Morgan, John Hunt, 1825–64, Confederate general in the American Civil War, b. Huntsville, Ala. He spent most of his early life in Kentucky. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Morgan joined the Confederates as a cavalry scout, and in 1862 he began the daring raids behind Union lines that were to make him and his men famous. For his success at Hartsville, Tenn., where he captured a garrison of Union troops in Dec., 1862, he was made a brigadier general. The raid through Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio in the summer of 1863 was Morgan's outstanding feat, even though it ended in his capture (July, 1863). He escaped from prison in November and in Apr., 1864, was assigned to command in SW Virginia. Federals who had penetrated the Confederate lines killed him at Greeneville, Tenn., in Sept., 1864.
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