66 
FOREST AND STREAM 
February, 1920 
JAMES ALEXANDER HENSHALL 
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE APOSTLE OF THE BLACK BASS, 
FATHER OF THE GRAYLING AND DEAN OF AMERICAN ANGLERS 
T HE civil war was now an actuality; 
not a political theory, but a sad, 
lamentable condition. Although, at 
Cynthiana, we were far removed from 
the scenes of active conflict between the 
contending forces, we were by no means 
free from the direct influence of the frat- 
ricidal struggle. Being on the border, be- 
tween the upper and nether millstones of 
i.o man’s land, where brother was pitted 
against brother and father against son, 
and where bushwacking was of frequent 
occurrence, we were kept in a state of 
constant apprehension and alarm, and 
with a feeling of impending evil. 
General John Morgan, of Lexington, 
Kentucky, and his troop of mounted in- 
fantry, composed of the flower of cen- 
tral Kentucky, were moving rapidly 
through the state, and several maraud- 
ing bands of guerillas were abroad in 
the land robbing and killing, irrespective 
of party allegiance or sympathy; all of 
which was a constant menace to town 
and country alike. 
At length a homeguard was organ- 
ized, consisting of several hundred men 
of all ages, with headquarters at a little 
church, and a guard of mounted pickets 
was maintained day and night. All 
kinds of arms were in requisition, musk- 
ets, rifles and shotguns. Several weeks 
later there were rumors of Morgan’s 
approach with a force of twelve hundred 
men, burning bridges, warehouses and 
railroad equipment. His name carried 
terror to the timid and weak-hearted, as 
he had the reputation of shooting or 
hanging Union men without mercy. An 
appeal was sent out for reinforcements, 
and two companies of raw recruits, one 
of infantry and one of cavalry, reported 
to Colonel Berry who was in command of 
the homeguard. 
A few days later a gun-squad arrived 
from Cincinnati on the morning train 
with a twelve-pound cannon and a team 
of four big fire-engine horses. As the 
horses were being hooked on to the gun 
a report was received that Morgan was 
rapidly approaching by way of Leesburg, 
but a few miles away. The horses were 
driven on a run to an eminence on the 
Leesburg turnpike and the gun unlim- 
bered. Just then a picket came gallop- 
ing in with the news that Morgan was 
but a few miles distant. The horses 
were then hastily harnessed to the gun 
again and driven with all speed back to 
town and the gun again unlimbered near 
the courthouse. 
Then the expected happened. Several 
shells from Morgan’s mountain howitz- 
ers came shrieking through the air and 
burst in the streets, and pandemonium 
reigned. Most of the gun-squad and the 
two companies of miltary recruits stood 
“not on the order of going but went at 
once,” and at last accounts were still 
going strong. Morgan and his troops 
TENTH PAPER 
crossed the river, above and below town, 
dismounted, and entered the streets from 
several directions, firing as they came. 
The homeguard rallied under Colonel 
Berry, who was killed early in the fight. 
Then, without a leader, it was every man 
for himself, his own arbiter and hero. Be- 
hind the shelter of posts, shade trees and 
empty store boxes they valliantly fought 
the foe for more than an hour. Three 
boys of the gun-squad stood bravely to 
their gun, pouring grape-shot through 
the streets as fast as the gun could be 
loaded and fired, until they and their 
gun were captured. 
I was armed with a shot-gun. loaded 
with buckshot, which I intended to use' 
only in self defence. As I stood behind 
a tree-box an officer on horseback, and 
wearing a red fez, came galloping out 
Marble boulders on the Licking River 
of a side street waving his sword and 
encouraging his men by shouting “Give 
the damned Yankees Hell!” He made a 
pass at me with his sabre as he rode 
furiously by; then as he was turning a 
corner I fired both barrels at him, as a 
reminder that he had ignored me. From 
his language I judged him to be an Eng- 
lishman upward of fifty years of age. I 
reloaded my gun and soon afterward I 
saw the red fez again appearing, its 
wearer still shouting and waving his 
sword and riding like mad. While I ad- 
mired his reckless daring I despised his 
bombastic bravado and insolent war-cry. 
I stood out boldly as he galloped by, but 
either he did not see me or perhaps again 
ignored me and passed on. I fired both 
barrels at his retreating figure, and I 
saw him wince at each shot, but as he 
made no other sign he probably flinched 
at the sound of the bullets as they 
whizzed by his ears. 
At last it was all over. The brave 
homeguards were overpowered and out- 
numbered, four to one, were surrounded 
and obliged to surrender. The fight had 
lasted more than an hour and quite a 
number were killed or wounded. The 
nrisoners were rounded up and confined 
in the courthouse, with a strong guard 
over them. During the night which fol- 
lowed I assisted in the care of the wound- 
ed. Some of the captives complained to 
the guard, saying they were forced into 
the service under duress, and being 
Southern sympathizers had not fired 
their guns. 
The next morning the prisoners were 
lined up in the courthouse yard to hear 
their fate. Some of them expected to be 
either shot or hung. Then General Mor- 
gan appeared, and addressing the pris- 
oners, said he had been informed that 
some of them claimed to be Southern 
sympathizers and had taken no part in 
the fight, and commanded them to step to 
the front; about half a dozen did as or- 
dered. Then addressing the “squealers,” 
said in substance, that, whenever they 
took up arms, willingly or not, especially 
when in defence of their homes, they 
should fight like men and do their whole 
duty. He then called for a detail of his 
men and ordered them to kick the cow- 
ards out of the yard into the street; 
which being done he parolled the rest of 
the prisoners. This proved to me that 
John Morgan was a gentleman and a 
soldier. 
I N the autumn of 1862 General Kirby 
Smith and General Bragg invaded 
Kentucky. General Smith with a force 
of fifteen thousand seasoned veterans 
marched through Cumberland Gap, his 
objective point being Cincinnati, while 
General Bragg menaced Louisville. 
Smith’s army was in light marching or- 
der, inasmuch as it was without much 
impedimenta and was subsisting on the 
country. His soldiers were half clad in 
ragged and soiled uniforms, some with- 
out shoes or hats, but with a haversack, 
a blanket over one shoulder and a gun 
over the other, they were good-humored 
and uncomplaining and anxious for a 
fight. As they passed northward through 
Cynthiana and vicinity they were march- 
ing from ten to fifteen miles a day, in a 
very dry season and over dusty roads. 
General Lew Wallace with more than 
a hundred thousand men, mostly recruits 
and bounty-jumpers, were held in the en- 
trenchments on the river hills of Ken- 
tucky, opposite Cincinnati, for two 
months or more by Smith’s small but ef- 
ficient force. In the meantime supplies 
of all kinds, cattle and horses, were being 
run out of the state. During this time 
we were virtually in the Southern Con- 
federacy, with no communication with 
the outside world, except what was pub- 
lished in the Confederate newspapers. 
We were horrified to learn, through this 
source, that Cincinnati was in flames and 
Washington City in possession of Gen- 
eral Lee’s army. 
When at last Smith’s army began a 
retrograde movement they marched 
through our county and Cynthiana at a 
rate of from fifteen to twenty miles a 
