A Little piece of Paradise… College Hill, Ohio - SELFCRAFT

The city was armed with soldiers waiting as this had been anticipated. Some people buried, hid orlowered down a well their silver, money, jewelry and other valuables. Later some forgot where thingswere hidden. Men readied their rifles in anticipation. Martial law had been proclaimed in Cincinnation July 12, and in Columbus Governor Tod called out the militia.Morgan appeared in Harrison, Ohio on July 13, while another rumor had Union troops preparingfor him to enter Hamilton, Ohio. He passed through New Haven, New Baltimore, Montgomery,Maineville, Goshen, Sharonville, and Glendale, spending the night within sight of Camp Dennison.He burned a supply train near Lockland and emptied the stable of fine horses owned by ThomasSpooner, an Internal Revenue collector. The Raiders passed through Batavia and Williamsburg beforeleaving the area. Morgan was closely pursued by General Edward H. Hobson. As Morgan passedthrough Ohio, trees were felled by the pursuing troops so that Morgan couldn’t return the way hecame. Morgan was captured on July 26 in Columbiana County. He and his remaining troops weretaken to Columbus by a special train. A welcoming party assembled at the Columbus depot. GovernorTod was waiting to shake Morgan’s hand. At the time of his capture, Morgan was 37 years old. Fourmonths after his capture, he and six of his officers - including one who was a nephew of PresidentZachery Taylor, suspiciously escaped by digging a tunnel and made their way back into Kentucky.Morgan was killed after he was captured during a skirmish on Sept. 4, 1864 at Greenville, Tennessee.His famous raid into Ohio captured an estimated 2,500 horses and covered 29 Ohio counties. Histroops averaged 21 hours a day in the saddle and could cover 90 miles in 35 hours.The late Warren Steiner wrote some of his memories of Monfort Heights. He related this fromhis conversation with Mrs. Anna (Biddle) Wikely: “Mrs. Wikely said that she was about ten years oldwhen Morgan’s Raiders...came to this area. West Fork Road was one of the main roads from the westinto Cincinnati at that time. It was felt that he might attack the city from this direction. About twohundred men, mostly older men and boys of about teen age gathered here from as far away as Warrenand Montgomery counties to the north. They were commonly called the ‘squirrel hunters’ and theycame here at the request of the military authorities in Cincinnati. They stayed here about five days,and most of them slept in the church building and on the ground around the church. It was in thesummer of 1863 and the weather was warm. She said the ladies of the church prepared food for thesemen and brought it daily to them while they were here. She said that most of the younger men ofmilitary age were in the Union Army in the east.She also told me of an incident that happened to some friends of the family who lived on acountry road in northern Colerain Township. Some of Morgan’s Raiders passed through that area. Itseems that this family had, as one of its members, a young girl about six or eight years old. Theraiders were always hunting fresh horses to replace their worn out mounts, and when they approachedthis farm the father of the girl, a farmer with two fine horses, was pressed to know how to hide them.In desperation, he finally decided to put the horses in the parlor of the farmhouse and draw down theshades. He told his daughter to stay with them, hold their heads down, and keep talking to them in alow voice to keep them from making a noise when they heard the other horses outside.The raiders came, searched the barn and near-by pasture. They watered their horses and filledtheir canteens at a well in the yard, and after a little wile moved on. The two fine horses were savedand the girl always said that it was the most frightening experience of her life.Another story, in connection with Morgan’s Raiders, was told to me by Mrs. Eliza Bacon, amember of an early Green Township family, who lived on North Bend Road, just east of CheviotRoad...She said that she and her father, who was a farmer, were returning home from taking somevegetables down to the city market. They always came out West Fork Road from Colerain Pike,which was the main road into the city from the northwest. She said that on this particular morning,they arrived at West Fork and Colerain and found a Union soldier stationed there. He told them not tocontinue out West Fork Road because the latest information was that Morgan’s Raiders were cominginto the city from that direction. He told them that they would no doubt lose their horse and wagon ifthey ran into them. She said that they then proceeded to go out Colerain Pike to Mt. Airy and then gothome by that route.”114