Before noon on July 13, 1863, more than 2,000 Confederate horsemen under Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan crossed the covered bridge over the Whitewater River southwest of Harrison, bringing four cannon and a wagon train filled with spoils of war into the Buckeye State. The battle-scarred raiders rode through Market and Broadway searching for horses, feed, provisions, saddles, bridles, halters, and boots, while some also looted money, tobacco, liquor, and household items including ribbons, dresses, veils, skates, a birdcage with canaries, bolts of calico and silk, and women’s hats. Though exhausted after riding from southern Indiana, they did not rest, because nearly 10,000 Union soldiers waited in southwest Ohio and Brigadier General Edward Hobson with 2,500 Union cavalry followed less than a five-hour ride behind. Morgan hoped to deceive the enemy into expecting an attack on Cincinnati or Hamilton so his force could slip past those strongholds during the night, a decision that led to the longest lasting nonstop march of a cavalry division in U.S. history. As the Civil War dragged on amid heavy fighting at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Morgan crossed into southwestern Ohio on July 13, 1863, with more than 2,000 veteran raiders to occupy as many Union troops as possible, and Department of the Ohio commander Major General Ambrose Burnside found stopping him far harder than expected.