Morgan's Raid

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Morgan's Raid (also the Calico Raid or Great Raid of 1863) was a diversionary incursion by Confederate cavalry into the Union states of Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia during the American Civil War. The raid took place from June 11 to July 26, 1863. It is named for the commander of the Confederate troops, Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan. Although it caused temporary alarm in the North, the raid failed. The raid covered more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km), beginning in Tennessee and ending in northern Ohio. It coincided with the Vicksburg and Gettysburg campaigns. It was meant to draw U.S. troops away from those fronts by frightening the North into demanding its troops return home. Despite his initial successes, Morgan failed to recross the Ohio River and eventually surrendered what remained of his command in northeastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania border. Morgan and other senior officers were held in the Ohio Penitentiary, but they tunneled their way out and took a train to Cincinnati...

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