First Blood: The Fight at Morgantown and Woodbury
- Derrick Lindow
- 4 hours ago
- 7 min read
If you have followed this blog for any length of time, you have probably noticed that one of my favorite topics is the 1861-1862 operations in Kentucky. Currently, I am working on my next book that will cover this topic in full, but that is still a long way off. In the meantime I've posted a completed section from that project on an obscure skirmish along the Green River.
With the Green River effectively dividing the two armies, both forces utilized pickets and spies to watch the various crossing points. As Kentucky Union regiments began to grow and take shape in Hartford and Owensboro, their presence troubled Confederate leaders. General James Alcorn in Hopkinsville feared that their growing numbers would not only constitute a future threat, but that they would consequently deplete the available forage in the area. With the stores of army supplies in Nashville reserved for the Virginia armies, any type of available food was valuable. “The enemy is active,” warned Alcorn, “and unless you can move soon in that direction, the pork, bacon, wheat, all subsistence upon which we rely in that direction, will be lost to us.” If bold moves were not made in the areas between the Green and Cumberland Rivers, Alcorn predicted that the region would be a “barren treasure when acquired.”[1]
To stay alert of any potential Green River crossing by these regiments, Buckner ordered a detachment of Mississippi cavalry commanded by Capt. Thomas Lewers to proceed to Woodbury, a small village at the confluence of the Green and Barren Rivers on October 22nd. His objective was a simple one--break up any Union camps in the general area, collect information, and cover the northwestern approaches to Bowling Green. Such responsibility would have been better suited by a larger cavalry force, but the dearth of horses available to Johnston’s army necessitated only a detachment nearly 140 troopers.[2]
Colonel McHenry, then at Hartford, feared a Confederate attack upon his camp. He later related that during this time he constantly lived “in the midst of alarms.” When his own scouts reported Lewers’s presence south of the river, McHenry believed a Rebel crossing was imminent. He called on Col. Stephen Burbridge in Owensboro for reinforcements. Burbridge marched 30 miles to Hartford with 125 of his infantry, 100 of Col. James S. Jackson’s cavalry, and two six-pound guns.[3]
After his arrival at Camp Calloway, Burbridge planned a concerted effort to scatter the Confederate cavalry opposite the Green River. On October 30th, McHenry, with two companies, crossed the river at Cromwell using Borah’s Ferry and advanced nearly 7 miles toward Morgantown. Meanwhile, Burbridge marched directly for the ferry crossing at Woodbury and the Southern camp with some of his infantry, cavalry, and the two pieces of artillery on the north side of the river. Burbridge planned for one of his companies commanded by Capt. Gabriel Netter to link up with this column and cross with him, but the juncture was never made. Knowing he couldn’t catch up with Burbridge, Netter crossed at Cromwell and followed behind McHenry.[4]
McHenry’s advance guard neared Big Hill, an imposing eminence a mile west of Morgantown, where they collided with some of Lewers’s scouts under the command of Lt. Bondurant. Four of the Kentuckians moved several yards ahead of the advance guard and took up positions in a hollowed out chestnut tree to observe about 14 approaching Confederates. Sam Cox, another of McHenry’s men, positioned himself on a rock near the top of the hill and watched a mounted Confederate ride toward the hiding soldiers. The Confederate, wearing a green shirt yelled, “Come out of there!” Granville Allen lifted his head out of the tree to get a look when the rider “threw his gun to his left shoulder and fired instantly.” The blast from the shotgun instantly killed Allen and wounded two of the other men. Allen's death marked the first instance of a Kentuckian perishing on Kentucky soil during the war. After firing, the Southerners “charged forth with galloping pellmell and giving full vent to their peculiar war cry, then unfamiliar to us.” Cox, laying on top of the rock, immediately fired down the hill upon the Confederates, while the other soldiers let loose a sporadic volley from a range of 50-70 yards. The Mississippians beat a hasty retreat, but not before losing three men wounded and a horse.[5]
Netter’s small company pushed through McHenry’s line and followed the Confederates for another mile. With his 20 men, Netter moved beyond Morgantown on the road toward Woodbury. Lewers, upon receiving Bondurant’s report of Federal soldiers on the south side of the Green River, immediately proceeded toward the scene with 60 troopers. He collided with Netter’s soldiers armed with Colt revolving rifles and found the fire power too much for his men armed with shotguns. Lewers decided that discretion was the better part of valor. “I soon ascertained that we were unable to effect anything against the enemy. . .One man several horses having been wounded, I deemed it proper to withdraw and return to my camp.”[6]
The situation only further deteriorated for Lewers. Once back in camp at Woodbury, four miles from McHenry and Morgantown, Lewers began to read the writing on the wall. The family members Woodbury Unionists seemed to evacuate the town, and in a hurry. Information also arrived that Burbridge’s command was nearing the river crossing and accompanied by about 25 Home Guard. Before an hour had passed, balls from the two six-pound guns began to fall amidst the tents of his camp. The few men he detailed to guard the river crossing came under a withering fire, but engaged the Federals on the other side. At the ferry itself, the Rebel pickets posted in the immediate vicinity were killed by Union rifleman. “Col. Burbridge then ordered the negro to take the boat across. Into the boat he put one of his cannon and a portion of his forces.” The Confederates did not sit idly by as Burbridge crossed the river. Lewers’s men attempted to halt the crossing, but the second gun still on the north side of the river, played on their position along with the Union riflemen attempting to pick them off. Burbridge successfully crossed 135 men plus the gun under enemy fire. After the infantry made a dash upon the town and camp with bayonets fixed, the Southern horsemen evacuated south toward Bowling Green as the sun set. With the overwhelming combined fire power of infantry and artillery, Lewers had few options.[7]
Sporadic shooting ensued during the retreat, especially from windows in town and the Kentuckians “instantly riddled” in return. One unfortunate woman, who “thrust her head out of one of the windows” could not be distinguished in the rapidly approaching darkness and “was shot in the forehead and killed.” One surgeon reported that several bodies were found in the buildings, and Burbridge wrote that there were 50 corpses left behind. Lewers never reported his casualties except for two men captured while on picket.[8]
With the loss of only one man wounded, Burbridge set to destroying the camp. With no ability or time to haul away the loot except for some trophy weapons, the tents, equipage, powder, and two wagons were lit ablaze. Fearing that Lewers would return with reinforcements, which he was, Burbridge formed his men to immediately move at the double-quick and link up with McHenry near Morgantown. When it was manifest that no attack would occur, the two colonels moved their men back across the river to Cromwell.[9]
Riding through fields and across country, Lewers’s force met Maj. James Hagan and his Wirt Adams Mississippi cavalry ten miles south of Woodbury. Hagan cautiously approached the town the next morning only to find it empty of Union forces. He learned of the joint Union position outside of Morgantown and began a pursuit after salvaging whatever was not destroyed by Burbridge’s men. After scouting the hills where Bondurant skirmished with McHenry and Netter the day before, he determined that the enemy force had moved back north of the river. He informed Hardee that he planned to sweep the area for any remaining Union forces and gauge what strength they had along the river banks and crossing points.[10]
McHenry and Burbridge’s combined operation was a bright spot in the midst of little good news coming from the region. Some believed that it was one of the “most brilliant feats of the war,” and that the Kentucky “regimental colors should be inscribed with the names of Morgantown and Woodbury.”[11]
Derrick Lindow is an author, historian, teacher, and creator of the WTCW site. His first book, published by Savas Beatie, was released in Spring 2024. Go HERE to read more posts by Derrick and HERE to visit his personal page. Follow Derrick on different social media platforms (Instagram and Twitter) to get more Western Theater and Kentucky Civil War Content.
Sources:
[1] OR 1 vol. 4, 467.
[2] ibid, 221, 471; Lewers served as a delegate to the Mississippi Secession Convention in January, 1861.
[3] “Western Kentucky Battalions,” Owensboro Messenger, Mar. 10, 1882, 2; OR 1 vol. 4, 219-220.
[4] OR 1 vol. 4, 219-221.
[5] “Civil War Episodes in Green River County,” Ohio County News, Oct. 15, 1924, 1; “Civil War Pistol Found in Butler,” Leitchfield (Kentucky) Gazette, June 7, 1951, 12; OR 1 vol. 4, 220-221, 224.
[6] OR 1 vol. 4, 219-222; Evansville Daily Journal, Nov. 18, 1861, 2.
[7] OR 1 vol. 4, 225; Frank Moore, The Rebellion Record; a Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives, Illustrative Incidents, Poetry, etc. vol. 3 (New York, 1862), 247-248.
[8] Moore, Rebellion Record vol. 3, 248; OR 1 vol. 4, 220, 225.
[9] OR 1 vol. 4, 220, 225.
[10] OR 1 vol. 4, 224-225
[11] Moore, Rebellion Record vol. 3, 248