Battle of the American Civil War
The Battle of Corydon was a minor engagement that took place July 9, 1863, just south of Corydon, which had been the original capital of Indiana until 1825, and was the county seat of Harrison County. The attack occurred during Morgan's Raid in the American Civil War as a force of 2,500 cavalry invaded the North in support of the Tullahoma Campaign. It was the only pitched battle of the Civil War that occurred in Indiana, and no battle has occurred within Indiana since.
As news of an impending raid spread across the state, Governor Oliver P. Morton called out the state's militia force, the Indiana Legion, to defend against the threat. Unaware of the size of the invading army, four companies of the 6th and 8th Regiments of the Legion, totaling about one hundred men, attempted to prevent the Confederates from crossing the Ohio River into Indiana, but were overcome by superior artillery fire which killed two of the defenders. The units retreated northward where they met with the main body of the 6th Regiment under the command of Col. Lewis Jordan. Along with the townspeople, they constructed breastworks that formed a defensive line south of Corydon. Despite promises of reinforcements from regional Legion commanders in New Albany, only about 450 men (consisting almost entirely of locals) were defending the town.
As the raiders approached from the south, the advance elements formed a battle line and launched a frontal attack and an unsuccessful flanking movement against the east side of the Legion's works. Reinforcements and artillery soon arrived with the main body of Confederate troops, giving the attackers a strong numerical superiority. With the support of the artillery, a pincer movement caused the Legion to abandon their position to avoid being surrounded. A large part of the Legion were captured as they attempted to escape from the town, while Col. Jordan and others regrouped downtown. Confederates then seized the Legion's commissary supplies on the edge of town, and fired two warning shots into the downtown from their artillery, convincing Jordan that continued resistance was futile and leading him to surrender his force and Corydon. Although the short battle cost the cavalry twice as many casualties as the outnumbered militia units, the battle resulted in a Confederate victory, which enabled Brig. Gen. John H. Morgan to secure supplies and money before continuing his raid through Indiana and into Ohio. The delay, however, proved critical in helping the pursuing Union army overtake and later capture Morgan and his forces.
Prelude.
Following the 1862 Newburgh Raid into Indiana, the federal government had put a regiment of regular cavalry troops in south central Indiana for defensive purposes. After patrolling the border for several months, no new raids materialized, and they were withdrawn in March 1863, leaving only the local militia for defense.
Advance through Kentucky.
On June 23, 1863, Brig. Gen. John H. Morgan led a cavalry division consisting of two brigades, totaling nearly 2,500 men, and two batteries of artillery, northward from Tennessee in the Confederacy. His movements began as a ride into Kentucky to disrupt the communications of the Union Army of the Cumberland in support of Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee during the Tullahoma Campaign. Bragg had ordered Morgan to attack any settlements of his choosing in Kentucky, but not to cross the Ohio River into Union territory. Bragg was worried about Morgan getting too far from the main army and being unable to come to his aid should it be needed. Morgan was already planning to disregard the orders and had sent scouts beyond the river before leaving Tennessee. Crossing the Cumberland River at Burkesville, Kentucky, Morgan's column advanced to the Green River, where it was deflected by a Union regiment at Tebbs Bend on July 4. Morgan surprised and captured the garrison of Lebanon, and then rode northward via Springfield, Bardstown and Garnettsville.
Morgan had his men tap the Union telegraph lines and send conflicting reports about his strength and destination. Most Union officials believed his target was Louisville, Kentucky. Not taking any chances, Governor of Indiana Oliver P. Morton telegraphed orders calling out all the state's militia, the Indiana Legion, south of the National Road.
In the afternoon of July 7 an advance force of Confederates entered Brandenburg, Kentucky, where they rendezvoused with Capt. Thomas Hines, who assumed command. Hines had led a reconnaissance mission into Indiana in search of Confederate sympathizers to support Morgan's coming raid. He did not find the support he was looking for, and had been pursued by elements of the 6th and 8th Regiment of the Indiana Legion who killed three of his men and captured several others before the remainder escaped back into Kentucky. Since then he had been waiting in the Brandenburg area for Morgan to arrive. The Ohio River was swollen from recent rain, making any hope of fording it impossible and requiring that the Confederates secure boats to ferry their men across. Under Hines' guidance, the Confederates set an ambush to capture the steamship "John T. McCombs" as it landed in Brandenburg to deliver the mail. The one ship would not be enough to allow the Confederate division to quickly cross the river, so to capture another boat the "McCombs" was used to simulate a distress call to lure in the fast sidewheel steamer "Alice Dean". As the unsuspecting ship moved alongside the "McCombs", the Confederates on board sprung out, lashed the two ships together, and boarded the "Alice Dean". Taking the two ships back to shore, they released the crew and passengers just as Morgan arrived with the main body of the army. Some of the passengers escaped the town and sent message to commanders in Louisville of the Confederate occupation of Brandenburg.
Battle of Brandenburg Crossing.
Indiana militia leaders learned of Morgan's capture of Brandenburg, ten miles south of Corydon, and his intent to cross into Indiana in a dispatch from Regular Army commanders in Louisville. All the roads Morgan would likely take northward intersected at Corydon. Emergency requests for reinforcements were sent out from the town in all directions. New Albany leaders sent word promising to send a thousand men. Other companies around Harrison County immediately began to gather and advance to Corydon. Three companies of the 6th Regiment Indiana Legion based in Mauckport and totaling about one hundred men moved to Morvin's Landing, the north bank of the river opposite Brandenburg, to contest the crossing. A thirty-man company of the 8th Regiment of the Indiana Legion based in Leavenworth and under the command of Capt. G.W. Lyon, was transported to Morvin's landing by the "Lady Pike" during the night. They brought with them their town's ceremonial 8-pound cannon which they deployed and camouflaged on a small bluff in front of an abandoned log cabin.
On the morning of July 8, Lyon opened fire on the "Alice Dean", intending to destroy or disable the steamers. The men had only ever fired the cannon at celebratory events and were unsure how to aim it properly. Two shots were fired, with the second one hitting the upper deck of the "McCombs", passing through the ship and landing near a group of men on the shore, wounding a Confederate. Just as the shelling began Provost Marshal John Timberlake arrived on the scene from Corydon with a small company of reinforcements and assumed command. Timberlake, who was a colonel in the regular army, believed Morgan's force was small, and decided to spare the steamships and instead shell the massed cavalry. Before the cannon could be re-aimed, the superior Confederate artillery was set up and returned fire from their significantly higher position on the opposite side of the river. The dense morning fog in the valley obliged the Confederates to guess at their target. Their first shot landed short of the Legion's position, and the second shot landed behind them and leveled the cabin. The Legion defenders set off a third shot that had already been loaded into their cannon, and fled into a nearby forest. As they moved up the ridge and into the woods, they became visible to the Confederate artillery who began to shell the forest. One shot struck a log where two of the defenders had stopped to rest. They were mortally wounded while the rest fled into the forest as the Confederates continued to shell the landing.
With the resistance seemingly at an end, Morgan began crossing his troops in the captured steamers. The first company to land moved up the ridge on the north shore and engaged the Legion defenders in a skirmish. Union commanders in Louisville had sent out requests for naval support in preventing Morgan's crossing when they first received reports from Brandenburg. The tinclad "Springfield", armed with six 24-pound howitzers, was at New Albany and was dispatched down-river and arrived on the scene just after Morgan had begun to ferry his force across the river. The "Springfield" opened fire on Morgan's two steamers who retreated back under the covering fire of the Confederate artillery. The ship began shelling both the north and south shores of the river, firing at least fifty shells into Brandenburg, damaging several buildings and killing three horses. Morgan's forces took cover in nearby forests while the armed steamer and the artillery on the shore dueled for about an hour. Once the "Springfield" ran out of ammunition she withdrew, allowing Morgan to resume the crossing.
After about half of his army had been ferried into Indiana, the Union gunboat and an armed private ship, the "Grey Eagle", arrived on the scene. The "Elk" fired a shot into the deck of the "Alice Dean" as it tried to escape to the shoreline. Both the Union ships were wooden, and as the Confederate artillery opened fire, they quickly retreated upriver towards Louisville to avoid being destroyed. The crossing resumed again. In total, it took seventeen hours for Morgan to ferry his now 2,000 men and supplies across the river. By listening in on the telegraph, he learned that Brig. Gen. Edward H. Hobson with a force of 4,000 cavalry was advancing on his position from the south. The lead elements of the Union force arrived in Brandenburg at about 8:00 pm, where the Confederate rearguard was able to delay their advance long enough for Morgan's artillery to be carried across the river. On the last trip across, most of the rearguard was able to escape, but several were left behind and captured.
Once the Confederates had crossed the river, the "Alice Dean" was set ablaze and sunk in the river between Morvin's landing and Mauckport to deny the Union pursuers use of the vessel and to block the landing, making their crossing more difficult. Morgan ordered the "McCombs" to be burnt, but Col. Duke countermanded the order because of his friendship with its captain. He was allowed to return with his ship to Louisville unharmed. Gen. Hobson and the main body of the Union cavalry arrived in Brandenburg at about 10:15 pm, just as the "Alice Dean" went under the water. He set up his artillery and fired several shots at the Confederates who jeered at him from the opposite side of the river; they quickly withdrew out of range of his guns. The lead elements of the cavalry had already set out northward following the Legion forces who withdrew gradually and fought delaying skirmishes along the Mauckport road to slow the cavalry's advance towards Corydon.
Battle.
Skirmishes.
During the evening, elements of Morgan's division had advanced to within of Corydon. The four Legion companies that had attempted to prevent the crossing had been reinforced by four additional companies from Corydon, one from Elizabeth, and one from New Amsterdam, making the force about four-hundred strong. They lured a company of unsuspecting Confederates into an ambush where they were surrounded; sixteen were captured and taken to the Corydon jail. The invaders also successfully captured about thirty defenders in several skirmishes. They were rounded up and held in a school house near Laconia. After Morgan crossed the river he addressed the prisoners and told them that if they would promise to go home and not return to arms, he would allow them to leave and keep their guns. They all agreed and were released.
That night Morgan's men camped at Frakes' Mill just north of Mauckport. They found the area deserted, as all