The Battle of Lebanon marked a key episode in Morgan's Raid, during which Confederate cavalry captured a Union garrison after a six-hour fight before pushing into Indiana and Ohio.
Key Facts
- Date
- July 5, 1863
- Confederate force size
- 2,460 cavalrymen
- Union garrison size
- 350–400 men, 20th Kentucky Infantry
- Duration of battle
- Six hours
- Buildings burned
- Approximately 22 structures, including clerk offices
- Notable casualty
- Lt. Thomas Morgan, age 19, brother of Gen. Morgan
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan led 2,460 Confederate cavalrymen northward from Tennessee to divert Union attention from Confederate forces facing the Tullahoma Campaign. After a repulse at Tebbs Bend on July 4, Morgan circled westward toward Lebanon, hoping to reach Louisville, which was lightly defended at the time.
Morgan's cavalry surrounded Lebanon and formally demanded surrender from Lt. Col. Charles S. Hanson's garrison of 350–400 Union troops. Hanson refused and his men fortified the Louisville and Nashville Railroad depot. Morgan's forces fought for six hours, setting adjacent buildings ablaze to force a capitulation, before finally capturing and paroling the defenders.
Morgan captured the Lebanon garrison and his men burned roughly 22 buildings before continuing northward. The raid pressed through Kentucky into Indiana and Ohio, ultimately ending in the surrender of Morgan's force. The battle also cost Morgan a personal loss: his 19-year-old brother, Lt. Thomas Morgan, was killed during the final charge.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Lt. Col. Charles S. Hanson.
Side B
1 belligerent
Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan.