Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan and about 1,900 Confederate raiders reached the Ohio River Valley near Portland late in the evening of July 18, 1863. Morgan established his headquarters in the Middleswart House on the rise directly east. After scouting the ford, his men reported that an earthen redoubt overlooking it was manned by an unknown force with artillery, and they also found that the river was higher than usual, making a crossing difficult. Because of the lateness of the day and the uncertainty about the guard at the ford, Morgan chose to wait until first light to test the redoubt position. He ordered his men to make camp and placed Byrne's artillery battery on a hill to the south to support a morning assault on the redoubt. Half of the Confederate force under Colonel Basil Duke camped to the south, while the rest under Colonel Adam Johnson camped in the immediate area, and the raiders settled in to rest on the banks of the Ohio River near Portland while awaiting dawn.