
populace celebrating the victories at Gettysburg
and Vicksburg and most certainly not in 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 footing of the property of South
sympathizers as well as Northern Ga mis-
take that was later repeated in Kentucky and
Tennessee) probably would have doomed the ex-
petition to failure If nothing else had However
Morgans connection with the Copperhead con-
spiracy had one important result for him later.
1t aided him to escape from the Columbus peni-
Tertiary by means of bribery and not by tunnel
Ing his way out under it's walls as the familiar
legend has it.
There are number of factors in Morgan's
failure a military leader, according to this
biographer and one of them, as has already
been indicated, was feminine factor. Comment
ing on Morgan's second marriage he quotes
Dukes statement that this was thought by many
to have materially affected General Morgan's
temper and subsequent fortunes" Says Swig-
gett: Certainly he meant that Morgan's fortunes
and the dauntless temper of his mind declined
from that night Obviously, there must have
been one of two causes: either Morgan was 50
infatuated with his young wife that he became
uxorious and could not give himself to war as
he had done; or. after the first blush of romance
he did not find the contentment in the marriage
that he had expected"
There was a woman too, connected with his
death. But there is mystery attached to the mo-
tives which drew him to Greeneville, Tenn, and
set the stage for his betrayal and death But
whether Lucy Williams betrayed him is a ques-
ton which has never been settled and probably
never will be- although Swiggett doubts that she
was guilty Of such treachery
As for the reasons for the failure of Moryan's
career he says: ut appears that during the
months from April to July, 1863 there began
In Morgan a subtle decay of will. He had to
compromise with himself. . He seems to lack
all balance of mind He is one time too CAV.
another too depreSSed Tn Iuly 1904
ne was going to pieces rapidly. His mental In
stability was now close to mania
AS to what il was that drew him to Greene
vile no one can with assurance say What
ever 1t was he paid full measure for it all as he
lay dying in the flowers wet with blood and the
night rain.
$50 the life Of Morgan ends He had the
stature and the possibilities of leader and
hero among men, The tragedy Of his life Is not
the sudden mortality that overlook it. but the
fact that rebellion and disunity within himself
so filled his soul that all his powers were null
lifted
His 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 It 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 and
curves slightly outward as though all the great
clan had rallied close around him against his
enemies"
eby Western Newspaper Union.