"... bring Morgan out dead or alive."

On September 3-4, 1864, Lt.Col. William H. Ingerton led the 13th Tennessee Cavalry (USA) to Greeneville's outskirts, where he learned that Gen.John Hunt Morgan was at the Dickson-Williams Mansion. He told his company commanders, Capts. C.C. Wilcox and S.E. Northington, "to dash into town, surround the Williams residence and bring Morgan out dead or alive."

The Federal cavalry surprised the Confederates. Some escaped on their horses while many others were shot or captured. Nicknamed the Thunderbolt of the Confederacy, Morgan bolted from the house and searched for an escape route. His officers urged him to remain in the mansion and await reinforcements. Morgan refused: "The boys can not get here in time. The Yankees will never take me prisoner again." Morgan and his staff officers ran to St.James Episcopal Church nearby, where they hid under the floor until Morgan heard Union soldiers enter the church. He then rushed out toward the grape arbors here near the Williams's stables and his horse, Sir Oliver. As Wilcox's troopers surrounded the area, Morgan tried to walk away in the confusion. Union Pvt. Andrew J. Campbell ordered him to halt, and when Morgan failed to obey the order, Campbell shot and killed him.

The death of Morgan was a blow to the morale of Confederates in East Tennessee and throughout the South.

(Sidebar):
After local residents viewed Morgan's body at the Dickson-William Mansion, the remains were returned to his wife, Mattie Ready Morgan, in Abingdon, Virginia. Morgan's funeral was the largest Abingdon had ever seen. His body was interred in a stone tomb in Sinking Spring Cemetery, then removed after a few days and taken by rail to Richmond, where he had a Confederate state funeral in the Capitol. He was again placed in a stone tomb, this time in Hollywood Cemetery. In April 1868, Morgan's remains were taken to Lexington, Kentucky, where more than 2,000 mourners attended his third and final funeral. Afterward, the veterans formed the Morgan's Men Association. Morgan rests today in the Hunt-Morgan plot in Lexington Cemetery.

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Show me all markers in:  Greeneville, TN  |  Greene County  |  37745  |  Tennessee  |  United States of America

The Dickson - Williams Mansion
General Morgan Inn
Death of John Morgan
Dickson - Williams Mansion
Opera House
James H. Quillen United States Courthouse
Greenville Cumberland Presbyterian Church
GREENEVILLE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
First Presbyterian Church
John H. Morgan

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