t and Louisville Railroad to
prevent troops arriving from Indiana for the defense of Lexington and
Central Kentucky. He sent Major Chenoweth to destroy bridges on the
Kentucky Central Railroad to prevent the importation of troops from
Cincinnati, and he sent Captain Peter Everett with one hundred men to
capture Maysville. General Morgan instructed these officers to
accomplish their respective commissions thoroughly but promptly, to
create as much excitement as possible, occasion the concentration of
forces already in the State at points widely apart, to magnify his
strength and circulate reports which would bewilder and baffle any
attempt to calculate his movements and to meet him within three or four
days at Lexington.

When the command emerged from the sterile country of the mountains into
the fair lands of Central Kentucky, the change had a perceptible and
happy effect upon the spirits of the men. Night had closed around them,
on the evening of the 7th, while they were still struggling through the
ghastly defiles or up the difficult paths of the "Rebel trace," still
environed by the bleak mountain scenery. During the night, they arrived
at the confines of the beautiful "Blue Grass country," and when the sun
arose, clear and brilliant, a lovely and smiling landscape had replaced
the lowering, stony, dungeon like region whence they had at last
escaped. The contrast seemed magical--the song, jest and laugh burst
forth again and the men drew new life and courage from the scene.

In the early part of the day, the 8th, the column reached the vicinity
of Mt. Sterling, and preparations were made for an immediate attack upon
the place. On the previous day, Captain Lawrence Jones, commanding the
advance-guard, had been sent with his guard to take position upon the
main road between Mt. Sterling and Lexington, and Captain Jackson was
sent with one company to take position between Mt. Sterling and Paris.
These officers were instructed to prevent communication, by either
telegraph or courier, between Mt. Sterling and the other two places. The
enemy were simultaneously attacked by detachments from the first and
second brigades and soon forced to surrender with little loss on either
side. Major Holliday, of the first brigade, made a gallant charge upon
the encampment which drove them in confusion into the town. Three
hundred and eighty prisoners were taken, a large quantity of stores and
a number of wagons and teams.

Leaving Co