CHAPTER XVII.
THE PASSING OF THE RUBICON.
Who can tell the thoughts of John H. Morgan, as he sat on his horse thatJuly day, and with fixed gaze looked out upon the river. Beyond lay thefair fields of Indiana, the Canaan of his hopes. Should he go in andpossess? The waters needed not to be rolled back. He had the means ofcrossing. Before him all was calm, peaceful. No foe stood on the oppositebank to oppose him; no cannon frowned from the hilltops. Behind him werethousands of angry Federals in swift pursuit. Would it be safer to goahead than to turn back?
As Caesar stood on the bank of the Rubicon debating what to do, so didMorgan stand on the bank of the Ohio. Like Caesar, if he once took thestep, he must abide the consequences. But if there was any hesitation inthe mind of Morgan, he did not hesitate long. "Cross over," was the orderwhich he gave. "We shall soon know," he said to Calhoun, "whether they arefriends or foes over there; whether the forty thousand Knights who were soanxious for me to come will appear or not."
Now, to look upon the invasion of Indiana and Ohio by Morgan seems likesheer madness. He had a force of only a little over three thousand, andthe states which he invaded had millions of population. But he had reasonsto believe that thousands of that population were friendly to him, wouldwelcome him with gladness. When he so nearly escaped though no hand wasraised to help him, what would he have accomplished if only a few thousandhad come to his relief? That there were thousands in the two states whowould have flocked gladly to his standard if they had dared, there is nodoubt. But the hand of the government was too strong for them to resist.The fires of loyalty burned too fiercely to be quenched by them. With alltheir boasted strength, the Knights of the Golden Circle were powerlesswhen the supreme moment came.
The order to cross the river was hailed with enthusiasm by every man inMorgan's command. Where they were going they knew not, cared not; theywould go where their gallant leader led. He had never failed them, hewould not fail them now. They knew only that they were to invade the landof their enemies; that was enough. The war was to be brought home to theNorth as it had been to the South. Calhoun caught the fever which causedthe blood of every man to flow more swiftly through his veins. He had beenfull of doubts; he trembled for the results if that river were oncepassed. He had been through the North and noted her resources, howterribly in earnest her people were that the Union should be saved. Whatif there were thousands of traitors in their midst? There were enoughloyal men left to crush them. What if the state of Indiana was honeycombedwith camps of the Knights of the Golden Circle? The lodges of the UnionLeague were fully as numerous. He now forgot all these things. Did not theKnights come to his relief in his hour of sore distress? Surely they wouldnot forget their oaths, when Morgan came. So he tossed his hat in the air,and shouted, "Boys, over there is Yankee land! we will cross over andpossess it."
The order to cross once given, was obeyed with alacrity. In an incrediblyshort time the three thousand men and horses were ferried across theriver.
"Burn the boats," was Morgan's order.
The torch was applied, and as the flames wrapped them in their fieryembrace, lo! on the other side came the eager troopers of Hobson. Likebeasts baffled of their prey, they could only stand and gnash their teethin their rage. Between them and Morgan rolled the river, and they had nomeans of crossing.
"Why don't you come across, Yanks?" Morgan's men shouted in derision.
"Got any word you want to send to your mammy? We are going to see her,"they mockingly cried.
And thus with taunt and laugh and hurrah, Morgan's men rode away, leavingtheir enemies standing helpless on the farther bank.
"Twenty miles to Corydon," said Calhoun, as he galloped with his scouts tothe front to take the advance. "I wonder if I shall meet my friend Jones,and whether, when he sees us, he will throw his hat on high, and give us aroyal welcome? If he spoke the truth, the bells of Corydon will ring ajoyful peal when the people see us coming, and we shall be greeted withwaving flags, and find hundreds of sturdy Knights ready to join us."
But in that twenty miles not a single waving flag did Calhoun see, not asingle shout of welcome did he hear. Instead, the inhabitants seemed to bein an agony of fear. They met only decrepit old men and white-faced womenand children. Not a single cup of cold water was freely offered them inthat twenty miles. If Calhoun could only have seen the welcome givenHobson's men the day after as they came over the same road, the flags thatwere waved, the shouts of welcome that greeted them, how women andchildren stood by the roadside with cooling water and dainty food to givethem, and sent their prayers after them--if Calhoun could have seen allthese things, his heart would have sunk, and he would have known thatthere was no welcome for Morgan's men in Indiana.
But he was soon to have a ruder awakening. As he neared Corydon, he andhis scouts were greeted with a volley, and sixteen of his men went down.The raid for them was over.
"Charge!" shouted Calhoun, and like a whirlwind he and his men were on thelittle band of home guards, who thought they could withstand Morgan'swhole force.
In a few brief minutes the fight was over, and on the sod lay severalmotionless figures. In spite of himself, Calhoun could not help thinkingof Lexington and the farmer minute men who met Pitcairn and his red-coatson that April morning in 1775. Were not these men of Corydon as brave? Didthey not deserve a monument as much? He tried to dismiss the thought asunworthy, but it stayed with him for a long time.
A short distance beyond Corydon stood a fine house, which, with all itssurroundings, showed it to be the dwelling of a rich and prosperousfarmer. When Calhoun came up, the owner, bareheaded and greatly excited,was engaged in controversy with one of Calhoun's scouts who had justappropriated a fine ham from the farmer's smoke-house and was busilyengaged in tying it to his saddle-bow.
"You have no business to take my property without paying for it!" thefarmer was saying, angrily. "I am a friend of the South; I have opposedthe war from the beginning."
Seeing Calhoun, and noticing he was an officer, the farmer rushed up tohim, crying, "Stop them! Stop them! they are stealing my property!"
"Well, I declare, if it isn't my old friend Jones!" exclaimed Calhoun."How do you do, Mr. Jones? Where are those five hundred armed Knights whoyou said would meet us here? Where is your hat, that you are not throwingit high in air? Why are you not shouting hallelujahs over our coming?"
Jones had stopped and was staring at Calhoun with open mouth and bulgingeyes. "Bless my soul," he at length managed to stammer, "if it isn't Mr.Harrison!"
"Lieutenant Pennington, at your service. But, Jones, where are thoseKnights of the Golden Circle you promised would join us here?"
Jones hung his head. "We--we didn't expect you to come so soon," he managedto answer; "we didn't have time to rally."
"Mr. Jones, you told me this whole country would welcome us as liberators.They did welcome us back there in Corydon, but it was with lead. Sixteenof our men were killed and wounded. Mr. Jones, there will be severalfunerals for you to attend in Corydon."
"It must be some of those Union Leaguers," exclaimed Mr. Jones. "Glad theywere killed; they threatened to hang me the other day."
"They were heroes, compared to you!" hotly exclaimed Calhoun. "You andyour cowardly Knights can plot in secret, stab in the dark, curse yourgovernment, but when it comes to fighting like men you are a pack ofcowardly curs."
But Mr. Jones hardly heard this fierce Phillipic; his eyes were fixed onhis smoke-house, which was being entered by some more of the soldiers.
"Won't you stop them," he cried, wringing his hands; "they will take itall! Why, you are a pack of thieves!"
"Boys, don't enter or disturb anything in the house," cried Calhoun,turning to his men, "but take anything out of doors you can lay your handson; horses, everything."
The men dispersed with a shout to carry out the order. Calhoun left Mr.Jones in the road jumping up and down, tearing his hair and shouting atthe top of his
voice, "I am going to vote for Abe Lincoln. I am--I am, if Iam damned for it!"
In all probability Morgan's raid in Indiana and Ohio made more than onevote for old Abe. Of all the thousands of Knights of the Golden Circle inIndiana and Ohio, not one took his rifle to join Morgan, not one raisedhis hand to help him.
In speaking of this to General Shackelford, who captured him, Morgan said,bitterly: "Since I have crossed the Ohio I have not seen a single friendlyface. Every man, woman, and child I have met has been my enemy; everyhill-top a telegraph station to herald my coming; every bush an ambush toconceal a foe."
The people who lived along the route pursued by Morgan will never forgethis raid. What happened has been told and retold a thousand times aroundthe fireside, and the story will be handed down not only to theirchildren, but to their children's children. Morgan was everywhereproclaimed as a thief and a robber. They forgot that he had to subsist atthe expense of the country, and that he had to take horses to replacethose of his own which had broken down. Not only that, but it was life tohim to sweep the country through which he passed clear of horses, that hispursuers might not get them. The Federals in pursuit took horses asreadily as Morgan's men.
Those who proclaim Morgan a thief and a robber sing with gusto "Marchingthrough Georgia," and tell how "the sweet potatoes started from theground." They forget how Sheridan, the greatest cavalry leader of theFederal army, boasted he had made the lovely Shenandoah Valley such awaste that a crow would starve to death flying over it. The Southernpeople look upon Sherman and Sheridan as the people of Ohio and Indianalook upon Morgan. These generals were not inhuman; they simply practisedwar. It is safe to say that less private property was destroyed inMorgan's raid in Indiana and Ohio than in any other raid of equalmagnitude made by either side during the war.
One can now see by reading the dispatches the panic and terror caused byMorgan in this raid. From Cairo, Illinois, to Wheeling, West Virginia, theFederals were in a panic, for they knew not which way Morgan would turn,or where he would strike. From the entire length of the Ohio, the peoplewere wildly calling on the government to send troops to protect them fromMorgan. There were fears and trembling as far north as Indianapolis.Governor Tod, of Ohio, declared martial law through the southern part ofhis state, and called on Morton to do the same for Indiana. But Morton,cooler, more careful, and looking farther ahead as to what might be theeffect of such a measure, wisely refused to do so.
From Corydon Morgan rode north to Salem. The Federals now thought for surethat Indianapolis was his objective point, but from Salem he turnednortheast and swept through the state, touching or passing through in hisroute the counties of Jackson, Scott, Jennings, Jefferson, Ripley, andDearborn, passing into Ohio, in the northwest corner of Hamilton County,almost within sight of the great city of Cincinnati. Turning north, heentered Butler County. Here, as in Indiana, he met only the scowling facesof enemies.
"And here is where they worship Vallandigham!" exclaimed Calhoun,passionately. "Here is where they told me almost every man belonged to theKnights of the Golden Circle, and that the whole county would welcome us.Here is where even the Democratic party meet in open convention, passresolutions in favor of the South, denounce Lincoln as a monster andtyrant, and demand that the war cease at once and the South go free,saying they will support no man for office who in the least way favors thewar. And now not a word of welcome, not a single hand reached out in aid.Oh! the cowards! the cowards!"(3)
Morgan made no bitter reply, but said. "You warned us, Lieutenant, how itwould be. I have expected no aid since the first day we entered Indiana.But with God's help we shall yet escape from our foes. Oh, if my gallantmen were across the Ohio once more! It is only that river which stands inbetween us and safety. There is now no hope of securing a steamboat. Butat Buffington Island the river is shoal, and can be forded. If we canreach Buffington Island before our enemies, we can laugh at our pursuers."
And for Buffington Island Morgan headed, threatening each place along theway, to keep the Federals guessing where he would attempt to cross. Like awhirlwind he swept through the counties of Warren, Clermont, Brown, Adams,Pike, Jackson, Gallia, Meigs, brushing aside like so many flies themilitia which tried to impede his progress.
The goal was nearly reached. Hobson was half a day behind, still trailing,still following like a bloodhound. The Confederates knew of no force infront except militia. Safety was before them. The river once passed,Morgan would have performed the greatest exploit of the war. His men werealready singing songs of triumph, for the river was in sight. Night cameon, but they marched through the darkness, to take position. In the grayof the morning they would sweep aside the militia and cross over.
In the morning a heavy fog hung over river and land, as if the sun wereafraid to look down upon the scene to be enacted. In the gloom, ColonelDuke and the dashing Huffman formed their commands and moved to theattack. They were received with a fire which surprised them, coming asthey supposed from militia. But with loud cheers they swept forward, andthe Federals were forced back, leaving a piece of artillery. A littlefarther and the ford would be won; then there came a crashing volley,mingled with the thunder of artillery, and they saw before them, notmilitia, but long lines of blue-coated veterans. General Judah's brigadehad been transported up the river in steamboats, and landed at Pomeroy.They had marched all night, and were now in possession of the ford.
In vain the gallant Duke and Huffman struggled against that force. Theywere driven back. Flight was to be resumed up the river, when courierscame dashing in with the news that Hobson was up. They were hemmed in.There was one place yet, a path through the woods, by which a few couldescape, if the Federal force could be held back for a time.
"Go!" cried Duke to Morgan, "and I will hold them until you are gone."
"Go!" cried Huffman, faint and bleeding from a wound, "and I will stay andhelp Colonel Duke."
"Go!" cried Calhoun, "if you are saved I care not for myself."
Then there arose a storm of protests. Who could so well guard and protectthe chief as Calhoun and his scouts? And so, against Morgan's will,Calhoun went with him.
"Come, then, we will clear the way," Calhoun cried to his scouts, andbefore the way was closed, six hundred men with Morgan had escaped.
Hemmed in on every side, the Confederates fought as only desperate men canfight; but as soon as it was known that Morgan was well away, Duke andHuffman, and with them many other gallant officers, saw it would bemadness to fight longer, and with breaking hearts they surrendered totheir exultant foes. Then it was that some two or three hundred, in spiteof shot and shell, in spite of the leaden hail which fell around them,plunged down the bank into the river. The bodies of many floated down,their life blood reddening the water. The current swept many a steed andrider down, and they were seen no more. A few there were who struggledthrough to safety, and these were all that escaped of the thousands thatcrossed the Ohio at Brandenburg.
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