In April 1862, after the Battle of Shiloh, Confederate Col. John Hunt Morgan planned a raid through Tennessee and Kentucky to sever Union supply lines. Morgan led the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry from Corinth, Mississippi, into Tennessee and engaged several Federal detachments, drawing the attention of Union Gen. Ebenezer Dumont, who quickly assembled a mounted force to intercept them. After missing Morgan near Shelbyville, Dumont’s advance under Col. Frank L. Wolford caught up with Morgan’s rear guard on May 4 but broke off the action after inconclusive skirmishing. Believing the Federals had retreated, Morgan continued to Lebanon, where his men bivouacked around the town square and in the buildings of Cumberland University. Heavy rain fell all night, and Confederate pickets went inside to dry off near the fire. The Federals were only four miles away, however, and at dawn the 1st Kentucky (U.S.) and 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry burst into town and surprised Morgan’s command. A lone Confederate sentry, Pvt. Pleasant Whitlow, rode just ahead of the attackers and gave only a brief warning before he was shot down. Unable to reach the livery stables and mount, many defenders took cover, and fierce house-to-house fighting began. The Federals finally drove the overwhelmed Confederates out of town. In the running fight, Morgan and a handful of his men escaped to Carthage on the Rome Turnpike. Amid the confusion, Morgan lost his favorite horse, Black Bess. While Federal casualties were low, about 50 of Morgan’s men were killed, 150 captured, and the remainder scattered throughout the countryside.