Path of Destruction and Damage

Morgan's prime objective was striking fear in the civilian population. Along the route of the raid, his men took horses and provisions, destroyed property, and pillaged items from homes and businesses. By the time they arrived at Buffington Island, Morgan and more than 2,000 raiders had acquired a long train of wagons filled with raided booty. A Cincinnati Gazette reporter who had come upriver with the gunboats wrote that on the battlefield of Buffington Island one could pick up almost any article in dry goods, hardware, house furnishings, or ladies' or gentlemen's furnishings, including linen, hats, boots, gloves, knives, forks, spoons, calico, ribbons, drinking cups, buggies, carriages, a circus wagon, and an almost endless variety of useful and valuable articles. During the pursuit, Union soldiers also needed fresh horses and provisions, and claims were filed for damages by Union forces not under command of United States officers. Damage claims by county document losses from the time Morgan and his men entered Ohio until the Battle of Buffington Island.

Ohio · United States