Cumberland Blood: Champ Ferguson's Civil War

7. “All are Southern but opposed to Champ”

95 7 ) “All are Southern but opposed to Champ” AS THE WAR CONTINUED, FERGUSON’S REPUTATION AS A ruthless guerrilla grew. Just the thought of a raid by his gang sent Union communities and forces into a panic. Throughout 1863 and 1864, Federal forces made repeated attempts to clear Middle Tennessee and Kentucky of the guerrillas. On 8 May 1863, Captain Wendell D. Wiltsie of the 20th Michigan Infantry set out with a small force from his camp at Green’s Ferry on the Cumberland River to take on Ferguson. Wiltsie had been ordered to search for Ferguson in the mountains between the river and Monticello, Kentucky. The Federal force consisted of one hundred unmounted men, mostly infantry, with one group of dismounted cavalry armed with the famous Henry repeating rifle.1 Wiltsie’s plan presented several problems. The most obvious was the fact that his men were on foot in a hostile and unfamiliar rugged country. Second, as he marched toward Monticello he broke up the command by sending detachments off to act as a rearguard 96 “All are Southern but opposed to Champ” or to investigate buildings. By the time he found the Rebels, he had less than half of his men together.2 After two days of marching, Confederates attacked Wiltsie’s exhausted men along the Monticello Road. Wiltsie was surprised to find that his attackers were not Ferguson’s guerrillas, but the advance guard of Morgan’s command. The famous raider had not been active since the Christmas raid, and now his unit was camped near Williamsburg, Kentucky, searching for forage and horses.3 The Confederates dismounted and launched a vigorous attack. They drove Wiltsie’s men into the woods, where they attempted to make a stand. Morgan’s raiders had almost encircled the band, when the Yankees broke and scattered into the woods. They became lost and spent the night wandering through the forest and hiding from the Rebels. The next day the forlorn group straggled back to their camp.4 The Federals then looked for new ways to deal with Ferguson and the renewed threat of Morgan. When General O. B. Willcox, commander of the District of Central Kentucky, contemplated taking on Morgan’s forces in Wayne County, General Samuel P. Carter advised against it. If they attacked, he reasoned, Morgan would surely run, and he could easily fall back into Tennessee by following a number of roads. Besides, once the Federal forces became stretched out, their lines of communication would become a target for Rebel guerrillas. Carter concluded that “the marauding gangs of Champ. Ferguson, numbering about 150, are from Wayne and Clinton Counties, and will in all probability give us much trouble.” It did not matter anyway; before the Federals could mount a force to take on Morgan, his command had moved on.5 On 2 July Morgan began his most daring raid. Although General Bragg had given him permission only to make a limited scout into Kentucky with part of his command, he left Tennessee, passing though Albany with his entire division. He was heading for the Ohio River. Ferguson and Morgan must have had a falling out before the excursion began. “I always acted under orders from John Morgan up to the time he made the raid into Ohio,” remembered Ferguson . He complained that when Morgan left, he took forty of his men, most of his company. “I was left with only a small force,” he 97 “All are Southern but opposed to Champ” added. It is unclear why the guerrilla did not go along with Morgan. Perhaps he chafed under the discipline of regular service. During the previous months Duke had enforced a strict code of discipline on the men, and Ferguson may have grown tired of regular army life. Duke later hinted at the problem when he described Morgan’s move into Kentucky. “There were at the time no Confederate troops in that country,” he said, “and Champ Ferguson was resting in inglorious ease at Sparta.”6 The raiders went north from Albany, eventually crossing into Indiana and Ohio. In their wake Federal forces followed in close pursuit. Most of the regular Federal troops in Kentucky joined in the chase. With the Federal army occupied pursuing Morgan, Ferguson took the opportunity to strike at Columbia, in central Kentucky. On 9 July, as Morgan passed through Indiana, Major General George Hartsuff, commander of the XXIII Corps...