MARCH TO THE OHIO RIVER - DAY 10

On this day, the 16th Ohio with Morgan's entire Division left Hazel Green and resumed their march toward the Ohio River. They took with them sixty head of cattle which they had rounded up around the town the day before by Lt. Col. George Wood Monroe of the 22nd Kentucky Infantry. Before the Federal column had been gone an hour, a company of Confederate cavalry came in, raised sixty recruits in half an hour, and started on to recapture the cattle. They came up with the rear guard just before dusk, caught Monroe's men in a moment of carelessness, rushed in, killed the herdsmen and stampeded the cattle through the woods. Monroe rallied his men promptly and drove the raiders back with a loss of three killed, but the cattle were scattered, night was at hand, the rest of the column moving rapidly along, and the beef was lost. Word was immediately sent forward, and the troops halted and lay down in the road without fire until morning.

Morgan's Division was surrounded with foes and had to be ready to fight, even in their weakened condition, at any moment. Still, the Rebels counted on Gen. Morgan having to take a more practical route toward Maysville (Kentucky). They had withdrawn from Morgan's front at Proctor and were preparing to intercept him at Irvine. But having pushed his Division more easterly via Boonville and sending Spears' and DeCourcey's brigades through the hills to Hazel Green, Morgan had completely eluded the enemy, possibly saving the many lives to be lost in battle with the superior Confederate force, if not the whole Division from being surrendered. It was now an even more intense race to see if Morgan could get his troops through West Liberty and Grayson before the Confederates could catch up and engage him.

* Some information and italicized text, above, taken from The Forty-Second Ohio Infantry - A History of the Organization and Services of That Regiment In the War of the Rebellion, 1876 - F. H. Mason, late Private of Company A - Cobb, Andrews & Co., Publishers.