Battle
Guarding the river crossing at Hartsville was the 39th Brigade, XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, consisting of the 106th Ohio Infantry, 108th Ohio Infantry, 104th Illinois Infantry, and 2nd Indiana Cavalry. The brigade was commanded by Col. Absalom B. Moore. Under the cover of darkness, Morgan crossed the river in the early morning of December 7, 1862, with about 1,300 men, mainly Kentuckians, outnumbered by about 1,000 troops to the Union brigade. Another Union force, three times that size, was encamped nine miles away at Castalian Springs, close enough to hear the guns, but too far away to interfere.
Morgan's attack took the Union camp by surprise. One account from a participant indicates that the Confederates were able to get past the picket line by wearing blue uniforms, another that they wore civilian clothes and posed as refugees. The attack began at 6:45 a.m. with a simultaneous artillery bombardment and an infantry attack, while cavalry struck the flanks and rear. One of Moore's units ran after an hour, which caused confusion and helped to force the Federals to fall back. By 8:30 a.m., the Confederates had surrounded the Federals, convincing Col. Moore to surrender.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Hartsville
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