Newburgh Raid
Newburgh Raid | |||||||
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Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
Fake cannons found after the Newburgh Raid | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States (Union) | Confederate States | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Union Bethell |
Adam Rankin Johnson | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Indiana Legion | Confederate partisan rangers |
The Newburgh Raid was a successful raid by Confederate
The raid convinced the federal government to supply Indiana with a permanent force of regular Union Army soldiers to counter future raids and proved to be a significant boost for Union recruiting in Indiana.[2]
Background
Using the language of the 1862 Confederate Partisan Ranger Act, Johnson pictured himself in a book he wrote later in life as part of a military force operating in an irregular manner under the authority of such superiors as General Nathan Bedford Forrest and General John C. Breckinridge. Yet at the time of the raid, Johnson's own account suggests he had no formal appointment as an officer, wore no uniform, and commanded a hastily assembled body of civilians—more guerrillas than soldiers. Union authorities certainly viewed him as little or nothing more than a brigand, and later rejected the authority of the paroles he had issued to his eighty prisoners.[2][3]
However, Johnson was not without some experience and authority. Prior to the raid he served as a scout for Gen. Forrest, just missing the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, in south-central Tennessee, rejoining Forrest at the Confederate base of operations in Corinth, Mississippi. Johnson was ordered by Forrest to go to Henderson, Kentucky, to give a secret message to Mr. D. R. Burbank, a former employer of Johnson's.[4] Just before launching the raid, Johnson's partisans camped at the Soaper Farm in Henderson.[5] With thirty-five men by Johnson's later count (other counts say 32), formed by combining three-man guards for Breckinridge with recruits from Kentucky, Johnson formed a group of partisan rangers that would engage in guerrilla warfare.[6]
Raid
Johnson and his men crossed the
In Newburgh the local
When the raiders struck, Bethell was lunching and arrived on the scene in civilian attire. When he arrived at the hotel he refrained from more than verbal protests after Johnson pointed out two cannons placed across the river — cannons that were actually the fake dummies made from a blackened log and the piece of
Fifteen miles away in
Aftermath and consequences
When the nearby companies of Union soldiers finally learned of the raid, it set in motion several frantic days of Union responses. Lieutenant Colonel
Finding few defenders, Foster then proceeded to Newburgh. Half a dozen local residents who were perceived as friendly to the rebels were arrested. One, Andrew Huston, was later tried and acquitted by a federal court jury in
The total surprise and the bloodless success of the raid was a shock to many Hoosier leaders and Governor Oliver P. Morton soon took a visible hand. First in Indianapolis and then in Evansville, he issued repeated calls for volunteers and urged vigorous military responses. Within three days, state and federal military officers sent approximately a thousand regulars and volunteers to the scene, occupied Henderson, Kentucky, and sent probes into that city's countryside. One of the probes, led by Captain Bethell, recovered a portion of the stolen arms at a nearby farm.[2]
The occupation of Henderson proved to be a long term consequence of the raid; Newburgh would not again be threatened. Occurring during a call for large numbers of new volunteers, the raid also proved to be a significant boost for Union recruiting in Indiana. The July volunteers were formed into a short-lived thirty day unit, the 76th Indiana Infantry Regiment. Volunteers of longer service would become parts of the 65th Indiana Infantry Regiment and 78th Indiana Infantry Regiment. Several thousand more Indiana volunteers joined the army in the following days and weeks. Disappointed with the performance of his militia, Morton returned to Indianapolis and devoted much time to improving militia equipment and training, and extending the telegraph network along the exposed Ohio River.[2]
The Newburgh Raid also enabled Johnson to raise and arm a number of youthful recruits for what became his 10th Kentucky cavalry (CSA). After the raid, Braxton Bragg had Johnson promoted to colonel. Johnson would forever be nicknamed "Stovepipe" for his success in this raid.[14] He returned to Indiana a year later as a brigade commander in Morgan's Raid in 1863.[2]
Historian and former Union officer Edmund L. Starling said of the raid: "[Adam] Johnson performed perhaps the most reckless, and yet most successful, military masterstroke achieved by any commander of high or low authority, in either army during the war."[3] Johnson recounted the events many times, and eventually published the account in his memoir, Partisan Rangers of the Confederacy.[15] Filled with enthusiasm, southern chivalry, and name-dropping — although often sparse on corroboration — his memoir has assured that many commentators place the Newburgh raid in the context of Confederate movements in Kentucky in the summer of 1862.[2]
The Newburgh Museum began staging a re-enactment of the raid in 2016.[16] In the past, the event was occasionally commemorated by the reenactors Cobb's Key Battery at Henderson's Sunset Park.[5]
See also
References
- ^ Reid, Richard. Newburgh Raid (Sandefur Printing, 1992) p.10
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Raid History". Newburgh Museum. Retrieved October 5, 2016. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b c d e Mulesky, Raymond, Jr., Thunder from a Clear Sky: Stovepipe Johnson’s Confederate Raid on Newburgh, Indiana. Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse Star, 2006.
- ^ Reid 5
- ^ a b Civil War in Kentucky
- ^ Reid 5, 9
- ^ Eicher, David. The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War pg.310-311.
- ^ Reid 9-11
- ^ Eicher 311
- ^ Reid 10
- ^ Reid 11-13
- ^ History Archived May 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Reid 14-16
- ^ Reid 6, Eicher 311
- ^ Davis, William J., ed., The Partisan Rangers of the Confederate States Army: Memoirs of General Adam R. Johnson. Austin, Tex.: State House Press, 1995. Reprint of the original edition published by Geo. G. Fetter Company, Louisville, 1904.
- ^ "Newburgh Remembers". Retrieved 3 October 2016.