s.

Leaving Salem at one or two o'clock, we marched rapidly and steadily. At
nightfall we reached Vienna, on the Indianapolis and Jeffersonville
railroad. General Morgan placed Ellsworth in the telegraph office here,
the operator having been captured before he could give the alarm.
Ellsworth soon learned all the news to be had from Louisville and
Indianapolis, some of it valuable to us. General Morgan ascertained also
that orders had been issued to the militia to fell timber and blockade
all of the roads we would be likely to travel--our rapid marching had,
hitherto, saved us this annoyance. That night we went into camp near
Lexington, a little place six or seven miles from Vienna. General Morgan
slept in the town with a small escort, and during the night a party of
Federal cavalry entered the town and advanced as far as the house in
which he slept, but retired as suddenly as they came. We moved at an
early hour on the road to Paris--Colonel Smith was detached to feint
against Madison, in order to hold there troops who might prove
troublesome if they came out. The division moved quietly through Paris,
and in the afternoon arrived in sight of Vernon. Here Colonel Smith
rejoined us. A strong force was posted in Vernon, which General Morgan
did not care to attack. Fortunately, there were men in the command who
knew the country, and the General was enabled to carry the division
around the place to the Dupont road. Skirmishers were thrown out on the
road, leading into the town which we had left, and also upon the other
road, while this movement was being executed. General Morgan sent a
demand for the surrender of the place, which was declined, but the
officer commanding asked two hours to remove the non-combatants, which
reasonable request General Morgan granted. Humane considerations are
never inopportune. By the time that the non-combatants were safely
removed, the column had become straightened out on the new road, and the
skirmishers, after they had burned a bridge or two, were withdrawn.

We encamped that night at 12 P.M., and moved next morning at 3. The
fatigue of the marches, from the date of the crossing of the Ohio to the
period of the close of the raid, was tremendous. We had marched hard in
Kentucky, but we now averaged twenty-one hours in the saddle. Passing
through Dupont a little after daylight, a new feature in the practice of
appropriation was developed. A large meat packing establishment was in
this town,