MORGAN, JOHN II., 1826-64; b. Ala.- settled in the vicinity of Lexington, Ky., in 1830 He was engaged in the war with Mexico, holding a commission of let lieut. in Marshall's cavalry, and was present at the battle of Buena Vista. Ile was afterwards in business in Lexington, manufacturing bagging, but in 1861 attached himself to Bisk ner's army, being in command of the Lexington rifles, which he afterwards left, and commanded a squadron of cavalry at the battle of Shiloh He however, left the regular confederate service and engaged in guerrilla warfare on Ins own account, with a band of adventurers, who made the name of " Morgan's raiders " remembered with terror wherever they appeared. The extraordinary celerity and success of his movements gave him a high and peculiar military reputation. seriously modified by the utterly Irregular charac ter of his modes of warfare. Following close after the union armies, he destroyed mili tary stores, burned railroad trains, tore up tracks, demolished bridges, and generally harassed and despoiled the enemy after a fashion of his own. He was even sufficiently
enterprising and ingenious to keep a telegraph-operator with him in his movements, by whose aid he was enabled to spread false intelligence concerning them, and also obtain constant information with regard to the attempts which were being made to interfere with his rapid operations. He was finally captured, with nearly his whole command, while making a bold raid through Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. He was imprisoned in the Ohio penitentiary, but succeeded in escaping, and fled into Tennessee, where he soon after organized another raid, which proved to be his last. He was betrayed and captured by federal cavalry at a farm-house, where he was stopping, in Greenville, Tenn., and killed while seeking to escape.