[From _Morgan's Cavalry_ (Cincinnati, 1867)]
General Morgan had more of those personal qualities which make a man's
friends devoted to him than any one I have ever known. He was himself
very warm and constant in the friendships which he formed. It seemed
impossible for him to do enough for those to whom he was attached, or
to ever give them up. His manner, when he wished, prepossessed every
one in his favor. He was generally more courteous and attentive to his
inferiors than to his equals and superiors. This may have proceeded in
a great measure from his jealousy of dictation and impatience of
restraint, but was the result also of warm and generous feeling. His
greatest faults arose out of his kindness and easiness of disposition,
which rendered it impossible for him to say or do unpleasant things,
unless when under the influence of strong prejudice or resentment.
This temperament made him a too lax disciplinarian, and caused him to
be frequently imposed upon. He was exceedingly and unfeignedly modest.
For a long time he sought, in every way, to avoid the applause and
ovations which met him everywhere in the South, and he never learned
to keep a bold countenance when receiving them.
His personal appearance and carriage were striking and graceful. His
features were eminently handsome and adapted to the most pleasing
expressions. His eyes were small, of a grayish blue color, and their
glances keen and thoughtful. His figure on foot or on horseback was
superb. He was exactly six feet in height, and although not at all
corpulent, weighed one hundred and eighty-five pounds. His form was
perfect and the rarest combination of strength, activity, and grace.
His constitution seemed impervious to the effects of privation and
exposure, and it was scarcely possible to perceive that he suffered
from fatigue or lack of sleep.
Men are not often born who can wield such an influence as he exerted,
apparently without an effort; who can so win men's hearts and stir
their blood. He will, at least, be remembered until the Western
cavalrymen and their children have all died. The bold riders who lived
in the border-land, whose every acre he made historic, will leave many
a story of his audacity and wily skill.