We have been researching General George Morgan’s 7th Division retreat from Cumberland Gap for a while now. The one and only modern book that deals specifically with the retreat is A Masterful Retreat by Judge Lewis D. Nicholls. He grew up in Greenup County and remembered being enthralled with the local historical marker with a brief explanation of the retreat. As he grew up and began his adulthood the interest in the retreat and all things civil war never waned. After years of attending civil war reenactments and gathering up bits and pieces of information on the retreat Judge Nicholls decided to bite the bullet and take a serious run at writing this book. He mentions in the acknowledgments that he had no idea how to begin or how to proceed. I certainly understand his trepidation in that regard. He took on the task more as a labor of love than a scholarly look at the subject. In the end he did a pretty good job of both. I appreciate the effort Judge Nicholls put into this work however there are some issues I have with his presentation.
Apologetic of General Morgan
I question the stated purpose of the book in his introduction and the methods the Judge employed to achieve the purpose. He took on the work in an attempt to vindicate General George Morgan’s actions in September of 1862. He took great pains to expose General Morgan’s adherence to modern military principles of warfare to show the brilliance of his actions. I would argue he went to too great a length making his point. I have two primary issues with Judge Nicholls apology.
1) I am no military historian. Mark Grimsley I most certainly am not. Based on my very limited expertise, however, I would suggest that we hold General Morgan to the principles of his time to determine the validity and accuracy of his decisions in 1862.
2) General Morgan was vindicated by Major General Horatio Wright, Brigadier General Morgan’s then immediate commanding officer, soon after the 7th Division reached Greenup. In this dispatch from General Wright to General Buell just 2 weeks after the successful completion of the retreat, General Wright both clears General Morgan of any wrong doing as well as hints at the necessity of future students, such as ourselves, to view historical events in the context of their times. Until this campaign Cumberland Gap was viewed as the only avenue into Kentucky from the southeast. Both General George Morgan’s 7th Division and General Kirby Smith’s Army of Tennessee displayed in stark detail just how defenseless this American Gibraltar really was. When General Morgan was ordered to take and hold the Gap everyone from General Halleck down was resolute in the belief that Cumberland Gap was the lynch pen of defense for Kentucky.
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O.R.– SERIES I–VOLUME XVI/1 [S# 22]
SEPTEMBER 17-OCTOBER 3 1862.–Evacuation of Cumberland Gap, Tenn., and march of its garrison to Greenupsburg, Ky.
No. 1.–Report of Maj. Gen. Horatio G. Wright, U.S. Army, commanding Department of the Ohio. [ar22_990]
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE OHIO,
Cincinnati, Ohio, October 15, 1862.
GENERAL: I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of the report of Brig. Gen. George W. Morgan, dated the 12th instant, detailing the circumstances occasioning the withdrawal of his command from Cumberland Gap:
It appears from this report that the evacuation, which was in pursuance of the unanimous opinion of a council of the general officers of the command, was a matter of necessity, arising from their provisions being exhausted, their communications cut off, and no information of any prospect of relief being received. While the evacuation of the Gap is to be regretted, I do not see how, with starvation staring him in the face and with no certainty of relief being afforded, he could have come to any other conclusion than the one arrived at. The several communications which I-had addressed to him appear not to have reached him. After the unfortunate battle near Richmond the entire country between the Ohio River and Cumberland Gap was in possession of the rebels, and communications could be sent only through the agency of individuals familiar with the country, and who of course ran great risk of capture. Several persons were found to undertake the mission, but none seem to have succeeded in getting through. The march of General Morgan from Cumberland Gap to the Ohio River was most successfully accomplished and reflects much credit on him and his officers for the skill with which it was conducted, and upon the men for the cheerfulness with which they bore the hardships of a toilsome march of over 200 miles, on scanty fare, over a country affording little subsistence, and often, for long marches, on an inadequate supply of water. The holding of Cumberland Gap has generally been considered as of the greatest moment, it being viewed as the only practicable avenue for the passage of an army into Kentucky from the Southeast. Its importance has, however, I apprehend, been much overestimated, there being several passes through the mountains which, though less easy, are nevertheless practicable, as is shown by the fact that Kirby Smith, with a rebel force of over 20,000 men, passed into Kentucky through one of them. This knowledge diminishes, in my judgment, the importance hitherto attached to the possession of the Gap, unless the neighboring avenues through the mountains into Kentucky are also held.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H. G. WRIGHT,
Major-General, Commanding.
Brig. Gen. G. W. CULLUM,
Chief of Staff, Hdqrs. of the Army, Washington, D.C.
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Judge Nicholls does shed some new light on the retreat but rolling his research into an apologetic 144 years after General Morgan’s own commander cleared him of any wrong doing or dereliction of duty seems a bit of a stretch.
Anecdotes of Soldiers
One of the things that kept my interest of History at bay for so many years was the lack of personality in the study. This may be more of an indictment on my instructors than the course material but the reasons remain the same. Civil War history was all about the eastern theater of the war and then all about dates. We read about what Generals Lee and McClellan did at Antietam but not a word from the soldiers serving in the rank and file. Judge Nicholls includes some anecdotes from the soldiers serving in Morgan’s Division but the reader isn’t left knowing much more about how the soldiers endured the retreat than before reading the book. Again, Nicholls’ stated purpose for the book is as a defense of General Morgan. In our research, however, we have found ample resources that would both give credit to General Morgan as well as complete the story of the average soldier in the line. Reading Nicholls’ book we get bits and pieces from his research that tell interesting anecdotes but not much that explains authoritatively certain events surrounding the run up and actual retreat of the 7th Division from Cumberland Gap. For example, Judge Nicholls uses Surgeon B.F. Stevenson’s Letters(22nd Kentucky in DeCourcy’s Brigade) recitation of the events at Manchester on September 18th. He glosses over the incident that we detailed here and here and doesn’t mention the flurry of desertions over the next couple of days. His work being a defense of General Morgan, I’m guessing that it would be hard to defend such a surge of desertions after the execution of Private Stivers which by all accounts was warranted.
Soldier Experience
I have been a reenactor for 20 some odd years. I don’t pretend to be in kindred spirit with the Veterans of the war or any war for that matter. I do suggest that the experience I have gained from reenacting helps me better understand what the veterans wrote about in their letters, diaries, and memoirs. Having the experience of spending a rainy night under a gum blanket, a blistering day in the color company of a battalion marching along a dusty road, or serving under less than adequate commanders provides a glimpse of the misery, exhaustion, and frustration of being a soldier during the Civil War. Judge Nicholls is to be commended for his service to our Country. It is because of veterans like him that I have the privilege of writing this review. His book only touches on the lives and experiences of the soldiers under General Morgan. Knowing where they went and when is a timeline. Understanding why they went where they went is history. Explaining the lives of the soldiers, their experiences during the maneuvers in question, and how their lives impacted their thoughts at the time, that dear reader is telling a story. Judge Nicholls doesn’t adequately tell the story of the soldiers in his book. Given the stated purpose of his book, he was successful in his endeavor but I believe their is a gripping story surrounding the lives of the soldiers who experienced this adventure that is yet to be told.
Conclusion
For anyone interested in the Cumberland Gap Campaign of 1862 I strongly recommend Judge Nicholls book, “A Masterful Retreat”. There are some factual errors in the research but that isn’t uncommon and I’m sure we will make our own errors going forward. This book provides for the reader a good basic understanding of the campaign complete with an excellent bibliography for further study. The reasoned actions of General Morgan are explained and compared against modern military philosophy relieving General Morgan of any blame for the evacuation of Cumberland Gap. Judge Nicholls also does an admirable job of calling the Buell Inquiry to the carpet for attempting to scape goat General Morgan for the loss of the Gap in September of 1862.
This book is an excellent starting point for other researchers to continue the story of Morgan’s Masterful Retreat.
