Invade the North! Morgan’s Great Ohio Raid
Have you heard the wild story of Morgan’s Ohio Raid? Confederate cavalry loot and destroy their way across the entire state—the farthest north any Rebel unit ever gets during the entire Civil War. Their “Ride Around Cincinnati” is considered by many to be the longest continuous ride by any cavalry in history!

The Yankees finally capture Morgan, and are so furious that they lock him in the Ohio Penitentiary instead of a POW camp. But wait—he escapes with four of his officers, in what’s often called the second-greatest prison breakout of the entire war! All in all, it’s a great Civil War adventure that few know about today—yet one so remarkable it was immortalized in an epic 126-line poem, “Kentucky Belle,” by Constance Woolson, an Ohio witness.

“Morgan, Morgan the raider, and Morgan’s terrible men,
With Bowie knives and pistols, are galloping up the glen…
A bold ride and a long ride! But they were taken at last.
They almost reached the river by galloping hard and fast;
But the boys in blue were upon them ere ever they gained the ford,
And Morgan, Morgan the raider, laid down his terrible sword.”

Join us at our meeting on December 9 to hear Douglas Miller, who has already regaled our Round Table with amazing tales about the St. Albans Raid and the greatest prison escape from Libby Prison. When he was a Boy Scout, he even used to camp at “Morgan’s Cave,” where the Rebels supposedly rested just before their capture.

Doug Miller
Douglas Miller is a documentary filmmaker and writer/producer of more than twenty documentaries that have aired on the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, and Showtime, including the series The Color of War, Modern Marvels, and Boneyards. He is also the author of The Greatest Escape: A True American Civil War Adventure (Lyons Press). He lives in Studio City, California.