James A. Drury
1823 - 1907
James is the s/o Benedict Drury, Grand s/o Bernard Drury and Great grand s/o Philip Drury and Emerentia "Ann" Newton

This article furnished by 2nd great grandson Luke J. Scheer Jr., June 18, 2006

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          Three more children came to James and Mary Ann in the usual 2+ year spacing: Sarah Ellen, about April 15, 1868; Frances Irene on September 26, 1870, and Martin John, March 30, 1873.

             The above picture of Mary Ann Mattingly Drury was taken in the summer or fall of 1873.

Supposedly, her father, William C. Mattingly, eventually guessed the reason for his daughter’s absence from his bedside and died shortly afterwards, about March 1876.   Soon after Mary Ann's death, James arranged for his younger children to live with older siblings, or other relations.

For a time one of his daughters, Helen, lived with her Mattingly grandparents, but shortly ran away and never returned. Each night the girls had wool carding, etc. to do before going to bed in their cabin.

John Thomas, then about 8 years old went to his Uncle Mart (John Martin) Mattingly’s for 4 years, then lived with his older brother Joe until he was 18 or 19.

For a short time, maybe a year, James Drury, as a widower, continued to live on the farm (Bert Robinson Place) east of Morganfield where he had been a tenant for about 20 years. His son James Thomas (Uncle Tom) told in 1950 that James sold out a year after the death of his spouse and moved in with various siblings and children, changing families often. James remained in Kentucky until about 1886 then went to live with his daughter Sally (Sarah Ellen) in Missouri for a short while.  Then Tom took him in for a few years.  It was later, about 1890-91, that Tom broke his shoulder and sent his dad out to Kansas to live with Nancy.

The 1880 census lists the youngest daughter, Frances Irene, as living with her sister Martha Helen and family in Missouri before her dad was there.  Before James went to live with his bachelor son, Frances Irene, following the death of Martha likely went to be with either Nancy, or Mary Teresa in Kansas. Frances Irene’s presence prior to 1891 is evidenced by her marriage to Ben Beseau, a St. Marys, Kansas, native there on October 21 1891.  When the Braddocks moved to Mississippi, about 1892, James joined with his son, Joseph Henry in Morganfield and lived there about 3 years.  On January 1, 1896, he moved with son Joseph and family to SE Missouri, not far from bachelor sons Tom & Martin.   Later, he batched with Tom & Martin before rejoining Nancy in Mississippi before the 1900 census.

                Grandchildren there recalled that James was hard of hearing[1] and quick tempered.  John A. Braddock, born 1894, recalls that Grampa Drury delighted in inducing him, as a youngster, to smoke tobacco. Also described, was that when particularly irritated, grandpa would take his cane, swing it over his shoulder and with belongings pendant thereon, would leave for awhile. He'd walk trails and railroad tracks to distant Vicksburg, where he would stay for a period at the Confederate Soldier's Home before returning.  He first entered the Home in 1904 to obtain treatment for a chronic boil.   He suffered during his later years from asthma and that likely prompted additional visits.  

In 1905 he entered the Confederate Soldier's Home at Vicksburg to eventually die there, September 30, 1907. A clipping from an unknown paper, contained in the Sisters of Charity Mother House archives of James' sisters, reads: 

Death Of A Veteran

Yesterday afternoon, James A. Drury, aged 84 years, one of the Confederate veterans from Yazoo City, who has been an inmate of the annex for some time, breathed his last.  Deceased will be interred this afternoon from Fisher's parlor at 4 o'clock, and from St. Paul's Catholic Church at 4:30 o'clock.  Mr. Drury is another of those beloved heroes, who has passed over the river to his everlasting reward, and for whom all will ever have a reverence and respect, commensurate with the valor and devotion with which they ever performed duty to their country in war, as they have lived as citizens honoring home and country in peace." 

A transcription of Fisher’s funeral parlor records reads: 

“Drury, James A. September 30,1907; To one coffin, Grave, H. Board,

Use of Hearse and Services $14.50: Bz. 3 Hacks $9.00--$23.50”

 

A letter from St Paul’s Church, Vicksburg, MS, provides this:  

"James A. Drury, age 80 (sic), native of Yazoo City, MS., died of 'congestion' on October 1, 1907, and was buried by Fr. J. J. Mallin in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Vicksburg, MS."

 

James’s great grandson, Luke Scheer,  Sr, reported having been to the gravesite, shown there by one of James’s granddaughters, wrote that it was unmarked.  No record was made of its location and Cemetery Sexton’s records from the period have been lost, therefore the actual gravesite is unknown. 

THE MYSTERY IS WHAT ELSE JAMES A. DRURY MIGHT HAVE BEEN DOING IN THE WAR?

Tom Drury, in a letter to his great nephew Luke Scheer,  Sr, related that his father, James Drury, had said that Vicksburg had been his toughest battle.

Examination of the list of captured and paroled Confederates does not give any names associated with Johnson’s 10^th Kentucky Cavalry. What also is to be made of the family tradition that James Drury was present at Chickamauga or Chattanooga?” A son related that James’ hearing had been damaged at Chickamauga. A grandson had told that James had been wounded in the chest at Chickamauga.  

We do have, referring to the unit, according to a Girten researcher: 

 “The Kentucky Adjutant General's Report states;

Liberty, Tenn., Dec. 31, 1862 - This Company was raised in Union County, Ky., and participated in most of the engagements which gave the reputation to the Regiment, which it now enjoys, it was in the battle of Donelson-Rolling Mills, Madisonville, Uniontown, Owensboro, Geiger' s Lake and several others of minor importance. It was with General Morgan in his last expedition to Kentucky, and participated in the engagements at Elizabethtown, Bacon  Creek and Muldrough's Hill."

 

James and Francis Drury, Leo Braddock, the Girten brothers and Mattinglys were members of Col. Adam R. Johnson’s, 10th Kentucky Partisan Rangers, therefore we must also trace the adventures of the 10^th Cavalry throughout the period that James Drury would have been a member.

The 10th took part in Morgan's famous Christmas raid and ill-fated Indiana-Ohio raid. While taking part in the latter, the vast majority of the regiment were captured and imprisoned, many for the remainder of the war.

Those men not captured on Morgan's Indiana-Ohio raid subsequently served in a variety of units including Dortch’s 2d Battalion Kentucky Cavalry, the 8th Kentucky Mounted Infantry, Chenoweth's 15th Kentucky Cavalry, and Sypert's 16th Kentucky Cavalry.  

THE REST OF THE STORY

James Drury and his relatives, along with other recent recruits didn’t have to wait long to see action. Just two weeks after joining with Adam Johnson, it appears that the Drury-Mattingly-Braddock-Girten comrades in arms would have been among those extending Confederate-style Kentuckian hospitality to their Union antagonists.  

RAID ON UNIONTOWN – September 1, 1862

In the later part of August, Johnson’s force was nearly 700 strong and faced with three immediate problems: ammunition and equipment for his men, Uniontown having been placed under Martial Law by a Federal Regiment of 300 Indiana Militia, commanded by Col. Farrow and continuing the harassment of Northern Forces.  Farrow, like Hanson in Henderson, had committed many depredations on the community, not the least of which was extracting $50,000 in bonds and over $6,000 in cash from the population under threat of instant imprisonment.

Johnson solved everything with a raid, retaking Uniontown, capturing badly needed materials and forcing the surrender of the occupying Federal forces. The Federals were paroled and allowed to go north, minus anything of military value.  Federal equipment not needed by Johnson was burned

Deciding against next moving on Henderson, due to condition of his men’s mounts and expected pressure by Shackelford’s stronger forces, Johnson ordered the majority of his men to scatter[2] through the country and rendezvous at a later time and place.

 

  September 3, 1862 – Geiger’s Lake, Union Co.

Adapted from a Transcription of a reprint “Union County, Past & Present, Publisher Unigraphic, 1972,

                The “battle” of Geiger’s Lake began when Adam R. Johnson, with about one hundred men, mostly Union and Henderson County Boys in training, made the preceding dash upon Uniontown and captured about nine hundred stands of badly needed arms. Johnson and his men retired to Geiger’s Lake and encamped.  Gen. J. M. Shackelford, who was lying at Caseyville with a considerable force of Federal Troops, mostly infantry, started out to the lake for the purpose of capturing the entire force.  James Wathen, of Company G, First Kentucky Confederate Cavalry and in civil life a brick mason of DeKoven, learned of Shackleford’s designs and rode in hot haste to the Confederate camp to give the alarm.  The ever-ready Johnson immediately dispatched most of his available force out on the road to meet General Shackleford. Bob Martin, Johnson’s second in command, had charge of the detachment which numbered about eighty men.  This left a small force in the camp. One report says 15 men, another says fifty, but Ruben Reasor (1834-1927), who related the details of this story, says there were twenty-eight, counting Adam Johnson.  Most of these men, including Johnson, stayed behind on account of illness. Shackleford, however, did not approach the camp in the direction that Martin had anticipated and, consequently, he surprised the Confederates left behind. Johnson, knowing the limitations of his small force, had given his men all the loaded guns they could carry and took shelter on the opposite side of the lake. When Johnson saw the Federal troops enter the abandoned camp and began to pillage, his troops opened heavy fire. The Federals quickly broke and fled. Shackleford, quickly rallying his men, returned toward Johnson’s former encampment.

                In the meantime, Martin, hearing the firing, headed toward the camp and advanced alone to reconnoiter the enemy’s position. His horse was shot from under him and he returned to his men, remounted and led them against the Federal troops.  Shackleford was again advancing upon the vacated camp along the shore of the lake and Martin was advancing toward it from the opposite direction. Johnson, with his contingent, was still across the lake, expecting pursuit by the Federals.

While this was taking place, a soldier named Robinson came into camp and, seeing all of his comrades gone, supposed that very soon the Federals would enter and capture all the arms.  He thereupon started throwing guns into the lake.  The lake bank was rather steep and it was quite simple to pitch the muskets into the water as they were stacked near by.

When Martin and his men came up, they brought their sole artillery piece into play against the advancing army. Loading the cannon to the muzzle with mini-balls and waiting until the last possible moment to fire, havoc ensued among the advancing Federals.

With Martin’s men protected by their position under the bank and Johnson’s hidden by  brush on the opposite side of the lake, they poured such rapid and telling volleys upon the Federal force that it was permanently routed and fled in confusion to Caseyville.  It was in this engagement that General Shackelford was shot in the heel as his army retreated. Johnson’s memoirs admits to the loss of one Confederate, with no mention of wounded.  

JAMES DRURY AT VICKSBURG September 1862

The mere mention of Vicksburg in the context of the Civil War immediately brings to mind the Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Considerable study of "The Gibraltar of the Confederacy" and its surrender on July 4, 1863, failed to find even a faint whiff of circumstantial evidence to suggest that any of the members of Adam Johnson’s or Morgan’s previous command were present. Simply put, there is nothing to indicate that James Alexander Drury was ever present at Vicksburg, Mississippi, during the Civil War.

However, there is a Vicksburg, KY, in Logan County, about 5 Miles NE of Smithland at the mouth of the Cumberland River and 45 miles SW of Union County.  While Vicksburg, KY, is today little more than a boat ramp on the Cumberland river it may have been something more in the 1860’s since there remains an old cemetery in the area. : Possibly, it was a ferry crossing, if not a place of seasonal fording? Without any reliable reports of battles, skirmishes or even minor encounters, naming Vicksburg, KY, as the scene of fighting, family genealogists have only circumstantial evidence for a guide.

 

The tantalizing and compelling clues are:

A.      James having told family of having been in a ruckus at Vicksburg  
B.     The existence of Vicksburg, KY,  
C.    A Union Supply Depot at nearby Smithland containing a substantial number of horses.  
D.    A possible smoking gun, of sorts, in the form of a telegram to Gen. Grant, USA

            In the early day’s of the conflict, Johnson’s and his men operated independently in northwestern Kentucky, although mostly in Easterly directions from Vicksburg, KY, particularly in Union and Henderson Counties. Johnson’s rapidly increasing numbers of recent recruits[3] needed to be equipped. For his continuous guerrilla operations behind enemy lines, his troops had no choice but to resort to unauthorized withdrawals from Union sources as their most reliable supply of weapons, munitions, horses and tack, etc.

 

  Brigadier- General I. F. QUINBY, telegraphed General Grant on 9-5-1862, the following:

 “Major Bigney, commanding at Smithland, telegraphs the guerrilla chief, Johnson, has taken Uniontown and Caseyville and now threatens Smithland. The major asks for cavalry to attack and pursue. I have directed him to mount his infantry as far as practicable. It is said that 600 horses are at Smithland intended for Buell’s army. Ought they not to be removed to safer point, as they cannot be sent forward”

 

Could it be that shortly after the Geiger Lake encounter, a raid was made, horses acquired and Johnson’s force retired to the vicinity of Vicksburg, KY, for respite from the rigors of combat? Could it be that the “mounted infantry” met and challenged Johnson’s force near Vicksburg, KY?  Surely, the Confederates would have had a little scrap with the Federals while availing themselves of badly needed mounts? And what if, during the ebb and flow of an ensuing firefight, the relatively new recruit, James happened to find himself in a particularly precarious predicament; an exceptionally exciting experience that became etched in his mind as one of his worst.

                The author surmises that while definitive proof may never be found showing that James Drury was at Vicksburg, KY, the cited circumstantial evidence suggests the possible presence of the Drury, Mattingly, Braddock, Girten brothers-in-arms.  

September 19,1862   Owensboro – Daviess County

A Confederate force of 500 to 700 men executed a morning attack on Owensboro, killing the Kentuckian commanding the garrison and demanding surrender once they had surrounded the town.  During the night a Union soldier swam Ohio River to summon help. The next morning, September 20^th, a Regiment of the Indiana State militia crossed the river and drove the Confederates from the town. The militia force pursued the retreating Confederates and,

 gaining the protection of a roadside ditch, defeated them at Panther Creek, eight miles South of Owensboro. Casualties: Confederate loss, 36 killed, 70 wounded. USA loss, 3 killed and 35 wounded.[4]

October - November 1862        The "Reverse" Kentucky Raid

The Battle of Perryville was fought between Confederate General Braxton Bragg and Union General Don Carlos Buell on October 8, 1862.

Despite winning a tactical victory at Perryville on October 8, the Confederate forces withdrew and began a southward journey to Tennessee, with Morgan’s regiments providing protection on its the flank.  Upon its return, the Army of the Mississippi was consolidated with the Army of Kentucky on November 20, thereby creating the great Confederate army of the west – the Army of Tennessee.

However, when the army halted at Gum Springs, Morgan turned northward again on a reverse raid toward Lexington.  Reaching the outskirts of Lexington on October 15, the regiment attacked the 4th Ohio Cavalry. However, due to miscalculations in the timing of the attack, confusion reigned and elements of Morgan’s forces fired on each other.

Next Morgan moved eastward toward Ashland, KY, the home of Henry Clay, which was occupied by the forces of Union Major Charles B. Seidel. On October 18, John Morgan and his cavalry surprised Major Seidel at Ashland and captured him and his command in broad daylight. After outfitting his command with new horses, colt revolvers and other captured goods, Morgan's men burned the government stables and railroad depot before leaving the area and headed westward to Elizabethtown, Greenville, and finally to Hopkinsville in western Kentucky. There, they met with Colonel Woodward’s Kentucky Cavalry regiment. From Hopkinsville, the regiment turned south to Tennessee, entering the state on November 1.

Meanwhile, the 10th Kentucky Cavalry, soon after its organization, had been ordered by General Braxton Bragg to report to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where, about November 4, 1862, the unit was attached to the 2d brigade of Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan's cavalry division.

At Gallatin, Colonel Morgan planned another raid on Edgefield Junction, where Federal forces had collected hundreds of freight cars.  The raid, which began on November 6, was to be in conjunction with a diversionary attack south of Nashville by General N. B. Forrest.  However, the attack failed due to a lack of coordination between the cavalry commands.  With this, the 2nd Kentucky continued southward toward Murfreesboro, and was finally ordered into winter quarters at Fayetteville, Tennessee.  There it rested while Colonel Morgan embarked on a raid at Hartsville, commanding a Brigade-sized force of Kentucky Cavalry and Infantry regiments.

 

December 7, 1862 The "Hartsville" Raid

        The 39th Brigade, XIV Army Corps of the Army of the Cumberland, under Colonel Absalom Moore, was guarding the Cumberland River crossing at Hartsville to prevent cavalry raids.  Under the cover of darkness, Morgan and his men crossed the river in the early morning of December 7.  When the Kentuckians approached the Union camp, their pickets sounded the alarm and held their positions until the brigade was in battle line.  The fighting commenced and lasted almost two hours.  One of Moore’s units ran, which caused confusion and helped to force the Federals to fall back. With the Confederates surrounding them, the Federals were convinced to surrender.  Surrendering to Morgan’s forces were infantry of the 104th Illinois, 106th and 108th Ohio, the 2nd Indiana Cavalry, and a battery of the 12th Indiana Artillery.  Federal casualties were listed as 1,855, while the Confederates lost only 149.  This action north of Murfreesboro was a prelude to the cavalry raids by General Forrest into western Tennessee, and by Morgan into Kentucky during the rest of December and into January 1863.

 

December 13 - 14, 1862  Morgan’s Promotion and Wedding

         Enthusiastic over the Hartsville victory, General Bragg recommended Colonel Morgan’s promotion to the rank of Brigadier General. John Hunt Morgan received his commission to Brigadier General personally from President Davis on December 13, but the promotion was made retroactive to December 7, the day of the Hartsville Raid.  His brother-in-law, Lt. Colonel Basil W. Duke, was promoted to full Colonel and given command of the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry. Brig. General Morgan now commanded a Brigade of 4,000 men that now included the 10th Kentucky led by Col. Adam R. JOHNSON

 

Dec 21, 1862 - Jan 5, 1863 The "Christmas" Raid

        During December, the Federal Army of the Cumberland, commanded by U.S. General Rosecrans, was stockpiling men, food, and supplies at Nashville for a winter campaign against the Confederate Army of Tennessee.  In response, General Bragg ordered cavalry raids to disrupt and divert the enemy.  One such raid, covering over 500 Miles in two weeks, was to cut the enemy’s supply line along the Louisville & Nashville railroad.  This task was given to Morgan’s command. John Allen Wyeth wrote of the raids beginning "They started with three day's cooked rations. Every man carried his own ammunition, two extra horse shoes, twelve nails, one blanket in addition to the saddle blanket, and an oil-cloth or overcoat. With the exception of the artillery which was double-teamed, there was nothing on wheels."  With the L&N R.R. line being heavily defended, General Morgan chose the weakest point for this raid -- a pair of trestles at Muldraugh’s Hill, just north of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. 

 

      In preparation, MORGAN divided his command, with regimental command structures as follows:

First Cavalry Brigade - Colonel Basil W. Duke, Commanding

  2nd Kentucky             Lt. Col. J. Hutchinson                    7th Kentucky   Col. Richard M. Gano

  8th Kentucky              Col. LeRoy S. Cluke                      4th Kentucky    Col. Henry Giltner

  Palmer's Ga. Battery   Capt. Joseph Palmer

 

Second Cavalry Brigade - Colonel Wm. C. P. Breckinridge, Commanding

  9th Kentucky             also by Breckinridge                   10th Kentucky     Col. Adam R. Johnson

  11th Kentucky           Col. David W. Chenault              9th Tennessee      Col. Wm. W. Ward

 

         On December 21, the force rode north from Alexandria, Tennessee on what was to become known in the annals of the war as the "Christmas Raid".   Through rain and sleet, they moved on toward Thompkinsville and Glasgow[5], capturing enemy garrisons along the way.

On the 26^th, some of the soldiers captured and burned a large railroad bridge at Bacon Creek (now Bonnieville).

John Allan Wyeth, 17, recalled how Upton was taken. “As we struck the railroad at Upton, we saw several Union soldiers walking along the track, each with his gun on his shoulder. Under orders, we spurred our horses rapidly forward. Captain Tom Quirk, pistol in hand, shouted to them to surrender, at the same time firing over their heads. Before anyone else could shoot, the men threw up their hands.”

“Attached to the general’s staff was a telegraph operator, an attractive, quick-witted, clever young man, apparently about 25, named Ellsworth, better known in the command as “Lightning.’” Earlier in the war, Ellsworth had tapped a telegraph line, but the crude bypass caused a ticking sound that aroused suspicion. When questioned by a Union operator down the line, Ellsworth instantly replied, “OK, lightning,” which meant a storm was interfering with transmission. The Union soldier bought it and unknowingly supplied Ellsworth with valuable strategies, and eventually his nickname.               

At Upton, ‘Lightning’ tapped into the telegraph line and Morgan concocted a succession of exaggerations for the Union’s benefit. “I sat on the end of a crosstie within a few feet of General Morgan,” Wyeth wrote, “and heard him dictate messages to be sent to General Boyle in Louisville, making inquiries as to the disposition of the Federal forces in Kentucky and telling some awful stories in regard to the large size of his own command and its movements.”  

              The guise enabled Morgan’s men to march merrily up the L & N toward Nolin, where another bridge awaited. Destroying rail line and culverts “just to keep in practice,” the Rebels arrived only to discover a Morgan detachment under command of Col. Basil Duke had already taken the Nolin garrison in less time than the battle at Bacon Creek.

With the wooden bridge ablaze, the intoxicating confidence of victory allowed Morgan’s men time to fashion some “neckties,” a trademark of the general’s campaigns. Soldiers would heat sections of rail line, then bracing them against a tree, would bend the rail into a horseshoe rendering them useless to repair crews.

By dusk, the biting sleet from Christmas night had given way to clearing skies. Though still quite cold, troops were warmed by a day of unqualified successes as they made camp just a few miles from their next target, the largest town on the march and one protected by more than 600 entrenched Union soldiers—Elizabethtown.

          Onward to their target, Morgan’s men moved toward Elizabethtown, battling garrisons along the L&N and destroying, for the third time, the bridge over Bacon Creek.  Arriving in the vicinity of Elizabethtown, they assailed  652 Union troops under Lt. Col. H. S. Smith, Dec. 27, 1862. Morgan surrounded the town and placed artillery on the cemetery hill. The Elizabethtown garrison was destroyed and the Federals surrendered.

The next day at the Muldraugh Hill railroad trestles, Morgan attained his goal.  Both bridges were destroyed and it was mid-March 1863 before the Federals were able to restore service on that portion of the L&N R.R. Having fulfilled its objective, the brigade returned to Confederate lines as they rode into Smithville, Tennessee on January 5th.

During the  "Christmas Raid", they had captured and paroled nearly 2000 of the enemy and destroyed the bridges over Bacon Creek and at Muldraugh Hill and over 25 miles of track, while sustaining losses of only 2 killed, 24 wounded, and 64 missing.

The raid, however, had come too late to hinder the Federal assault on the Army of Tennessee.  The Battle of Murfreesboro had been fought on December 31 and January 1 during the time of the raid, resulting in Confederate defeat and retreat. Upon its return from the raid, Morgan’s force was given immediate duty covering the flank of the army as it continued its retreat to Tullahoma, Tennessee.         

  Burning of Bridges a Spectacular Success

By Darrell Bird, Assistant Editor of The News-Enterprise, Jan. 2, 1993

  …’Twas the very reason for the bold march from Tennessee into Union-held Kentucky in the first place—two colossal railroad bridges just five miles away on Muldraugh Hill. Both were about 500 feet long and sprang up from the bottom of the gorge more than 100 feet.

                Gen. John Hunt Morgan’s mission to cut the telegraph lines and halt food and ammunition deliveries by burning railway bridges, while successful to date, had only hampered Union forces. But, torching the Muldraugh Hill bridges near Colesburg would devastate the bluecoat’s Civil War cause just as a vindictive winter loomed on the horizon.

              When Morgan’s men broke through a clearing at midmorning Dec. 28, 1862, the Rebels gazed upon a glorious site. Two bridges sprawled out only a few hundred yards below them, but so, too, did Fort Sands and Fort Boyle. Though still under construction, 500 Union soldiers were barricaded to guard the southern structure, 250 to protect the northern.

              A surrender was requested, but predictably rejected.

              And so, the familiar Morgan tactic was played out once more. An innovator in guerrilla warfare, the general traveled lightly and quickly--hence his nickname "Thunderbolt of the Confederacy"--and used cannon fire to do most of the work, which kept his casualties to a minimum.  Morgan split his forces, one led by Col. Basil Duke and the other by Col. William C. P. Breckenridge, and launched simultaneous attacks. Two hours later, white flags scurried up the fort's flagpoles.

             …The general had "Lightning" Ellsworth tap into the telegraph line. Today had marked the second time Morgan captured the 71^st Indiana Infantry in recent months, and Morgan simply had to talk to Indiana Governor Oliver Morton.

            The general, a swashbuckling sort, wired to "thank him and ask that he just send oilcloths and overcoats next time and save him the trouble of making out paroles," wrote John Allan Wyeth one of the Raiders.

            Under the parole system, prisoner's names were placed on a roll and they were required to sign oaths promising not to bear arms against the Confederacy until exchanged for Rebel prisoners. After this, they were set free to return home--minus guns, overcoats, oilcloths and everything else of value to the Confederates.

             It was here the 17-year-old Wyeth captured his first prisoner, claiming the Yankee's newly-issued Enfield rifle, the premier infantry weapon of the day.

           "The gun and its former owner were my first personal captures," Wyeth later wrote. "And for the unwarlike, and almost absurd, features of this incident, I relate it now.

           When our shells made it too hot for the Hoosiers to stay inside the stockade, some of them, hoping to escape, ran out and hid behind logs and in underbrush of nearby woods," Wyeth recalled. "When the white flag went up, Gen. Morgan led the way, all of us on foot, practically sliding down the steep hillside. I was so close to him that once in the descent when my feet slipped from under me, I nearly slid between his legs.

           "When we reached the stockade, we were ordered to scour the woods for fugitives," Wyeth said. "About 200 or 300 yards from the fort, I came upon a stripling, who, hearing me approach, jumped up from behind the trunk of a fallen tree and held up one hand in token of surrender.

          "He seemed no older than myself, a good-looking lad with peachdown cheeks, which had tears trickling over them. His crying quickly aroused my sympathy, and I tried to reassure him saying, 'Don't be afraid; nobody shall harm you. You'll be paroled now and can go home.

          “At this, he sobbed out, 'I've got a good mother at home; and if I ever get back, I'll never leave her again.'

          "By this time, my own feelings were getting the best of me; and when he mentioned his mother, the thought of my own overwhelmed me, and I began to cry, too, doing my best to comfort the poor fellow.

           "All this occurred," Wyeth said, "as we were walking side by side to the stockade, my war spirit no little dampened, and the pride of my capture about lost in the sympathy. How often I have recalled to mind this "Comedy of Two Bloodthirsty Warriors!"

           Morgan’s men collected and piled limbs from the forest and debris from the forts at the base of the mammoth bridges, igniting the fires just as the sun faded into evening.

         "The destruction of this immense network of timber made the most brilliant display of fireworks I have ever seen," Wyeth recalled. "The flames climbed swiftly along the timbers until every upright and crosspiece was blazing in outline, more vividly defined than if it had been strung with Chinese lantern.

        "When at last they were burned through, the flaming beams began to fall, and as the whole structure came down, the heavens were brilliant with the column of sparks which shot skyward."

        John Allen Wyeth remarked that during the return trip from the raid that in one 72 hour period all but 9 were spent in the saddle.

        Reflecting the practice of the Partisan Rangers securing what was of military value and destroying the rest, it is reported that upon their return to Tennesse, they were better mounted, better armed and better clothed than when they had left.

 

Liberty, Auburntown & Milton, Tenn   March  1863

.                               On March 19, General Morgan arrived at Liberty from McMinnville, and that night he received reports that 2000 infantry and several hundred cavalry commanded by Colonel A.S. Hall were moving out from Murfreesboro. This Federal force approached to within five miles of Liberty, but then fell back to Auburntown. General Morgan decided to attack them at daybreak, and his men were called out. One of the men, R.L. Thompson, wrote many years later: " While in camp at Liberty, I remember one morning about two o'clock, while the cold rain was pouring down, Cooper the buglar gave the boots and saddle call quick and lively. At the same time pickets from Johnson’s 10^th Cavalry  were hotly engaged on the Murfreesboro Pike. We went briskly toward the sounds of the guns and continued to go until we reached the town of Milton." The Federals had fallen back from Auburntown to Milton, and Morgan was afraid they would escape without a fight. He therefore sent his men at a gallop after them; he and his staff followed immediately.

                The Union forces had taken a position about a mile west of Milton on a rough, cedar-covered hill. There they were attacked by Morgan's men in a battle which lasted three hours or more. Grigsby's regiment was within fifty yards of the summit when their ammunition ran out; at the same time firing ceased along the entire line as the supply of ammunition was exhausted. General Morgan was furious, as he felt that within a few minutes his men would have captured the entire Federal force. Now they were forced to retire from the field. Morgan wrote to his wife from Liberty: "I have been very fortunate as to escape through another day's very severe fighting and escaped unhurt. The fight lasted nearly the entire day and was very severe. Our loss was very heavy, especially in the officers. Capt. Sale, of Co. E, Duke's regt, was among the killed, making the third Capt. that has been killed in that company." Every man in one company, he said either was wounded or had his clothes riddled by bullets. A total of about three hundred Confederates were killed or wounded. When Morgan's men returned to Liberty, the citizens of Liberty looked upon a sight they would never forget: dead cavalrymen tied to their horses and dead artillerymen strapped on the caisson and gun carriages.

 

THE GREAT OHIO RAID

In June 1863[6], the Army of Tennessee was again in a desperate situation. General Bragg was forced to divert men to help relieve the Federal siege on the Confederate bastion at Vicksburg, Mississippi. This left the army short handed to face the enemy in Tennessee. In order to counter this disadvantage, Bragg sent Morgan on a diversionary raid to threaten Louisville. And although Bragg had intended for this mission to be limited to Kentucky, Morgan was determined to strike for Indiana and eastward into Ohio. He was aware that General Robert E. Lee was moving his forces into Pennsylvania, and it was Morgan’s intention to link up with Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.

James Alexander Drury may have been present for at least the Kentucky segment of the raid.

When one considers James being 40 and Francis 26 in 1863 it seems likely that they may have been separated. Basil Duke, brother-in-law of the raider John Hunt Morgan, wrote that before embarking from Tennessee on the Ohio raid that Morgan had almost exclusively selected men younger than 26 yr. old. Younger men, such as Francis, would have been better suited to the hard riding raid[7] that Morgan was planning into Indiana and Ohio. It therefore seems logical that older soldiers such as James Drury might have been detached from Morgan’s command to remain in Tennessee and made available to others, or granted a furlough prior to entry into Ohio.

After a series of delays, the raid began on July 2, two days prior to the capitulation of Vicksburg. The columns moved north from Burkesville towards Columbia, with Johnson’s Brigade being sent to Tebb’s Bend on the Green River to secure the bridge there. The fight at the Green River Bridge on the 4th of July against the 25th Michigan, commanded by Col. Orlando Moore, resulted in 71 casualties that Morgan could ill afford to lose. Among those losses were some of Morgan’s finest officers, including Colonel Chenault of the 11th Kentucky. Rather than continue the fight, however, the brigade by-passed Tebb’s Bend and continued north through Campbellsville and on toward Lebanon, Kentucky.

On July 5, both brigades assaulted Lebanon, Marion County seat. The town was being held by the 20th (U.S.) Kentucky Infantry, commanded by Col. Charles Hanson. Colonel Hanson was the brother of General Morgan’s old friend, the late General Roger W. Hanson, who had been killed at the Battle of Murfreesboro.

This, the third raid on Lebanon, was Morgan’s most devastating. With temporary command operations located at Myrtledene, the home of Benedict Spalding[8], Lebanon, was put to the torch. The courthouse was burned to the ground, Morgan’s purpose being to destroy treason indictments against some of his men from the vicinity. All the county records from 1834 to 1863[9]were destroyed. Other historians believe the destruction of much of Lebanon was possibly in retaliation for the death of General Morgan's brother.

Of significance to family genealogists, the courthouse house and its nearly 30 years of vital records, including those applicable to Drury and related families, were lost.

Due to the defensive positions in the town that needed to be assaulted, it was apparent that what was needed was a regiment experienced in street fighting, as had been done at Augusta. And so, the 2nd Kentucky was called upon by Colonel Duke. The regiment attacked and carried the day with bitter close-in fighting, managing to capture 300 prisoners but at the cost of 50 of its men.

By the afternoon, the brigades were headed west toward Springfield and Bardstown, with Federal cavalry in pursuit. Skirting to the west of Louisville, the columns moved to Brandenburg on the Ohio River, for the planned crossing to Indiana. There, two steamboats, the "John B. McCombs" and the "Alice Dean", were captured and were used to ferry the 2nd Kentucky to the Indiana shore. A short artillery duel occurred, however, when the Indiana Home Guard appeared on the north side of the river and opened fire with a 6-pounder mounted on a wagon carriage. This drew an immediate response from Morgan’s artillery, which cleared the piece from the opposite shore.

A gunboat, the "U. S. S. Elk", then appeared and began shelling Morgan’s men on both sides of the river, drawing another response from the Confederate battery posted on the bluff overlooking Brandenburg. However, the gunboat suddenly and unexpectedly withdrew from combat, allowing the entire command to cross safely to Indiana.

After a short rest, the command headed north to Corydon, fifteen miles north of the Ohio River. Although Johnson’s 2nd Brigade led the order of march, out in front was the 14th Kentucky Cavalry. General Morgan had formed the 14th as a special command for his brother, Richard, who had recently transferred from Virginia. Operating with the 14th were the scouts and Company A of the 2nd Kentucky.

Just south of the town on July 9, the raiders encountered a force of 450 members of the Harrison County Home Guard, officially designated as the 6th Regiment, Indiana Legion, under the command of Colonel Lewis Jordan. They had drawn a defensive battle line behind a hastily constructed barricade of logs, blocking the southern access to the town, and forcing the brigades to outflank the Hoosiers.

In the short, but spirited fight at Corydon, which was the only battle of the war fought on Indiana soil[10], Morgan’s men completely routed the militia. Four of the defenders were killed, several wounded, and 355 captured, with the remainder escaping. Morgan had lost 8 men killed and 33 wounded. The prisoners were paroled and the town ransomed. The county treasurer and two stores were relieved of $1890, while contributions of $3000 were received from three area grain mills to save them from being burned.

From Corydon, the march continued northward to Palmyra, Salisbury, and Salem, where more contributions were received. From Salem, the columns moved eastward to Canton, Vienna, Lexington, Paris, and Vernon, surely aware of the widespread panic they were creating. Indiana Governor Oliver Morton declared a state of emergency, and warnings were posted from Illinois to Indianapolis. Still, pursuing Union cavalry was 24 hours behind. Skirting the town of Vernon, the 2nd Kentucky entered Versailles on July 12 and rested for a short time. Aware of their pursuers, they left for Sunman, 15 miles from the Ohio line.

On July 13, the State of Ohio was invaded by Confederate troops for the first time in the war. The 2nd Kentucky entered the town of Harrison without encountering resistance, and after a short rest, the column moved on. As it was, the men were worn and becoming demoralized by the fatigue of continuous marching and sleeplessness. Still, the column rode on, day and night, with few opportunities to rest, and every effort was made to avoid and deceive the enemy as they approached Cincinnati.

As the two brigades, now numbering about 2,000, approached Cincinnati, they began their longest continuous march. And while the pace of this leg of the raid was slow and plodding, it would be the most punishing that Morgan’s men would ever endure. Marching by night, as close to Cincinnati as possible without entering it, the columns skirted north of the city and rode through Glendale. After capturing a train of cars on the Little Miami R.R., the force surrounded Camp Dennison and captured a train of wagons and 200 mules. On that same day, the raiders rode into Williamsburg, 28 miles east of Cincinnati, having marched more than 90 miles in 35 hours. Here, they rested and slept like dead men.

Relieved of the suspense that was incident to the march around Cincinnati, and having enjoyed a night’s rest in Williamsburg, the raiders continued eastward in merry spirit. However, their renewed morale was not to remain, for their march was constantly being interrupted by almost continuous fighting with Home Guards and militia that industriously barricaded the roads.

Morgan had originally chosen points to cross the Ohio River that were normally too shallow for Federal gunboats to negotiate, thereby negating their potential to harass his troops. However, heavy summer rains had created conditions that now deepened the fords and allowed the gunboats to sail the entire length of the Ohio River unhindered. This brought strong pressure on Morgan and his men to quickly ford the river at Buffington Island.

Unfortunately, the columns did not reach Buffington Island until after nightfall on July 18. It was too late to cross the Ohio River in the dark, and it became known from scouting reports that the ford was protected by a force of infantry supported by artillery. Even so, early next morning, about 500 men succeeded in crossing the river despite a rising tide.

Shortly thereafter, the troops who had not crossed the Ohio River were attacked by pursuing cavalry columns commanded by Generals Edward H. Hobson and James Shackleford, and by other forces under General Henry Judah that had come up the river. At the same time, the gunboat "Moose", and the steamers "Imperial" and "Allegheny Belle", appeared and promptly began firing shells and grapeshot into the ranks of the Confederates who, for a short time, made a gallant but hopeless fight. Shells from enemy artillery exploded in their midst, sending men and horses into panicked flight. Among the last to escape with General Morgan through a gap in the valley were scattered units of the 2nd Kentucky, with Major Thomas Webber leading out the better part of Company A and five other companies.

The ensuing melee and demoralization ended the combat with the dispersion and capture of 700 of Morgan’s command. Among those captured were Colonels Duke and D. H. Smith. The escaping remnants of Morgan’s force, about 1000 men, rode north and east to another river crossing. There, with the Union cavalry in close pursuit, only 330 managed to cross with Colonels Johnson and Grigsby. General Morgan also rode into the river, but when he saw that the greater number of his men would be forced to remain on the Ohio shore due to the fire of the gunboats, he turned and rode back, resolved to share the fate of his men.

For the next several days, the Kentuckians continued north, riding through Nelsonville, Cambridge, Harrisville, Smithfield, Wintersville, and Bergholz. Finally, a week after the disaster at Buffington Island, Union cavalry struck on July 26 near Salineville, managing to capture 200 and wound 75. Still, Morgan and 364 survivors continued to the vicinity of New Lisbon, where they found their paths blocked. There, they surrendered to Col. George Rue, a fellow Kentuckian.

While many of the captured were sent to Camp Morton in Indiana or the Camp Douglas prison in Chicago, Morgan and some of his officers were confined as common felons at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus rather than receiving the proper respect that is due to prisoners of war. However, Morgan and some of his men later escaped the penitentiary in a famous and daring bid for freedom on November 26.

The Great Raid had the effect of forcing the Union army to delay its move against Bragg at Chattanooga and caused thousands of troops to be diverted from the front. This would ultimately tip the scales in favor of the South at the Battle of Chickamauga in September. During the raid, Morgan and his men passed through 52 towns, inflicted 600 casualties, captured and paroled about 6,000 of the enemy, destroyed 34 bridges, disrupted the railroads at more than 60 places, and destroyed military and public stores having a total value of nearly 10 million dollars.

 

MORGAN’S MEN FLEE ACROSS WEST VIRGINIA

Excerpted from The Parkersburg News, Sunday, March 15, 1970

                The disheartened Confederates of the Morgan Raid who had succeeded in crossing the Ohio River at Buffington, under the leadership of Colonels Adam Johnson and J. Warren Grigsby, were in no mood for rejoicing over the outcome of their foray through Northern territory. “This night of July 19, 1863, their commanders took charge of the week long withdrawal across the newly formed state of West Virginia.  Sad and dispirited, we marched to Belleville, some 14 miles.” Capt. S. P. Cunningham, Morgan’s assistant adjutant general, told a Richmond, Virginia, newspaper reporter on August 1, almost two weeks after the Buffington encounter.

                “We impressed guides, collected together some 300 men who had crossed, many without arms, having lost them in the river and marched out toward Claysville.  After leaving the Ohio at Belleville on that night, we marched to near Elizabethtown in Wirt County.” Said the officer.

Basil Duke, Morgan’s brother-in-law and second in command on the expedition, records that “two fine companies” of the 19^th Tennessee led by Captains Kirkpatrick and Sisson, got across the Ohio at Buffington earlier that Sunday, while two companies of Duke’s own old regiment, the 2^nd Kentucky, under Captains Lea and Cooper, succeeded in crossing within the next day or two.  In addition to the organized units, about three or four hundred stragglers from various regiments managed to cross singly or in groups, and were rounded up by Johnson and Grigsby.

 For the first part of the flight, their route roughly paralleled the course of the Little Kanawha River, later striking toward Confederate territory.

Several years ago Donald Starcher of Parkersburg disclosed his recollection that his grandfather, Floyd Starcher, used to tell how some of the retreating cavalrymen came to the Perry Starcher farm on Yellow Creek in Calhoun County in the evening. There they rested for the night, many of the tired young horsemen bedding down on the hay in the Starcher barn. Floyd Stacher, then a boy of thirteen, to the end of his life would never forget how he had seen and talked with John Morgan’s feared and fabled men.

Ride through Braxton – From Steer Creek Johnson led his men across central West Virginia to Sutton, where wide-eyed Braxton Countians watched the tattered four ride through the tiny village before taking the Gauley Bridge Road to Birch Creek.

With the aid of the ferry they forded the Gauley River, toiled up Gauley Mountain to the settlement of Hinkles and descended to cross the Cherry River climbing the Green Briar Road to Cold Knob, then wound down the mountain to Trout.&nb