more horses than men died at the battle of Lisbon, Ohio Saturday July 25,1863

more horses than men died at the battle of Lisbon, Ohio Saturday July 25, 1863

fiction
edward w Pritchard

These oral memories from former slave Rufus [ no last name] as archived for the works progress administration [wpa] April 1932.

State your name please

When I became a Christian in 1883 my name became Moses Win but while a slave I was called Rufus

Where were you a slave at

I was born in Virginia at Clarksburg [now West Virginia]. When I was six I was sold at auction in Wheeling [ WVA] where I was permanently separated from my Mother and sister. I was taken to Lexington Kentucky where I worked at a horse farm as a slave for the Allen family. In 1859 I was sent to Alliance, Ohio to care for Roswell Allen's dying aunt Miss Martha Allen. Although I was still a slave in Ohio [technically, legally?] during the course of the Civil War I became emancipated in 1866 [14th amendment].

Did you know Captain John Morgan in Lexington Kentucky?

Yes sir. Captain Morgan and his brothers bought many fine blooded blue grass horses from the Allen family and I often delivered the horses to Captain Morgan's riding stables in Lexington where he and his fellows of the Lexington rifles trained and practiced riding and shooting from 1857 till I left Ky in 1859. Later after the battle of Gettysburg I heard that Morgan's raiders were attacking Ohio [in July 1863]. I became a soldier in the Ohio  home guard near Lisbon, Ohio. I believe I was one of the first black soldiers to fight in the Civil War from Ohio.

Tell us about the battle there at Lisbon, Ohio July 26th 1863 against Captain John Morgan and his raiders

We black men from the area were fighting because we thought captain Morgan would send captured colored folks back south into slavery like had recently happened at the battle of Gettysburg on July 04, 1863 by General Lee's armies.The white persons in the Ohio home guard were fighting to defend their families from raiders. Captain Morgan and his men had robbed a few banks and businesses and more than once threatened to burn a town in Ohio or Indiana if a large ransom wasn't paid by ordinary people. We thought at the time, Morgan's raiders had ridden into into Ohio with 10,000 men and these soldier's were the best horse soldiers in America then, excellent shots with a rifle and were equipped with the the best horses. Then professional soldiers from Ohio were fighting in Virginia or in the West at Vicksburg or down that way. That's why we needed a home guard of volunteer amateur soldiers and how things became desperate enough to allow black men to fight. Also there were many pacifists in Ohio then, like religious Quakers who wouldn't fight and Copperheads,who were Ohio democrats against continuing the civil war. Many people said at the time that the copperheads would organize, rise up and help Morgan's men to subdue Ohio and negotiate an end to the civil war; allowing the Confederacy to succeed and slavery to continue. That's why I was willing to fight even though my wife was against it.

Please go on and explain what you mean by "more horses than men died at the battle of Lisbon, Ohio Saturday July 25, 1863?"

May I have a drink of water?

to be continued

[later]

Please Mr.Win go on

We started to march down to Lisbon, Ohio on Friday July 24th and arrived just North of town about 6 pm Saturday the 25th.There were about five hundred of us.We had marched about 36 miles in two days and I was tired from the walk although I was in good shape having always done manual labor. We did not have uniforms but most of us had good rifles because Mr Halley our captain had confiscated rifles from men who could not fight or pacifists in the Alliance area. That Saturday we setup camp in the woods along a long stretch of road on the Wellsville to Cleveland Pike which was
considered the most likely place that Morgan's raiders would pass through on their way to Northern Ohio or Lake Erie. At the time we thought that Morgan's raiders were invading Ohio with plans to attack Cleveland or Ravenna. The Wellsville road just South of Lisbon runs down a long steep hill for about half a mile and then as it enters the Salem, Ohio area up another hill close to a mile long. The area around the road there is heavily wooded,a perfect place for an ambush. We had an excellent supper as our wives and sweethearts had spent days cooking to send us to war fully provisioned. We were scared of Morgan's raiders as we did not know where they were, when they would come, and how many there would be.We did know they were excellent marksmen and had superb horses. My wife had just had a fight with me two days before, worried about me being  singled out to be killed by the confederates who did not accept the idea then of colored soldiers and we black men were sure they would take no colored prisoners should they overwhelm us. My wife had said to me afraid for my safety and in anger "Rufus your black face will be the first thing they shoot at". I hoped to prove her wrong and come home a hero to see her again and our little daughter.

After supper that Saturday night as usual the colored men got the worse jobs. Captain Halley our leader had us ten colored men select the best rifles with the longest range and then he had some of the men set four horses loose running down the Wellsville pike road. We colored  troops were ordered to shoot the horses as they ran from a long way off to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new rifles and  the practicality of shooting a horse,  a much bigger target than an enemy soldier charging down a hill during an ambush on a steep decline. I am sure I hit and killed one of the horses which troubles me to this day. We were all, the home guard soldier's, ordered should battle occur to shoot and aim at horses not men as the men would die from the fall should his horse be shot while charging.

The next day was Sunday July 26th and we saw no action during the capture and surrender of Morgan's remaining raiders about ten miles away from Lisbon at Salineville. Morgan's raiders were down to less than a thousand men at the time of the surrender. Since there was no confederate raiders killed at Lisbon and no battle of Lisbon on July 25th or 26th I believe I am correct to say that more horses than men died at the battle of Lisbon in the American civil war. I shot one of those horses, following orders. Although I was a member of the Alliance home guard for the next two years in the civil war I saw no more action. Much later in the 1870's I was a member of the black 10th cavalry fighting Indians throughout the American West. But that's something I don't talk about.