The Army of the Cumberland [36]
aggregate force of over four thousand men. This he divided, placing three regiments under Colonel Basil W. Duke, in the first brigade, with a battery of four guns. The second brigade was placed in command of Colonel W. C. P. Breckenridge, and was composed of four regiments, with one three-inch Parrot gun and the two mountain howitzers. This force, trained as it had been, had no superior for the work it was ordered to do--raiding in the rear, destroying bridges, trestleworks, and capturing bridge-guards. So accustomed had they become to hardships of every nature, that it was almost incredible the amount of rough riding, scant fare, and loss of sleep these men endured. Proud of their past success, and emboldened by it to the belief that they were able to defeat any force that could overtake them, they at last found the country south of the Ohio too confined for them, and, aiming at grander feats, they passed north of that river, and, entering upon an entirely different kind of warfare, met with complete disaster.
On the morning of the 22d the command of Morgan took the road again for Kentucky. Bragg ordered the railroad in Rosecrans's rear to be broken, and his communication with Louisville destroyed. Morgan and his men were in most excellent spirits at the prospect of another raid into that State. He had with him the pick of the youth of the State of Kentucky. On the 24th Morgan's command had their first skirmish with a battalion of Michigan troops, which resulted in the loss to Morgan of seventeen of his men and two of his officers. On the 25th Colonel Hobson had an engagement with Johnson's regiment near Munfordville, in which the rebels suffered a loss of some fifty men killed and wounded. Morgan then attacked the stockade at Bacon Creek, held by a force of 100 men, who made a most stubborn and determined resistance, inflicting severe loss upon the attacking party, and demonstrating the worth of a stockade properly built and efficiently manned. These stockades were built with heavy upright timber ten or twelve feet high. They were surrounded by ditches and pierced for musketry. Assailants, when right at the base, were still far from taking them. It was supposed that they would not resist artillery, and, in fact, they were not built with the expectation of doing so. If the garrison of the stockade succeeded in driving off the guerilla parties that swarmed through the country, it fully accomplished its purpose. This stockade successfully resisted the heavy artillery firing brought to bear upon it, even when a number of shells exploded within the work. After making such a brave defiance, it is to be regretted that they did not hold out to the last, and refuse to surrender at all. The commanding officer had rejected a number of demands made on him to surrender; when Morgan came up in person, and in his own name offering them liberal terms, they surrendered. Morgan then burnt the bridge across Bacon Creek, and pressed on to Nolin, fourteen miles beyond, where the stockade was surrendered without a fight. The bridge here also was destroyed. Morgan's division, on the 27th, captured Elizabethtown, after a severe engagement with the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Smith--a detachment of some six hundred infantry. Smith sent Morgan a demand for him to surrender, which Morgan declined, and returned the compliment by making the same demand on Smith, who also declined. After an engagement lasting some six hours, Morgan's artillery rendered the building Smith's command was fighting in untenable, and he then surrendered. The next day Morgan, moving along the railroad, destroyed it thoroughly. The principal object of the expedition was the great trestleworks at Muldraugh's Hills, only a short distance apart. The garrison defending the lower trestle, 600 strong, was captured by the Second Brigade. The First Brigade captured the garrison at the upper trestle--200 strong. These trestles were respectively 80 and 90 feet high, and each of them 500 feet long. They were thoroughly destroyed. Thus was accomplished
On the morning of the 22d the command of Morgan took the road again for Kentucky. Bragg ordered the railroad in Rosecrans's rear to be broken, and his communication with Louisville destroyed. Morgan and his men were in most excellent spirits at the prospect of another raid into that State. He had with him the pick of the youth of the State of Kentucky. On the 24th Morgan's command had their first skirmish with a battalion of Michigan troops, which resulted in the loss to Morgan of seventeen of his men and two of his officers. On the 25th Colonel Hobson had an engagement with Johnson's regiment near Munfordville, in which the rebels suffered a loss of some fifty men killed and wounded. Morgan then attacked the stockade at Bacon Creek, held by a force of 100 men, who made a most stubborn and determined resistance, inflicting severe loss upon the attacking party, and demonstrating the worth of a stockade properly built and efficiently manned. These stockades were built with heavy upright timber ten or twelve feet high. They were surrounded by ditches and pierced for musketry. Assailants, when right at the base, were still far from taking them. It was supposed that they would not resist artillery, and, in fact, they were not built with the expectation of doing so. If the garrison of the stockade succeeded in driving off the guerilla parties that swarmed through the country, it fully accomplished its purpose. This stockade successfully resisted the heavy artillery firing brought to bear upon it, even when a number of shells exploded within the work. After making such a brave defiance, it is to be regretted that they did not hold out to the last, and refuse to surrender at all. The commanding officer had rejected a number of demands made on him to surrender; when Morgan came up in person, and in his own name offering them liberal terms, they surrendered. Morgan then burnt the bridge across Bacon Creek, and pressed on to Nolin, fourteen miles beyond, where the stockade was surrendered without a fight. The bridge here also was destroyed. Morgan's division, on the 27th, captured Elizabethtown, after a severe engagement with the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Smith--a detachment of some six hundred infantry. Smith sent Morgan a demand for him to surrender, which Morgan declined, and returned the compliment by making the same demand on Smith, who also declined. After an engagement lasting some six hours, Morgan's artillery rendered the building Smith's command was fighting in untenable, and he then surrendered. The next day Morgan, moving along the railroad, destroyed it thoroughly. The principal object of the expedition was the great trestleworks at Muldraugh's Hills, only a short distance apart. The garrison defending the lower trestle, 600 strong, was captured by the Second Brigade. The First Brigade captured the garrison at the upper trestle--200 strong. These trestles were respectively 80 and 90 feet high, and each of them 500 feet long. They were thoroughly destroyed. Thus was accomplished