which demanded the stimulus
of adventure; he, moreover, intuitively understood then, and declared
the fact since so completely demonstrated, that cavalry can be employed
to far better advantage, if kept well out upon the front or flanks of
the army to which it belongs, and close upon the enemy, than by exacting
of it the sort of duty which can just as well be performed by infantry.
The Federal advanced forces were then stationed at Elizabethtown, and
were soon pushed to Nolin Creek, distant about twenty-one or two miles
from Munfordsville. Captain Morgan had at first not more than twenty
mounted men of his own company, but with these and with volunteers from
the other cavalry who were inspired by his example, he made frequent
"scouts," and watched and reported every thing that transpired upon the
front. These "excursions" were undertaken about four or five times in
every week, and would usually occupy twenty-four hours. The scouting
party would set out at or a little before dark; before reaching the
lines of the enemy, some exciting chases would be had after the
countrymen who were in Federal pay or sympathy, and who, always on the
lookout for us, would start at break-neck speed for the camp of their
friends, pursued by our foremost riders. At first they tried to do this
courier duty on horseback, but finding that we were better mounted than
they were, and that, when hard pressed and forced to take to the brush,
their horses were abandoned for ever, they betook themselves to a less
expensive mode of conveying information. They were fleet of foot and
knew the paths through the thickets and hills perfectly, and it was
difficult to follow and impossible to catch them. We, also, had many
friends among the country people living near the enemy's camp, and as we
would prowl all night around and among the Federal pickets and outposts,
seeking to entrap the unwary, many were the secret conferences which we
held in the shade of the woods with faithful informants, who generally
closed their reports with emphatic adjurations that, "For the love of
God," we would never breathe their names.

Once or twice Captain Morgan passed himself as a Federal officer, in
close vicinity to their camps, but this ruse could not be repeated often
with success. Once we were guided safely out of a very dangerous
situation by an intensely "loyal" man who thought he was assisting some
friends who had lost their way. When day returned the scouting party