Augusta County: "Valiance of Capt. Charles Morgan," by R. D. Firebaugh, April 1909
Summary: An article written in the wake of Capt. Charles F. Morgan's death, recounting Morgan's bravery during the Civil War.
The recent death of my old friend, Capt. Charles F. Morgan, who was the brigade inspector for General Imboden's command, reminds me of an incident to which I was an eyewitness and which I feel should be recorded.
Captain Morgan was the son of Colonel Morgan, Superintendent of the Virginia Penitentiary at Richmond before the war. Captain Morgan was a gallant soldier of the Confederacy, and was never happier than when in a charge. When the surrender at Appomattox took place, Imboden's Brigade, hearing the news, disbanded near Lynchburg. I was detailed in charge of broken-down horses near Middlebrook, Va., with two comrades, who were absent from their horses the day of the occurrence to which I refer, April 17.
Gilmer's Battalion, an independent organization of Confederates, was retreating south through the Valley of Virginia, believing they might be handled roughly by the Federals, who regarded them as bushwhackers. These men, numbering some sixty-five to eighty, were mounted, some without saddles, some even without bridles, and some on foot. They picked up every available horse with a C. S. or U. S. brand, and took horses belonging to private individuals. I decided to follow them in the hope that I might persuade them to relinquish the horses belonging to private soldiers. When I overtook them, I told the leader that I took him to be a gentleman and stated my business, explaining that they had the private property of my comrades. He replied that if I would follow them until they got better mounted I might have the horses. I agreed to this, and rode along with them until in sight of Brownsburg, when we met Capt. Charley Holt, of the 62d Virginia Regiment. I told him my trouble, and he instructed me to pass ahead of them into the village, where I would find Captain Morgan at a certain house; that he (Captain Holt) would stay with these men and see that they did not flank the village. I found Captain Morgan as instructed and stated the case to him. He inquired if I was armed, and to my reply that I thought it best to go unarmed he stepped back into the house and armed himself. By this time the men were coming up the street, and Captain Morgan, cocking both his pistols, halted them and demanded the horses, saddles, bridles, telling them he would die right there if they did not give them up without any parleying, that these horses belonged to his men. They obeyed him at once, complaining as a pretext that the house at which they got the horses had a Union flag displayed.
I do not claim any credit for this piece of bravery, as I was unarmed. It was simply the determination of Captain Morgan that secured the result. They knew if they attempted to pass him he would get two or three of them before they could fire on him. Gilmer's men were not cowards; they did very valuable service for the Confederacy. This shows what grit and determination sometimes accomplished. I was a member of Company I, 62d Virginia Mounted Infantry, Imboden's Brigade.
Bibliographic Information: Source copy consulted: Confederate Veteran 17:4 (April 1909), p.163
