BIDWELL — Former Harrisburg-area resident Nellie “Ruby” Taylor is leading the charge to secure a historical marker near the New Hope Baptist Church to commemorate its destruction at the hands of Morgan’s Raiders during their incursion through Gallia County during the Civil War.

Morgan’s Raid was a highly publicized, 46-day expedition by Confederate cavalry into Indiana and Ohio in June and July of 1863, led by Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan. The daring advance behind enemy lines was the only major attack by Confederate forces on Ohio during the Civil War and was hailed in southern newspapers as “The Great Raid of 1863.” In contrast, it was labeled in northern newspapers as “The Calico Raid” due to the raiders’ tendencies to procure goods from local stores and houses.

The raiders entered Ohio on July 13, 1863, destroying stores, bridges and railroads, and spreading terror across the southern part of the state. Morgan avoided Union forces protecting Cincinnati and headed toward the Ohio River where he and his troops could cross over into West Virginia at a ford near Buffington Island in Meigs County.

It is likely that Morgan’s Raiders made an impact on Gallia County on their way to Buffington Island.

As the oral history was relayed to Taylor, Morgan divided his men into three groups sent in three different directions through Ohio.

In July 1863, some of the men were said to have entered Raccoon Township, burning down the New Hope Baptist Church, commonly known at the time as the Harris Colored Baptist Church, which was used to house Union soldiers of the United States Colored Troops.

The raiders were said to have continued along a now vacated road near the current Ohio 554, crossing Raccoon Creek via a covered bridge and looting a nearby general store.

The old road can still be seen near Ohio 554 on the property of Ivan Hurt, whose great grandfather Albert Hurt was an early member of the church that was burned in 1863. The vacated road leads down to Raccoon Creek where stone remnants of the old covered bridge can still be seen near an area of the creek that used to accommodate a grain mill.

Across the creek, the road’s path can be seen cutting up the hill until it meets Kerr Road where the old general store still stands in a sharp curve, though it has since undergone significant changes. The building has not been used as a general store since the early 1900s, according to Betty Stout, whose family has owned the structure for generations.

Stout said she remembers hearing the story about how Morgan’s Raiders stopped and obtained supplies at the general store on their way to Vinton.

Hurt said he believes the old road used to stretch all the way to Vinton and it is likely that Morgan’s Raiders simply followed the trail there.

According to an issue of the Gallia County Historical & Genealogical Society’s quarterly newsletter, The Gallia County Glade, featuring an excerpt by Louise Ewing Thompson Woltz, Morgan’s Raiders reached the village of Vinton at approximately 6 p.m. on July 17, 1863, where they reached a fork in the road.

The raiders rode east towards Pomeroy via Ewington, rather than crossing the Ohio River at Gallipolis where, according to Woltz, there was a well known ford only two or three feet deep.

On their way to Ewington, they relieved Woltz’s grandmother, Rachel Hawk Ewing, of her food supply, including a hoop cheese that was not yet ripe. Once in Ewington they stayed only long enough to procure grain, round up all the horses they could find, and eat any and all cooked food available, Woltz said.

The raiders then rode through Wilkesville, Salem Center and Langsville before reaching their destination in Meigs County. During the ensuing Battle of Buffington Island on July 19, approximately 750 of Morgan’s men were captured and 300 escaped to West Virginia. Morgan and about 400 remaining cavaliers were unable to escape Ohio following additional skirmishes in Gallia County as well as Coal Hill and Hockingport.

An oral history recently told to members of the historical society largely concurs with previous accounts, though Morgan was said to have traveled to Bidwell from Vinton, rather than the other way around, and some of his men apparently ended up in the Crown City-area where they engaged in a minor skirmish. The raiders were also said to have traveled through Vinton two times, pillaging at will and burning a bridge on one occasion.

Morgan was caught one week after the Battle of Buffington following defeat at the Battle of Salineville and taken to the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. He and six others managed to escape four months later by tunneling beneath their cells and scaling prison walls. He returned to the South only to be killed less than a year later while attempting yet another escape.

During the 46-day incursion into the North, Morgan and his cavalry reportedly diverted thousands of troops from their duties, captured approximately 6,000 Union soldiers and militia, destroyed 34 bridges and disrupted more than 60 places along the railroads. In Ohio alone, they were said to have stolen upwards of 2,500 horses and raided as many as 4,375 homes and businesses.

“The church cemetery where Civil War soldiers are buried, part of the general store remains, the pillars of the covered bridge, and the old mill in Raccoon Township reminds us so vividly of what happened there,” Taylor said of the site in her application to the Ohio Historical Society.

Taylor is seeking $750 in funding through the Ohio Historical Markers Grants Program as well as private donations to cover the cost of the marker. She is working to secure an Ohio site marker with different texts on each side, priced at $2,250. She said she would also like to add a second marker, not necessarily historical, listing the names of donors.

Citizens who wish to donate can make out a postal money order or cashier’s check to the Ohio Historical Society and mail it to Taylor at 15415 #2 Kinsman Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44120.