114 



AKMY OPERATIONS. 



p. M. on Friday night the advance reached 

 Vienna, and at 2 o'clock on the next morning 

 the rear guard arrived. Here a railroad bridge 

 was burned, and the depot and station house. 

 Private property for the first time was here 

 respected. At Vienna, the force of the enemy 

 was divided into two columns, one of which 

 marched north and the other started in the di- 

 rection of Madison. The advance of the col- 

 umn marching north, appeared before Old Ver- 

 non, in Jennings county, on Saturday, at 6 p. 

 M., the llth of July. The place was held by a 

 force under Gen. Love or Col. Barkham. A 

 surrender was demanded by Gen. Morgan and 

 refused. A half hour was then given for the 

 removal of women and children. At the expi- 

 ration of that time the Union force moved out 

 to meet the enemy, and found that they had 

 retired. Pursuit was made and a number cap- 

 tured. From Vernon they moved southward 

 and tore up the track of the Madison and In- 

 dianapolis railroad, and cut the telegraph wires. 

 They also destroyed a portion of the Ohio and 

 Mississippi railroad west of Vernon. Thence 

 the enemy moved eastward, and reached Ver- 

 sailles at 1 P. M. on Sunday. A party of sixty- 

 three advanced to Osgood, and burned the 

 bridge on the Ohio and Mississippi railroad. 

 The enemy now moved in several parties. A 

 large body Encamped ten miles northwest of 

 Aurora, on Sunday night, and proceeded thence 

 to Harrison. Another portion crossed the In- 

 dianapolis and Cincinnati railroad, between 

 Sunman and Van Wedden's stations, and passed 

 on to Harrison on Monday. A large force 

 crossed the same road at Barman's, and pro- 

 ceeded to the Ohio State line. At Van Wed- 

 den's the water tank and part of the track 

 were destroyed. Horses were taken in all 

 places, and those broken down left behind. 

 During Monday, the 13th, the enemy continued 

 moving eastward. In the evening, one division 

 crossed the Coleraine turnpike just beyond the 

 ten-mile post from Cincinnati, and thence ad- 

 vanced through Glendale and Springdale. A 

 detachment went by the way of Camp Monroe, 

 where the Government had been keeping large 

 numbers of horses and mules for the use of the 

 army. These had been removed only a few 

 hours previous. A halt of a few hours was 

 made near Glendale, and the march was then 

 continued through Sharon and Reading to 

 Montgomery. The inhabitants everywhere 

 were required to furnish provisions. From 

 Montgomery the enemy crossed to Miamiville. 

 A body also crossed the Little Miami railroad 

 at Dangerous Crossing, between Miamiville and 

 Branch Hill. At this spot they placed some 

 ties and rails across the track near a declivity, 

 and as the train from Morrow came down, 

 about a quarter past 7 A. M., the locomotive 

 was thrown from the track, the fireman killed, 

 and the engineer badly bruised. In a few min- 

 utes the enemy came out of the woods and 

 fields, and made prisoners of about two hun- 

 dred recruits who were on the train. "While 



the cars were burning they were paroled. Some 

 skirmishing took place during the day. Ar- 

 rangements were now made by means of gun- 

 boats to cut off the retreat of the enemy across 

 the river, if they should attempt it. Forces 

 were also gathering to stop the progress of 

 Gen. Morgan, and his movements became more 

 rapid. On Tuesday afternoon, the 14th, he 

 reached Williamsburg, east of Batavia, in Cler- 

 mont county, and near the line of Brown 

 county. On Wednesday, he passed through 

 Brown county, and, on Thursday morning at 9 

 A. M., through the town of Sardinia, sixteen 

 miles southwest of Hillsboro, the capital of 

 Highland county. At noon he was art Win- 

 chester, southeast of Hillsboro, and forced the 

 citizens to prepare a dinner for his men. Af- 

 terward he moved to Piketown, which surren- 

 dered without opposition. Very little depre- 

 dation was done except taking horses and pro- 

 visions. Burning the bridge over the Scioto, 

 he next moved toward Jackson, where he ar- 

 rived in the evening, and remained until joined 

 by his whole force. Thence he started for the 

 Ohio river near Pomeroy. 



In the mean time, Gen. Hobson, who arrived 

 at the Ohio river in pursuit as the last of the 

 enemy's force had crossed, sent the steamer 

 McCombs to Louisville, to obtain other boats 

 to aid in crossing. By night, quite a fleet 

 had arrived, and the force was taken over be- 

 fore morning. Pursuit was immediately com- 

 menced on Wednesday. The command was fed 

 by, the inhabitants of the towns, bat as Gen. 

 Morgan had swept the horses from both sides 

 of the road, and left only those which were 

 broken down, the advantage was greatly in his 

 favor. The men whose horses failed, pressed 

 forward on foot until they could obtain others. 

 Day aftejr day passed, but still the enemy kept 

 about the same distance ahead. For nearly 

 twenty days and a distance of nearly seven 

 hundred miles, this pursuit continued day and 

 night, before the foe was reached. The local 

 force of Indiana which was sent against Gen. 

 Morgan, came no farther than the borders of 

 the State. The first attempt to check his ad- 

 vance was made when he reached Piketon. A 

 considerable force was at this time at Chilli- 

 cothe, north of the latter place, and Col. Rnnkle, 

 in command, planned to move over the Mari- 

 etta railroad to Hampden, and then to Jackson, 

 in advance of Gen. Morgan. 



It was now manifest that the enemy aimed 

 to reach the Ohio river at Gallipolis or Pome- 

 roy. The inhabitants commenced cutting trees, 

 which fell across the roads and delayed his pro- 

 gress. The militia in the adjoining counties 

 rushed to arms. At the same time, the forces 

 of Gen. Morgan had been constantly diminish- 

 ing, by the exhaustion of some and the capture 

 of others, until scarcely a fourth remained. 

 These were harassed now at every step. Xot- 

 withstanding several skirmishes, they reached 

 the river, and attempted to cross at Buffington 

 island, near Pomeroy, but were driven back by 





