possession enabled him to
prevent communication of any kind between the troops occupying them.

As the command greatly needed rest, Colonel Morgan remained here (where
he felt more secure, for the reasons I have mentioned) during two days.
He was not entirely idle, however, during that time. He sent Captain
Hamilton, with one company, to disperse a Home-guard organization at the
Stamping Ground, thirteen miles from Georgetown. Hamilton accomplished
his mission, and burned the tents, and destroyed the guns. Detachments
were kept constantly at or near Midway, to prevent any communication by
the railroad between Lexington and Frankfort. Captain Castleman was sent
to destroy the bridges on the Kentucky Central Railroad between
Lexington and Paris--which he did; and was instructed to rejoin the
command in three or four days at Winchester, in Clark county. For other
than strategic reasons, Georgetown was an admirable selection as a
resting point. The large majority of the people throughout this region
were, even at that time, strongly Southern in sentiment and sympathy,
and their native inclination to hospitality was much enhanced by the
knowledge that they were feeding their friends, when we would suddenly
descend upon them. There was a drawback in the apprehension of a visit
from some provost-guards, to investigate the circumstances of this
profuse and practical sympathy with armed rebels. But they hit upon an
expedient which they thought would obviate all the unpleasant
after-claps. They _would give nothing of their own free will and
accord_; but forced us to "impress" every thing that we needed. Many a
time have I seen an old farmer unlock all the closets and presses in his
house--press the keys of his meat-house into the hands of the
Commissary, point out to the Quartermaster where forage could be
obtained, muster his negroes to cook and make themselves generally
useful, protesting all the time that he was acting under the cruelest
compulsion, and then stand by, rubbing his hands and chuckling to think
how well he had reconciled the indulgence of his private sympathies with
his public repute for loyalty. The old ladies, however, were serious
obstacles to the establishment of these decorous records. They wished
not only to give but to talk freely, and the more the husband wisely
preached "policy" and an astute prudence, the more certainly were his
cob-webs of caution torn into shreds by the trenchant tongue of his
wife.