Tim Massey at the grave of John Hunt Morgan at the Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky.

Morgan’s Men killed in the Battle of Cynthiana are buried in a circle around the monument remembering the battle at the Battle Grove Cemetery, which is on the battleground.

Daniel Boone’s Last Kentucky Homeplace near Carlisle, Kentucky, was one of the unexpected fun side trip stops along the road toward Maysville.

Tim Massey at the grave of John Hunt Morgan at the Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky.

Morgan’s Men killed in the Battle of Cynthiana are buried in a circle around the monument remembering the battle at the Battle Grove Cemetery, which is on the battleground.

Daniel Boone’s Last Kentucky Homeplace near Carlisle, Kentucky, was one of the unexpected fun side trip stops along the road toward Maysville.

This past weekend was the annual trek following in the footsteps of Morgan’s Men. This year we were headquartered in Maysville, Kentucky. I had not been to Maysville, although I had been in the area. As I have said in the past, these events get to be a lot like family reunions. I have made a lot of friends in the last 20-plus years of attending these. Sadly, we have lost a lot of great friends in recent years.

Kevin Witherell was riding with me, and I picked him up at the General Longstreet Museum in Russellville. It was 6 a.m. and was raining cats and dogs. It was a total downpour! We drove through a lot of standing water but finally made it through the worst of it. I had hoped to catch the sunrise on Clinch Mountain with camera in hand, but nope, it was not sunrise watching weather, so we trudged on.

Along the way, Lois Cline from Knoxville messaged me to see where we were. She suggested we meet up with her and husband Mike at the Cracker Barrel in London, Kentucky. It was nice to “hook-up” with some old and dear friends and even nicer that Lois bought everybody’s breakfast. As we were enjoying our early social time, I mentioned that I planned to stop by the Lexington Cemetery and visit General Morgan on the way. Mike quickly said, “we’ll follow you!” After all, we didn’t have to be in Maysville for the early arrivals tour until 1 p.m. Those “Tim Massey side trips” had begun.

If I’m in or passing through Lexington, Kentucky, it is traditional to stop by the Lexington Cemetery. Going to the Morgan’s Men reunion, it’s only natural to pay respects to the general. His equestrian statue has been moved here too now, as I have mentioned before.

The cemetery is as beautiful as any park with its giant trees which allow blades of morning sunshine to slice through. It is a magical, almost heavenly plot of ground in the middle of a busy city. On this day, this was a first-time visit for Lois. Mike and Kevin had only been here a couple times, so we did a little walking and talking.

I always stop by Mary Desha, one of the founders of the DAR. The Deshas are another storied Lexington family. The Breckenridge family plot is always a visit, being close by the Hunt-Morgan plot. Their markers are simple and easily overlooked, but the history behind this family is incredible. John Cable Breckenridge was the youngest U.S. vice president, and likely would have been elected president in 1860 had John Bell of Tennessee not entered the race, splitting the vote.

Edward O. Guerrant is another I like to visit. He kept Morgan’s headquarters diary, and thanks to him we have a lot of East Tennessee history that might have been lost. He also married a local girl he met while in the area during the war, promising to come back and marry her. A promise he kept.

I passed by Union General Gordon Granger, who was born in New York and died in New Mexico but is buried here. The equestrian statue of General Morgan is in the Confederate section of the cemetery where the general looks over his men. In fact, Morgan’s Men are spread out over the cemetery. I took our group over to the Todd plot where the brothers and sisters of Mary Todd Lincoln rest. Lincoln’s brothers-in-law were all Confederates.

It is almost impossible to stop here without paying respects to Henry Clay, who has the largest monument in the cemetery. It was built in 1857, five years after his death, and features a statue of Clay on a 120-foot pedestal. Henry wanted to be able to look across town to keep an eye on his home, Ashland. I have often wondered why he wasn’t buried in his back yard at Ashland. Of course, in 1852 no one could have dared dream it would be a historic site one day.

We next made a stop at the Hunt-Morgan House, then walked down the street, visiting the First Presbyterian Church where the Morgans attended and General Morgan’s third funeral was held.

Back on the road, we had just enough time to get to our destination when we came to the Blue Licks Battlefield State Park. I decided we had about 10 minutes to spare here so we wheeled in. I have been here several times and Morgan’s Men held our reunion in the hotel several years ago.

My crew had not been here, so we ended up walking the field, touring the museum, and how could we not go over to the hotel to visit the gift shop. Mona Henson kept messaging to see where we were, that tour we were supposed to be on at 1 p.m. was about to happen.

We were going to be a few minutes late, when I spotted a sign, “Daniel Boone’s Last Kentucky Home.” How could we resist that one? Again, we were off the road, going somewhere to see something. Boone’s last Kentucky home was a reproduced cabin along a spring where Boone had lived before moving to Missouri. It was a neat little museum with the door open and a guest book to sign.

It had a lot of artifacts and even a pocketknife on the table and not a soul around to keep an eye on the place. This was a fun side tour. In the field outside was an ostrich which seemed to have an affection for me. Mike and I were making jokes such as Daniel saying, “hey Becky wait till you see this big chicken I brung you.”

As we were now late for the early arrivals tour, we decided to make another side trip to Cynthiana. MMA was there in 2015, so I knew my way around. First stop was the Battle Grove Cemetery where a marker describes the battle there which was the second battle of Cynthiana in June 1864. At the center is a large monument with Morgan’s Men in a circle around it. Two of those buried there are from Tennessee, one from Knoxville.

Mike wanted to go to the site of Keller’s Covered Bridge, where his ancestor fought. We went into the cemetery office to see if they could give us directions to find it. We found a knowledgeable gentleman who said he was 88 and refused to retire. He knew his local history and his Civil War history for sure. He showed us a book he had compiled of all the known Civil War veterans buried in the cemetery. It included military, as well as family histories.

He had framed on the wall Civil War artifacts which were dug in the cemetery. He said he had allowed metal detectors to come in on the grounds, provided they shared their bounty. He also had a framed picture of the bridge we were looking for. He drew us a map to help us find the location. He said as a kid he and his friends skinny-dipped just below it.

We found the historical marker and then walked down to the location of the bridge, which is now a modern rail line. We walked the rails and out over the river, seeing no remnants of the original bridge.

Driving back into town I spied the Cynthiana History Museum located in the old theater building. This museum was not what I would call fancy, but it was good, really good. It reminded me of an antique shop on steroids. Just inside the front door was a painted portrait of General Morgan and a corner display related the two battles at Cynthiana.

We were greeted by Larry, who informed us he was a member of Morgan’s Men. Larry graciously made us copies of information related to Morgan in Cynthiana. This museum was packed, but it was overwhelmingly good! It was small town history at its best.

We walked around the town visiting the old courthouse where the good markers are usually located. Across the street was the oldest building in Cynthiana, a log structure built in 1790 which served as the first courthouse.

Heading to Maysville I saw a sign for a “covered bridge” and since Mike never got to see the one he wanted to see, here we went again off the main course. We drove though it then parked, got out took pictures and enjoyed the structure. We were just like tourists that have never seen such before.

We stopped for a quick snack. Driving in, I kept eyeing historical markers and more brown signs, those that tell you where the good stuff is located. We had a meeting we had to be at, so I only slowed down to try to see what they were. Yes, Scarlett O’Hara, tomorrow is another day!

Finally arriving at the hotel, we were met by Mona, who told us what a great tour we had missed, and we informed her what fun places she had missed. That evening we gathered in a meeting room for registration and visiting. The tables were set up in a big square around the room. It was a typical evening gathering where you sit and talk to your friends and stare at the new people, wondering who they are.

MMA commander Ralph Widowski welcomed everyone and made some announcements, then something interesting happened. A gentleman, a first timer, spoke up and told his name, told who his ancestor was, and asked everyone in the room to talk about their ancestor who rode with Morgan.

It was incredible as everyone seemed to come to life sharing their stories. One gentleman said his ancestor wasn’t captured on the great raid and made his way to “Norristown” where Adam Johnson reorganized what was left of the command. He said that all the books say that Johnson gathered up the remnant of Morgan’s command at “Norristown,” but they don’t tell what happened to them after that.

The room suddenly got really quiet. I spoke up, telling him that Johnson reorganized the command at Morristown, Tennessee. I have never found anything about why they ended up in Morristown, but the county historian Bill Henderson told me once he thought Morgan’s Men, the real ones, may have held a reunion there one time.

I told the gentleman that Johnson took the troopers that were able to ride with sound horses to Decatur, Georgia, while those sick, wounded and with poor mounts went to a convalescent camp in Alabama. The soldiers called these “dead horse camps” because you and your horse had to be about dead to go there.

These troops were reorganized again and sent to the battlefield at Chickamauga. When I say that Morgan’s Men were at Chickamauga, some people think I’m crazy, but they were at Reeds Bridge under Forrest and another group was on Missionary Ridge. Forrest told his group, “Men, your leader is locked in a felon’s cell, let your battle cry be ‘Morgan’ and give those Yankees hell!” They held the bridge and Forrest said, “anyone who says Morgan’s Men are not good soldiers and good fighters tells a damned Lie!”

My group of old and new friends, which is thinning due to deaths, have always gone on a midnight raid. In other words, after all the camaraderie and visiting we go eat somewhere. We call it “Morgan’s Men’s midnight raid.” This year, we went to Applebee’s because it was the only place open in Maysville at 10:30 p.m.

I don’t remember when or why we started this, but even 10:30 is now way past my bedtime. As Caroline reminded me, it’s only one time a year. I decided to ride over with Kathi Uzzel, who was driving one of those “Cube” cars with the front end seemingly held on with duct tape. I did compliment Kathi on her choice of black duct tape which matched the rest of the car.

Mike and Lois joined us this year, and we took a moment to remember good friend David Wright who passed away a couple months ago. We enjoyed some great feel-good food in great companionship doing something we all enjoy. It had been a long day, but a day filled with fun and adventure. While I had done a lot of it before, it was fun to show others those side trip stops along the way.

Kevin, Mona, and I will be at the Longstreet Seminar in Chickamauga this October. Kathi, Mike and Lois are thinking about coming along for another ride with a different group. I look forward to a new tradition of “Morgan’s Men’s midnight raid with General Longstreet.” We can do that!

As I was writing this I thought about when I first rode a horse and my Daddy would tell me to not let it get away from me, or out from under me. When at age 10 I got my first motorcycle I heard the same thing. I must admit that I let both horses and motorcycles get out from under me. This article was supposed to be a single article, but I never made it to Saturday. I tried to be short, and left out a lot of great details, but here we are at the bottom of the page. I let it get out from under me!

This is Labor Day weekend. It is a time to remember the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of our great country. Labor from the earliest time has been the backbone of our society. Enjoy your time off, and if you get a chance take in some local history.

Greene County historian Tim Massey is an award-winning writer. He can be reached at horses319@comcast.net.

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