Old News: Morgan's Raid causes frenzy, avoids Indy

Driving the (old) news: On July 8, 1863, Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan led roughly 2,500 cavalrymen across the Ohio River into Harrison County, launching a six-day rampage across southern Indiana.

• It included the Battle of Corydon on July 9, the only Civil War engagement ever fought in Indiana.

Zoom in: As Morgan's men rode, Gov. Oliver P. Morton refused a Union general's request to declare martial law statewide. Instead, Morton appealed to the Indiana Legion and asked citizens to enroll as minutemen.

• The Indianapolis Daily Evening Gazette reported on July 13 that the Statehouse yard, Monument Circle and the Indy Soldiers' Home were full of companies arriving from across the state.
• The Soldiers' Home fed between 12,000 to 15,000 men in a single day as new militia units were armed, organized and shipped south by rail.

Between the lines: Talk that Morgan was aiming for Indianapolis was fueled by unconfirmed telegraph reports claiming that Camp Morton was his target.

• Historians say Morgan's telegraphic operator tapped telegraph lines and sent false messages to confuse and misdirect Union forces.
• In the end, Morgan never came near Indianapolis, and his campaign was running out of steam. He turned east, fought Union militia at Vernon and entered Ohio on July 13 where he was captured on July 26.