"Lightning" Ellsworth Strikes Again

In the late afternoon of July 10, 1863, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan's men reached Vienna and seized the Jeffersonville Railroad Station from the agent and telegraph operator. Morgan's telegraph specialist, Lieutenant George "Lightning" Ellsworth, took control and obtained news from stations along the line between Louisville and Indianapolis. Ellsworth learned that Union General Edward H. Hobson's cavalry troops were about 30 miles behind. The wire was cut and the railroad tracks torn up. The station and water tank, turntable, and a bridge over Pigeon Roost Creek, were destroyed. The Vienna stores and homes were ransacked by the Raiders before they headed toward Lexington, seven miles to the east. Union General Hobson's men reached this point at 3:30 p.m., July 11th.

Indiana · United States