John Hunt Morgan was born at Huntsville, Alabama, on the first day of
June, 1825. His father, Calvin C. Morgan, was a native of Virginia, and
a distant relative of Daniel Morgan, the rebel general of revolutionary
fame. In early manhood, Mr. Morgan followed the tide of emigration
flowing from Virginia to the West, and commenced life as a merchant in
Alabama. In 1823, he married the daughter of John W. Hunt, of Lexington,
Kentucky, one of the wealthiest and most successful merchants of the
State, and one whose influence did much to develope the prosperity of
that portion of it in which he resided.
Mr. Morgan is described by all who knew him as a gentleman whom it was
impossible to know and not to respect and esteem. His character was at
once firm and attractive, but he possessed neither the robust
constitution nor the adventurous and impetuous spirit which
characterized other members of his family. He was quiet and studious in
his habits, and although fond of the society of his friends, he shunned
every species of excitement. When failing health, and, perhaps, a
distaste for mercantile pursuits induced him to relinquish them, he
removed with his family to Kentucky (his son John was then four years
old), and purchased a farm near Lexington, upon which he lived until a
few years before his death.
John H. Morgan was reared in Kentucky, and lived in Lexington from his
eighteenth year until the fall of 1861, when he joined the Confederate
army. There was nothing in his boyhood, of which any record has been
preserved, to indicate the distinction he was to win, and neither
friends nor enemies can deduce from anecdotes of his youthful life
arguments of any value in support of the views which they respectively
entertain of his character. In this respect, also, he displayed his
singular originality of character, and he is about the only instance in
modern times (if biographies are to be believed) of a distinguished man
who had not, as a boy, some presentiment of his future, and did not
conduct himself accordingly.
When nineteen he enlisted for the "Mexican War" and was elected First
Lieutenant of Captain Beard's company, in Colonel Marshall's regiment of
cavalry. He served in Mexico for eighteen months, but did not, he used
to say, see much of "war" during that time. He was, however, at the
battle of Buena Vista, in which fight Colonel Marshall's regiment was
hotly engaged, and his company, which was ably led, suffered severely.
Soon after his return home he married Miss Bruce, of Lexington, a sweet
and lovely lady, who, almost from the day of her wedding, was a
confirmed and patient invalid and sufferer. Immediately after his
marriage, he entered energetically into business--was industrious,
enterprising and prosperous, and at the breaking out of the war in 1861,
he was conducting in Lexington two successful manufactories. Every
speculation and business enterprise in which he engaged succeeded, and
he had acquired a very handsome property. This he left, when he went
South, to the mercy of his enemies, making no provision whatever for its
protection, and apparently caring not at all what became of it. As he
left some debts unsettled, his loyal creditors soon disposed of it with
the aid of the catch-rebel attachment law.
When quite a young man he had two or three personal difficulties in
Lexington, in one of which he was severely wounded. To those who
recollect the tone of society in Kentucky at that day, it will be no
matter of astonishment to learn that a young man of spirit became
engaged in such affairs. His antagonists, however, became, subsequently,
his warm friends. The stigmas upon General Morgan's social standing, so
frequent in the Northern press, need not be noticed. Their falsity was
always well known in Kentucky and the South.
The calumnies, so widely circulated regarding his private life, must be
noticed, or the duty of the biographer would be neglected in an
important particular. And yet, except to positively deny every thing
which touched his integrity as a man and his honor as a gentleman, it
would seem that there is nothing for his biographer to do in this
respect. The wealth at the disposal of the Federal Government attracted
into its service all the purchasable villainy of the press--North and
South. It was not even necessary for the Government to bid for
them--they volunteered to perform, gratis, in the hope of future reward.
To undertake a refutation of every slander broached by this gang against
a man, so constantly a theme for all tongues and pens, as was Morgan,
would be an impossible, even if it were a necessary, task. It is enough
to say that he was celebrated, and therefore he was belied. General
Morgan was certainly no "saint"--his friends may claim that he had no
right to that title and not the slightest pretension to it. While he
respected true piety in other men, and, as those who knew him intimately
will well remember, evinced on all occasions a profound and unaffected
veneration for religion, he did not profess, nor did he regulate his
life by religious convictions. Like the great majority of the men of his
class--the gentlemen of the South--he lived freely, and the amusements
he permitted himself would, doubtless, have shocked a New Englander
almost as much as the money he spent in obtaining them. Even had the
manners of the people among whom he lived have made it politic to
conceal carefully every departure from straight-laced morality, he, of
all men, would have been the least likely to do so, for he scorned
hypocrisy as he did every species of meanness. To sum up, General
Morgan, with the virtues, had some of the faults of his Southern blood
and country, and he sought so little to extenuate the latter himself,
that it may be presumed that he cared not the least whether or no they
were recorded.
While no censure can, of course, be directed against those who slandered
him, as they did others, for hire--and it would be as absurd in this
age and country, to gravely denounce the lie-coiners of the press, as to
waste time in impeaching the false witnesses that figure before military
commissions--nevertheless, as justice ought to be done to all, it should
be remarked that among the _respectable_ people who furtively gave
currency to every story to his injury were some who owed their power to
harm him to the generosity of his grandfather, who loved to assist all
sorts of merit, but was particularly partial to manual skill.
The qualities in General Morgan, which would have attracted most
attention in private life, were an exceeding gentleness of disposition
and unbounded generosity. His kindness and goodness of heart were
proverbial. His manner, even after he had become accustomed to command,
was gentle and kind, and no doubt greatly contributed to acquire him the
singular popularity which he enjoyed long before he had made his
military reputation. The strong will and energy which he always
displayed might not have elicited much notice, had not the circumstances
in which the war placed him developed and given them scope for exercise.
But his affection for the members of his family and his friends, the
generosity which prompted him to consult their wishes at the expense of
any sacrifice of his own, his sensitive regard for the feelings of
others, even of those in whom he felt least interest, and his rare
charity for the failings of the weak, made up a character which, even
without an uncommon destiny, would have been illustrious.
His benevolence was so well known in Lexington, that to "go to Captain
Morgan" was the first thought of every one who wished to inaugurate a
charitable enterprise, and his business house was a rendezvous for all
the distressed, and a sort of "intelligence office" for the poor seeking
employment. His temper was cheerful and frequently gay; no man more
relished pleasantry and mirth in the society of his friends, with whom
his manner was free and even at times jovial; but he never himself
indulged in personal jests nor familiarities, nor did he permit them
from his most intimate associates; to attempt them with him gave him
certain and lasting offense. There was never a more sanguine man; with
him to live was to hope and to dare. Yet while rarely feeling
despondency and never despair, he did not deceive himself with false or
impossible expectations. He was quick to perceive the real and the
practical, and while enterprising in the extreme he was not in the least
visionary. His nerve, his powers of discrimination, the readiness with
which he could surrender schemes found to be impracticable, if by chance
he became involved in them, and his energy and close attention to his
affairs, made him very successful in business, and undoubtedly the same
qualities, intensified by the demand that war made upon them,
contributed greatly to his military success.
But it can not be denied that not only the reputation which he won, but
the talent which he displayed, astonished none more than his old
friends. He would, I think, have been regarded as a remarkable man under
any circumstances, by all who would have intimately known him, but he
was born to be great in the career in which he was so successful. It is
true that war fully developed many qualities which had been observed in
him previously, and (surest sign of real capacity) he to the last
continued to _grow_ with every call that was made upon him. But he
manifested an aptitude for the peculiar service in which he acquired so
much distinction, an instinctive appreciation of the requisites for
success, and a genius for command, which made themselves immediately
recognized, but which no one had expected. Nature had certainly endowed
him with some gifts which she very rarely bestows, and which give the
soldier who has them vast advantages; a quickness of perception and of
thought, amounting almost to intuition, an almost unerring sagacity in
foreseeing the operations of an adversary and in calculating the effect
of his own movements upon him, wonderful control over men, as
individuals and in masses, and moral courage and energy almost
preternatural.
He did not seem to reason like other men, at least no one could discover
the logical process, if there was one, by which his conclusions were
reached. His mind worked most accurately when it worked most rapidly,
and sight or sound were scarcely so swift as were its operations in an
emergency.
This peculiar faculty and habit of thought enabled him to plan with a
rapidity almost inconceivable. Apparently his combinations were
instantaneously commenced and perfected, and, if provided with the
necessary information, he matured on enterprise almost as soon as he
conceived it. His language and manner were often very expressive of this
peculiar constitution of mind. In consultation with those whom he
admitted to his confidence, he never cared to hear arguments, he would
listen only to opinions. In stating his plans, he entered into no
explanations, and his expressions of his views and declaration of his
purposes sounded like predictions. At such times his speech would become
hurried and vehement, and his manner excited but remarkably impressive.
He evidently felt the most thorough and intense conviction himself, and
he seldom failed to convince his hearers. Advice volunteered, even by
those he most liked and relied on, was never well received, and when he
asked counsel of them he required that it should be concise and
definite, and resented hesitation or evasion. Without being in the
ordinary sense of the term an excellent judge of character, he
possessed, in a greater degree than any of his military associates, the
faculty of judging how various circumstances (especially the events and
vicissitudes of war) would affect other men, and of anticipating in all
contingencies their thoughts and action. He seemed, if I may use such
expressions, capable of imagining himself exactly in the situations of
other men, of identifying his own mind with theirs, and thinking what
they thought. He could certainly, with more accuracy than any one,
divine the plans and wishes of an enemy. This was universally remarked,
and he exhibited it, not only in correctly surmising the intentions of
his own immediate opponents, but also in the opinions which he gave
regarding the movements of the grand armies. He sought all the
information which could however remotely affect his interests and
designs with untiring avidity, and the novel and ingenious expedients he
sometimes resorted to in order to obtain it, would perhaps furnish
materials for the most interesting chapter of his history. It was a
common saying among his men, that "no lawyer can cross-examine like
General Morgan," and indeed the skill with which he could elicit
intelligence from the evasive or treacherous answers of men unwilling to
aid, or seeking to deceive him, was only less astonishing than the
confidence with which he would act upon information so acquired. In army
phrase, he was a capital "judge of information," that is, he could
almost infallibly detect the true from the false, and determine the
precise value of all that he heard. His quickness and accuracy, in this
respect, amounted almost to another sense; reports, which to others
appeared meager and unsatisfactory, and circumstances devoid of meaning
to all but himself, frequently afforded him a significant and lively
understanding of the matters which he wished to know.
He had another faculty which is very essential to military success,
indispensably necessary, at any rate, to a cavalry commander who acts
independently and at such distances from any base or support as he
almost constantly did. I believe the English term it, having "a good eye
for a country." It is the faculty of rapidly acquiring a correct idea of
the nature and peculiar features of any country in which military
operations are to be conducted. He neglected nothing that a close study
of maps and careful inquiry could furnish of this sort of knowledge, but
after a brief investigation or experience, he generally had a better
understanding of the subject than either map-makers or natives could
give him.
However imperfect might be his acquaintance with a country, it was
nearly impossible for a guide to deceive him. What he had once learned
in this respect he never forgot. A road once traveled was always
afterward familiar to him, with distances, localities and the adjacent
country. Thus, always having in his mind a perfect idea of the region
where he principally operated, he could move with as much facility and
confidence (when there) without maps and guides as with them. His
favorite strategy, in his important expeditions or "raids," was to place
himself by long and swift marches--moving sometimes for days and nights
without a halt except to feed the horses--in the very heart of the
territory where were the objects of his enterprise. He relied upon this
method to confuse if not to surprise his enemy, and prevent a
concentration of his forces. He would then strike right and left. He
rarely declined upon such expeditions to fight when advancing, for it
was his theory that then, a concentration of superior forces against him
was more difficult, and that the vigor of his enemy was to a certain
extent paralyzed by the celerity of his own movements and the mystery
which involved them. But after commencing his retreat, he would use
every effort and stratagem to avoid battle, fearing that while fighting
one enemy others might also overtake him, and believing that at such
times the morale of his own troops was somewhat impaired. No leader
could make more skillful use of detachments. He would throw them out to
great distances, even when surrounded by superior and active forces, and
yet in no instance was one of them (commanded by a competent officer and
who obeyed instructions) overwhelmed or cut off. It very rarely happened
that they failed to accomplish the purposes for which they were
dispatched, or to rejoin the main body in time to assist in decisive
action. He could widely separate and apparently scatter his forces, and
yet maintain such a disposition of them as to have all well in hand.
When pushing into the enemy's lines he would send these detachments in
every direction, until it was impossible to conjecture his real
intentions--causing, generally, the shifting of troops from point to
point as each was threatened; until the one he wished to attack was
weakened, when he would strike at it like lightning.
He was a better strategist than tactician. He excelled in the arts which
enable a commander to make successful campaigns and gain advantages
without much fighting, rather than in skillful maneuvering on the field.
He knew how to thoroughly confuse and deceive an enemy, and induce in
him (as he desired) false confidence or undue caution; how to isolate
and persuade or compel him to surrender without giving battle; and he
could usually manage, although inferior to the aggregate of the hostile
forces around him, to be stronger or as strong at the point and moment
of encounter.
The tactics he preferred, when he chose to fight, were attempts at
surprise and a concentration of his strength for headlong dashing
attacks.
To this latter method there were some objections. These attacks were
made with a vigor, and inspired in the men a reckless enthusiasm, which
generally rendered them successful. But if the enemy was too strong, or
holding defensible positions, was resolute and stubborn in resistance,
and the first two or three rushes failed to drive him, the attack was
apt to fail altogether, and the reaction was correspondent to the energy
of the onset.
He did not display so much ability when operating immediately with the
army, as when upon detached service. He would not hesitate to remain for
days closely confronting the main forces of the enemy, keeping his
videttes constantly in sight of his cantonments, observing his every
movement, and attacking every detachment and foraging party which he
could expect to defeat. But when a grand advance of the enemy was
commenced he preferred making a timely and long retreat, followed by a
dash in some quarter where he was not expected, rather than to
stubbornly contest their progress.
He could actively and efficiently harass a retreating army, multiplying
and continuing his assaults until he seemed ubiquitous; but he was not
equally efficient in covering a retreat or retarding an advance in
force. Upon one or two occasions, when the emergency was imminent, he
performed this sort of service cheerfully and well, but he did not like
it, nor was he eminently fitted for it. He had little of that peculiar
skill with which Forrest would so wonderfully embarrass an enemy's
advance, and contesting every inch of his march, and pressing upon him
if he hesitated or receded, convert every mistake that he made into a
disaster.
In attempting a delineation of General Morgan's character, mention ought
not to be omitted of certain peculiarities, which to some extent,
affected his military and official conduct.
Although by no means a capricious or inconsistent man, for he
entertained profound convictions and adhered to opinions with a tenacity
that often amounted to prejudice, he frequently acted very much like
one.
Not even those who knew him best could calculate how unusual occurrences
would affect him, or induce him to act.
It frequently happened that men for whose understandings and characters
he had little respect, but who were much about his person, obtained a
certain sort of influence with him, but they could keep it only by a
complete acquiescence in his will when it became aroused. He sometimes
permitted and even encouraged suggestions from all around him, listening
to the most contradictory opinions with an air of thorough acquiescence
in all. It was impossible, on such occasions, to determine whether this
was done to flatter the speakers, to mislead as to his real intentions,
or if he was in fact undecided.
He generally ended such moments of doubt by his most original and
unexpected resolutions, which he would declare exactly as if they were
suggestions just made by some one else, almost persuading the parties to
whom they were attributed that they had really advanced them. In his
judgment of the men with whom he had to deal, he showed a strange
mixture of shrewdness and simplicity. He seldom failed to discern and to
take advantage of the ruling characteristics of those who approached
him, and he could subsidize the knowledge and talents of other men with
rare skill. He especially excelled in judging men collectively. He knew
exactly how to appeal to the feelings of his men, to excite their
enthusiasm, and stimulate them to dare any danger and endure any fatigue
and hardship. But he sometimes committed the gravest errors in his
estimation of individual character. He more than once imposed implicit
confidence in men whom no one else would have trusted, and suffered
himself to be deceived by the shallowest imposters. He obtained credit
for profound insight into character by his possession of another and
very different quality. The unbounded influence he at once acquired over
almost every one who approached him, enabled him to make men do the most
uncharacteristic things, and created the impression that he discovered
traits of character hidden from others.
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
feelings. 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 every where in the South, and he
never learned to keep a bold countenance when receiving them.
It was distressing to see him called on (as was of course often the
case) for a speech--nature certainly never intended that he should win
either fame or bread by oratory.
When complimented for any achievement he always gave the credit of it to
some favorite officer, or attributed it to the excellence of his troops.
Nothing seemed to give him more sincere pleasure than to publicly
acknowledge meritorious service in a subaltern officer or private, and
he would do it in a manner that made it a life long remembrance with the
recipient of the compliment.
When displeased, he rarely reprimanded, but expressed his displeasure by
satirically complimenting the offender; frequently the only evidence of
dissatisfaction which he would show was a peculiar smile, which was
exceeding significant, and any thing but agreeable to the individual
conscious of having offended him.
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 hight, 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. After marching for days and
nights without intermission, until the hardiest men in his division were
exhausted, I have known him, as soon as a halt was called, and he could
safely leave his command, ride fifty miles to see his wife. Although a
most practical man in all of his ideas, he irresistibly reminded one of
the heroes of romance. He seemed the _Fra-Moreale_ come to life again,
and, doubtless, was as much feared and as bitterly denounced as was that
distinguished officer.
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 live in the
border-land, whose every acre he made historic, will leave many a story
of his audacity and wily skill. They will name but one man as his equal,
"The wizard of the saddle," the man of revolutionary force and fire,
strong, sagacious, indomitable Forrest, and the two will go down in
tradition together, twin-brothers in arms and in fame.