The Great Raid

—July 3, 1863 —

After engaging Union forces in Columbia the afternoon of July 3,Gen.John Hunt Morgan's command continued north on the Columbia-Lebanon Pike. Just beyond the town, they passed Union Camp Gilbert, formerly named Camp Boyle, now abandoned - the site marked by a telegraph line, tents,and a few men powerless to stop 2,400 raiders thundering toward Cane Valley, seven miles north.

Many of the Raiders had abandoned their horses in Columbia, taking fresh mounts without consent of their owners. They took whatever supplies they could,including whiskey and money, because there was no supply train to provide for them. Farmers and shopkeepers had their storehouses emptied. Lt.Col.Robert Alston, Morgan's chief of staff, considered such behavior appalling and remarked that some men accompanied the army simply for plunder.

Morgan and the majority of his men were Kentuckians who knew "secesh " sympathizers willing to provide camp sites. That night the troops camped in the fields near the Cane Valley house of Morgan's friends, the Bridgewaters; their general slept in a bed in the house, waited on by his servant, Old Box.

While in Cane Valley Morgan called on Lt. Richard Archibald "Dick Archie" Webster of Taylor County to help lead the men toward Lebanon. Although scouts reported about 400 union soldiers fortifying
the Green River at Tebbs Bend, Morgan was unconcerned, secure in the knowledge that his troops were superior in number with a battery of artillery. At 3:00 a.m. the next morning the Confederates headed toward the Green River bridge.

(captions)
Lt. Richard Archibald Webster
In his haste to move on, Morgan left his coat at the Bridgewater house according to Mary Page, a Bridgewater granddaughter, who wrote that the coat was cut up and given to people as souvenirs.

It is estimated that Morgan's men used at least 15,000 horses in the Great Raid, July 1 - July 26, 1863. Horses were replaced as needed; some purchased, a few donated by Confederate sympathizers, but most were "exchanged" for ones worn out.

Morgan and his staff discuss logistics although Morgan had made no personal reconnaissance of the Green River crossing.

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Show me all markers in:  Columbia, KY  |  Adair County  |  42728  |  Kentucky  |  United States of America

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