Nathaniel Dixon

**Nathaniel A. Dixon** (June 9, 1835 – January 21, 1919) served as a sergeant in Company L, 13th Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry.

## Personal life

Nathaniel Dixon was born June 9, 1835 in Johnson County, Tennessee to Ezekiel and Ellen Dixon. He married after 1880, but was widowed before 1900; his wife's name is unknown and no children have been found in any records. His sister, Esther, was his sole caregiver by 1900.

## Civil War service

Dixon enlisted as a private in Company L on February 15, 1864 in Taylorsville, Tennessee for a period of three years and mustered in September 1, 1865 at Knoxville, Tennessee. He was appointed sergeant on August 12, 1865.

He is described as 29 years old, 5' 8 1/2" tall, dark complexion, gray eyes, dark hair, and by occupation a farmer.

Dixon is listed as present for duty throughout his term of service for which muster roll records have survived.

When the regiment mustered out on September 5, 1865 at Knoxville, it was noted that he had never been paid, owed $21.45 for clothing, and was owed a $300 bounty.

## Post-war life

Dixon applied for an invalid's pension on July 3, 1890; he was living in Kentucky at that time and later moved to Ohio.

In 1916, Dixon's sister Esther was no longer able to care for him as he diagnosed with senility and was “hard to get along with”. The court ordered Dixon to be sent to Longview Hospital “for a short period of treatment”, which became long-term, ending with his death three years later.

He died January 21, 1919 at Longview Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio and is buried there at Longview Hospital Cemetery.

## Death of General John H. Morgan

In the hearing for his commitment to Longview Hospital, Dixon recounted his participation in the death of Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan in Greeneville, Tennessee on September 4, 1864.

> Sergt. Dixon was on picket duty at Greenville, Tenn., at night. A girl ran down the road. The soldier commanded her to halt.
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> “John Morgan is asleep at our house," she cried.
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> Dixon notified his lieutenant, whom he called "Billy Campbell" in court. The house was surrounded.
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> “There goes the horse thief," the girl cried, as Morgan, in his night clothing, fled down a hall, according to Dixon's version.
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> As Morgan leaped a hedge Campbell shot. Dixon and his comrades carried Morgan to a porch, where he died. History relegates that Morgan was betrayed to the federals.
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> “Morgan was not a horse thief," Dixon said. "Old Billy Morgan, his father, and my grandfather were half brothers. When he gathered up a gang of 'no accounts' around Lexington he said he was just going over into Ohio to scare the people a little bit. He said Ohioans were scared to death of Kentuckians anyway."
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*The Cincinnati Post* additionally reported:

> Dixon also told of going to Springfield, Ill., in 1856 to attend the trial of a man from Cincinnati, charged with horse stealing. Abraham Lincoln was an attorney in the case.
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> “I saw him as he stepped around the bar," Dixon said to Judge Lueders.
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> “You don't mean to say Abe Lincoln drank, do you?" Judge Lueders asked.
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> “I don't mean a saloon bar," said Dixon.
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*The Cincinnati Enquirer* reported:

> Dixon said one night when he was doing picket duty 11 miles out of Greenville, Tenn., a woman rode up on a horse and cried to him:
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> "That old horse thief, John Morgan, is asleep in my house."
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> Immediately on his giving alarm, Dixon said, Acting Colonel J. K. Miller took a detachment and started for Greenville. They surrounded the house, and when Morgan awoke and rushed out "Billy" Campbell, a private, shot him. The body was found a few moments later in the bushes near the house, Dixon said.
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> Dixon told of having met President Lincoln and General Grant.
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## Notes

1. ↑ 1900 U.S. Census, Portsmouth, Ohio.
2. ↑ ”Judge Hears How 'Raider' Morgan Died”, *The Cincinnati Post*, December 7, 1916, p. 13, c. 2.”
3. ↑ It is uncertain if any of the graves in the cemetery are marked. Longview Asylum opened in 1860. It has changed names and buildings several times, and is presently known as Summit Behavioral Center.
4. ↑ ”Judge Hears How 'Raider' Morgan Died”, *The Cincinnati Post*, December 7, 1916, p. 13, c. 2.”
5. ↑ ”Led Slayers of Raider”, *The Cincinnati Enquirer*, December 8, 1916, p. 8, c. 4.