Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan and his men reached Wilkesville just before dark on July 17, 1863, met little resistance from the local home guard, and plundered the village office and local stores. Morgan took as his headquarters the home of local physician Dr. William Cline, an ardent abolitionist known to assist runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad, whose wife, Ruth Virginia Althar, was reported to be Morgan's first cousin. After preparing his command to move within a few hours, Morgan rested briefly, and rumor held that his African American valet escaped with the general's wallet while he slept. With Union pursuers closing in, the Confederates left around 3 am on July 18 for the ford at Buffington Island, hoping to cross back into friendly territory, while Morgan split his force by sending one company north toward Harrisonville, another south to Danville, and the main body east toward Middleport on the Ohio River. After the Battle of Buffington Island, Morgan and about 800 raiders fled to Cheshire, about 15 miles southeast, intending to cross the Ohio River at Eight Mile Island Ford. Brigadier General James Shackelford and about 1,000 Union cavalrymen pursued them there, and late on July 20, 1863, Colonel Frank Wolford's brigade fought the Confederate rear guard under Lieutenant Colonel Cicero Coleman for an hour on Kyger Creek and Coal Hill. Outnumbered and surrounded, Coleman surrendered his 80 raiders to Shackelford, while Morgan escaped with the rest toward Addison.