After the defeat of Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's invasion of Kentucky in Aug.-Oct. 1862, the Confederates retreated to Tennessee, and Bragg ordered Col. John Hunt Morgan to raid and harass rail lines and Federal troops in both states. In December 1862, Morgan attacked the Union garrison at Hartsville and escaped before the Federal force nine miles west of Castalian Springs could come to its aid. On December 7, 1862, in his most successful Tennessee raid, Morgan inflicted a lopsided defeat on a Federal garrison near Hartsville, a mile south of here, and captured the entire 39th Brigade of the Army of the Cumberland under Col. Absalom B. Moore. After observing that the brigade was isolated at its post and that miserable weather had lulled the Federals into a false sense of security, Morgan marched a combined force of cavalry, infantry, and artillery more than 30 miles on muddy roads, crossed the icy Cumberland River, drove in the Federal pickets, and rapidly assaulted the brigade's green troops, who soon surrendered. Because the Union brigade had never been under fire, and because Morgan's veteran cavalrymen executed the bold plan with speed and skill, the attack succeeded. In recognition of this accomplishment, the Confederate war department confirmed Morgan's recent promotion to brigadier general. Later that year, Morgan and Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest met near Lebanon, and forty years later Col. Basil W. Duke wrote that they compared notes about their tactics. When Morgan asked Forrest how he succeeded despite an overwhelming Federal presence, Forrest replied, “Oh, I just took the short cut and got there first with the most men.” At Hartsville, Moore had the most, but surprise and experience were on Morgan's side.