Post edited 7:12 pm – August 28, 2009 by admin

The Battle of Buffington Island was the only major Civil War engagement fought in the State of Ohio.

On July 13, 1863, Brigadier-General John Hunt Morgan, a Confederate cavalry leader, entered Ohio to continue their raid through the northwest states. The raiders continued through southern and sourthesst Ohio in attempt to reach the Ohio River and cross into West Virginia. They reached the town of wartime Portland but were soon outnumbered by Union forces under Brigadier-General E.H. Hobson. Union General Ambrose Burnside also had sent Northern soldiers and gunboats to patrol the Ohio River. Morgan's men attempted to cross the Ohio River at a ford near Buffington Island. The Confederates succeeded in getting a small number of men across the river before Union gunboats and soldiers under Hobson and Judah surrounded the raiders. A battle ensued at Buffington Island. Many of the raiders were captured but Morgan escaped up river until he was captured at Salineville.

Source:

Ohio History Central http://www.ohiohistorycentral……hp?rec=470

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Hi Dave,

There are plans to put in a Morgan's Raid Heritage Trail with interpretive signs (I've seen a few samples of them and they look fantastic). OHS has been working with some wonderful volunteers from communities along the trail who are writing the content for the signs as well as creating a guide book. We are hoping to be done with the signs by the end of this year and then communities will have the opportunity to plan a dedication ceremony in 2010 or wait for the anniversary in 2013. I'll have more news about the trail once we have our next meeting this month. I'll make sure to post an update.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Kristina

Hi Kieran,

I'm not sure who our contact is in Athens, but I'll find out!

I don't really have any more news about the trail just yet. I believe the next meeting for the Trail Commission is June 5th and they will be finalizing the locations of the interpretive panels and discussing the layout of the panels. For some of the locations, we are in need of GPS coordinates so after the meeting I may post a call-out for volunteers to help the commission reps get that information.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I'll make sure to post an article about the results of the meeting.

Kristina

Buckeye said:

Any more on this?   I've yet to see any signs near Cincinnati, but then again I might not be looking in the correct locations!  

The signs will be installed next summer. I don't have much news about it except that the panels are almost finished and we are double-checking GPS coordinates. I'm also from Cincinnati so I'll be sure to send any updates about the panels being installed in the area. I'm very excited to see them as well.

There will be a Buffington Island kiosk exhibit installed around July 2011. We are working with an illustrator to create some very cool scenes across the top of the panels. When a visitor stands in the middle of the kiosk, she/he will feel surrounded by Judah and Hobson and fired upon by the USS Moose! Also, we found in our collections a small book that Morgan and his generals signed as they entered the Ohio Pen. We'll be adding an image of Morgan's signature and possibly of a few others. We are working on finding some good maps and images of newspapers announcing Morgan's capture and escape. When we have the illustrations/images done, I'll see if I can upload one or two to the website for a sneak peek.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Kristina

Ohio Civil War 150

Ohio Historical Society