| Reyniear and Elizabeth lived in Sharonville (Hamilton Co) Ohio for a while and then moved to Gamo, Ohio before moving to Illinois in 1865.Reyniear raised horses while he lived in Ohio. There is a story that happened during the Civil War. It seems that John Morgan, the leader of "Morgan's Raiders" was in the area where Reyniear lived. Morgan Raiders were taking horses or any other thing that they could get their hands on. When Reyniear heard this he took his best horses and hid them, leaving only the poorer grade ones in the barn. One morning they heard a noise out in the barn and when they went out to investigate they found Morgan Raiders there taking the horses that were left. When Reyniear went out to investigate he had Josiah and Ennis with him (they were little boys then). This must have been sometime around July 19, 1863. The records show that Morgan, a Civil War Cavalry officer and leader of "Morgan's Raiders", during 1862 and 1863 did a great deal of damage to Union supply lines in Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio, destroying bridges, railroads, and other key facilities. Usually operating on his own, Morgan (who had served as a Confederate scout before becoming a Captain of volunteers), moved swiftly and made clever use of a telegrapher, who intercepted enemy communications and issued false information to pursuing Union forces. Morgan was promoted to Major General in 1862, and in the following year Morgan made his most famous foray (Morgan's Raid) into Eastern Ohio. In July of 1863, with Federal forces closing in on him, Morgan led his men through Indiana and into Ohio, riding through the outskirts of Cincinnati. Reyniear yelled at the raiders and told them to leave. The replied "shut up old man and go back in the house before you get hurt". Reyniear had a gun and fired it at the raiders and they left. (Jerry Quick has the gun that Reyniear used) Since Morgan was cornered by the Federal forces he tried to cross back over the swollen Ohio River, but was forced to fight at Pomeroy, Ohio where he lost most of his command. Since Pomeroy is on the Eastern side of the state and Sharonville is on the Western side, and since Morgan was captured on July 26, 1863 at E. Liverpool, Ohio which is on the Eastern side of the state,but several miles from Pomeroy, it is believed that the date is authentic when Morgan was at Reyniear's farm. Also after Morgan was captured he was put in prison in Columbus, Ohio where he escaped on November 27th. Morgan got back to his own lines and by April 1864 was in command of all Confederate forces in Northwest Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. In June, after repulsing a Union raid, he led 2000 men to Lexington, Kentucky, defeated Federal Cavalry and Cinthiana, but was himself defeated on the following day, June 12th, losing half of his men. Back in action by September, he led a raid into Tennessee, but was met by Union Troops under General Alvan C. Gillem, who surrounded the house in which Morgan was sleeping at Greeneville on September 4, 1864, and killed him when he tried to escape. There was no other mention of raids in Ohio between the time he escaped prison on November 27, 1863 and when he was killed on September 4, 1864. the only raids mentioned are in Tennessee,Virginia and Kentucky. |



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