This month, the Freedom Center’s book club enjoyed the pleasure of hearing Pulitzer-nominated author, Lester Horwitz discuss his best-selling book, The Longest Raid of the Civil War, which developed after Horwitz learned his home was raided by Confederate General John Hunt-Morgan in 1863.

“I love history, so when I heard there was some historic information about this house, I wanted to find out more about the people who raided our home,” says Horwitz. “I went to the Cincinnati Historical Society, and they had a book that listed everybody in the state of Ohio who put in a claim after the raid. In the book were 4375 names, and one of the names on that list was Nathaniel Humphrey, and I knew that Nathaniel Humphrey lived in my house. It said that Morgan’s rebels took two of his horses; and the State of Ohio reimbursed him $175 for those horses. So that’s why I started inquiring about the raid, because we bought that house.”

According to Horwitz’s research, Governor David Tod paid reimbursements because so many civilians lodged complaints that their homes and fields were pillaged by Morgan and his men.  Largely, this was able to happen because Ohio’s militia was in the south fighting, and southern counties weren’t protected, so to appease his future voting constituents, Governor Tod summoned a three-man commission to gather and verify the claims, which in Horwitz’s estimation totaled up to $500,000 worth of reimbursements.

Literally, Horwitz says he began connecting the dots after he found a map of Clermont County drawn in 1869 by county engineers.

“Back then, they put the people’s names who owned each piece of property. They even put a black dot where the home was,” Horwitz explains. “I had a list of people who put in claims, and I got a map with their names on it. When I found a name that was in the book (that I found at Cincinnati Historical Society) and I found it on the map, I put a red dot on it. Eight months later, I had hundreds and hundreds of red dots. I could see which streets in Hamilton County and Clermont County the rebels actually went down, and that’s how I knew exactly where they went. When I had that finished, my wife says, ‘Now you know everything!’ I said, ‘No, I’m just beginning!’”

As he later learned, the raid did not start in Harrison, Ohio where he thought, but in McMinnville, TN. Morgan’s men moved through Kentucky and trekked northward 70 miles south of Cleveland and conquered 1000 miles of Union territory, which is why Horwitz titled his book, The Longest Raid of the Civil War.

And, if 15 years of research isn’t enough labor, Horwitz is working on a follow-up book to The Longest Raid of the Civil War called After the Raid.

For more information about Lester Horwitz and The Longest Raid of the Civil War, visit: http://www.monday-morning-writers-group.com/lester-horwitz.html.

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