As Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan and his Confederate raiders crossed southern Ohio, Governor David Tod called out ax brigades to fell trees across the raiders' anticipated route. Although downed trees were not a major problem for mounted troops, they hindered the baggage wagons and artillery following Morgan's column and increasingly frustrated the Confederates. At Stoney Ridge, on a hilltop with a clear field of fire, the Pike County Military Committee built a barricade to stop Morgan and his men, and about 40 of Jasper's townspeople manned it. About 1 pm on July 16, 1863, Morgan and his troopers arrived to find their path blocked. Morgan ordered several companies to dismount and fire a volley at the citizens, and after several rounds the defenders surrendered. The captured men were then forced to march back to Jasper under continual verbal abuse from Morgan's men.