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Born June 1, 1825, in
Huntsville, AL, John Hunt Morgan
was the son of Calvin and
Henrietta (Hunt) Morgan. The
eldest of ten children, he moved
to Lexington, KY at age six.
Morgan was schooled locally
before enrolling in Transylvania
College in 1842. He spent only
two years at Transylvania before
being suspended. Morgan enlisted
in a cavalry regiment following
the outbreak of the
Mexican-American War in 1846.
And after the war, Morgan
returned home to Kentucky.
Establishing himself as a hemp
manufacturer, he married Rebecca
Gratz Bruce in 1848. In 1857,
Morgan formed the pro-South
"Lexington Rifles."
John Hunt Morgan and his Raiders
came into Kentucky on numerous
occasions; three of the most
significant were First Kentucky
Raid, The Christmas Raid and the
Great Raid of 1863.
During these raids, General John
Hunt Morgan's Raiders descended
on Marion county, where Morgan's
brother, Lt. Tom Morgan, was
mortally wounded during the 1863
Battle of Lebanon
. Tom was interred in a rose
garden of (Sunnyside) Holly
Hill, until 1867 when he and
John Hunt Morgan were interred
at Lexington Cemetery in the
family plot. Morgan's raiders
burned much of the town in
retribution following Tom's
death.
On July 5, 1863, the clerk's
office at Lebanon was burned by
Morgan to destroy treason
indictments against some of his
men. All the county records were
destroyed.
Approximately twenty buildings
were destroyed in the attack Twenty-two
Kentucky courthouses were burned
during Civil War, nineteen in
last fifteen months; twelve by
Confederates, eight by
guerrillas, two by Union
accident. For a much more
in-depth history of this raid,
click here,
General John Hunt Morgan's
Raiders.
From a researcher...
"Benjamin Joseph Cooper was
with John Hunt Morgan during the
Civil War and
was captured and imprisoned in
Chillicothe, OH. He was released
after the
war with John Barr and walked
back to Lebanon, weak and
undernourished. He
was never well after that"
Today, while looking up a family
member in another line (Evans
from Nelson
County, also a Morgan's Raider)
I ran across this:
The Report of Adjutant General
of the State of Kentucky, Civil
War, Vol .I McDowell
p. 746
8th Kentucky Cavalry, Company K
#36 Cooper, B. J. Private
Enlisted Sept 10,1862 in
Springfield, KY
Note for 8th - This company was
engaged in all the operations of
General John H. Morgan's command
and won high renown.
The John Barr mention in the
story was with Co. G, 9th Reg.
KY Cavalry.
Perhaps the family legend holds
some truth!
Mary
Beth....
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