57 B a u m a n R a r e B o o k s Morgan was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. In the Summer of 1863, without obtaining General Wheeler’s blessing, he and his 2000 men crossed into Indiana and Ohio from Kentucky. “Pursued by superior forces, he commenced a wild ride through the suburbs of Cincinnati, and east… Morgan’s men became exhausted, with the result that when their pursuers caught up with them on July 19… most of the command surrendered. Morgan himself rode on, but was surrounded near New Lisbon, Ohio, and on July 26 surrendered” (DAB). The Federals, determined to make an example of Morgan and his men, confined them to the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. They forced them to bathe in tubs of dirty water, shaved off all their hair, forbade them to talk at meals, handed them empty envelopes from their wives and families, and confined them to a moldy dungeon for insubordination. Conditions improved somewhat after Morgan protested to the Governor. Some news leaked in by word-of-mouth and smuggled newspapers; just at the time when the inmates were signing this autograph album their spirits were lifted by reports of Chickamauga. The man credited with masterminding what has been called the Civil War’s most famous jailbreak was Thomas H. Hines, who in reading Les Miserables in his cell was struck with the notion of digging his way out. (Hines has signed this album.) To this day no one is sure how he and Morgan and five others actually escaped, though modern evidence suggests bribery rather than digging. Morgan resumed his career as a raider in April, 1864, but was never as successful as before his imprisonment. On September 3, 1864, at Greenville, Tennessee, a party of Federals passed unnoticed into Morgan’s lines and killed him as he endeavored to rejoin his men. Notable signers, besides Morgan, include Captains Thomas H. Hines, L.D. Hockersmith, Samuel B. Taylor, and Ralph Sheldon. Others who signed the album include Richard C. Morgan (the general’s brother), Colonel Joseph T. Tucker, Lieutenant Colonel J.B. McCreary, Colonel Basil Duke (author of AHistory of Morgan’s Cavalry) and Colonel W.W. Ward. Occasional soiling, signatures generally clean and fine, original morocco binding rebacked to match original. A scarce and unusual Civil War item.
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