Georgetown was usually a quiet place, but shortly before 4 am on July 25, 1863, as Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan and about 500 raiders approached, the village was alive with activity. Morgan's advance brought out more than 1,000 Harrison County militiamen from nearby Cadiz, led by Judge S. W. Bostwick and well positioned on a hill southwest of the village. After Bostwick sent a scout to Brigadier General James Shackelford, who was at the head of about 1,200 mounted Union soldiers in nearby New Athens, to warn that Morgan was approaching Georgetown, Morgan learned Shackelford's troops were very close and decided to bypass the militia position. He directed his men to the crest of the Harrisville Ridge along a then-existing road, where they came into full view of Shackelford's troops at Hammond Crossroads. Knowing his men were exhausted and could not reach Morgan in time, Shackelford ordered his artillery to fire on the Confederates. Though two raiders were wounded and some trees were felled in the barrage, Morgan and his men rode on and escaped again.