Winchester in Adams County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Capturing the Daily Stagecoach
—John Hunt Morgan Heritage Trail —
In the afternoon, Morgan sent a detachment to intercept the daily stage. The raiders stopped the stagecoach a short distance south of town, commandeered it, and drove it into Winchester, where they delivered the daily mail to Morgan.
Meanwhile, the rugged roads and lack of fresh horses caused the pursuing Union cavalry under Brigadier General Edward Hobson to fall behind the Confederates' fast pace. At Winchester the following morning, Hobson ordered Colonel August V. Kautz and his brigade to lead the pursuit. Kautz's orders were to engage and stall Morgan's Raiders long enough for the rest of Hobson's men to catch up.
Kautz knew the area well, having lived in nearby Georgetown. Kautz's cavalrymen rode nonstop to Jasper, arriving that night only to find the smoldering ruins of the canal bridge and Morgan even farther ahead.
General Joseph Darlinton founded Winchester on the Simon Kenton Trace in 1815. He named the village after his hometown in Virginia.
Bottom left: Gilbert Paul was the driver of the stagecoach waylaid and captured by Morgan's Raiders near Winchester.
Top right: Dr. Abel C. Lewis, Winchester's first resident physician, erected this home on South Street about 1845. Dr. Lewis was an ardent abolitionist and used his home as a station on the Underground Railroad. It is unclear whether any of Morgan's Raiders were aware of this history when they entered the home to demand food.
Text: Stephen Kelley & David L. Mowery
Illustrations: Bev Kirk
Erected 2013 by the Ohio Department of Transportation, the Ohio History Connection, and the Ohio Civil War Trail Commission. (Marker Number 13.)
Marker series. This marker is included in the John Hunt Morgan Heritage Trail in Ohio marker series.
Location. 38° 56.55′ N, 83° 39.033′ W. Marker is in Winchester, Ohio, in Adams County. Marker is at the intersection of East Washington Street and Main Street (Ohio Route 136), on the right when traveling west on East Washington Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 19306 OH-136, Winchester OH 45697, United States of America.
Other nearby markers. Seaman (approx. 4.2 miles away); Russell Shaw (approx. 9 miles away); Historic Decatur / A. N. Marquis and Who’s Who (approx. 9.3 miles away); Byrd Township World War I DAR Monument (approx. 9.3 miles away); Decatur Civil War Monument (approx. 9.3 miles away); Zane Trace (approx. 10.9 miles away); First Presbyterian Church (approx. 11.8 miles away); Bentonville Anti-Horse Thief Society (approx. 13½ miles away).
Categories. • Abolition & Underground RR • Bridges & Viaducts • War, US Civil •
Credits. This page was last revised on September 13, 2017. This page originally submitted on September 12, 2017, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 149 times since then and 6 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 12, 2017, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.