Love Along the Raid: A Morgan’s Raiders Love Story

This post is part of a series; check out the previous entry here.

In the summer of 1863 amidst all the bloody battles and fighting, love bloomed for some. General John H. Morgan, leading a 2,000-man Confederate cavalry force made his way through Indiana and Ohio, deep behind Union lines. Warranted or not, he and his men had earned themselves a reputation of brutality and terror. 

Despite the harshness of the raid, for some it marked the beginning of their love stories. On July 11, 1863, as the main column of raiders marched into Dupont, Indiana, local residents “welcomed” the raiders with yelling and taunts. Among them was a young girl, with bright red hair, standing on the doorstep of her father, Frank Mayfield’s home, yelling and screaming at the passing raiders that they were disturbing the peace. One raider, 19-year-old Henry H. Snook, spotted her. Finding the spectacle somewhat amusing and Josephine Mayfield’s ferocity attractive, he rode up to the home, and said: “You sure are pretty, Ma’am, when you’re in a temper. After we lick you Yanks, I’ll come back to marry you.”

True to his word, on December 19, 1879, Henry Snook married Josephine Mayfield. Despite the raiders stealing over 2,000 hams from his smoke shop, Mr. Mayfield blessed the union. After the wedding, Henry and Josephine moved to Chicago, where he worked as a timekeeper. In 1931, Josphine passed away in 1931; at the age of 75, Henry passed four years later at the age of 91.

Further along the raid, John H. Anderson found love as well. John, a Virginia-born trooper, and another raider stopped at David Deerwester’s local farm along the road from Goshen to Belfast, Ohio on July 14, 1863.

Hungry from their travels, they asked Catherine Deerwester, David’s daughter, for a bite to eat. She agreed and led the weary soldiers into the kitchen, where they sat while she hurried about to prepare a meal alongside her mother. Soon John began complimenting Catherine, who noticed the attention John bestowed upon her. John and his companion finished the meal and stood to leave.

Prior to his departure, John quickly blurted: “I’ll be back after the war and I am going to marry you!” It should also be noted that the Deerwester farm did not file any claims of lost property. Perhaps in an attempt to make a good impression, Anderson decided against stealing any horses from the small farm. A year after the war ended, on November 8, 1866, John Anderson made good on his promise and married Catherine Deerwester. They went one to have six children, four boys and two girls. John and Catherine remained in Ohio throughout their marriage and are both buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Clermont County, Ohio.

It has been reported that many other raiders return to the north after the war to marry. For example, Private Joe Willams, Co. K, 10th Kentucky, severely wounded during the 1863 raid in Ohio, returned to the home of those who had nursed him back to health, seeking to marry one of the daughters who had been so kind to him. (Unfortunately, we do not know the result of his proposal.)

While these tales do not detract from the overall chaos and fear the raiders caused on the northern homefront, they do shed light on the human aspect of events. A staunch reminder that’s all fair in love and war.

Happy Valentine’s Day!