The Most Dangerous Man in The Confederacy

By Bill Hines and Martha Hines-Templeton

In 2011, my sister, Martha Hines-Templeton, author of "Twice a Hero", made a trip through Virginia, Kentucky, and the Ozarks of southern Missouri, to learn as much as she could about our dad's side of the family, specifically the Hines, Sellars, Alley and Mahan's.

She sent me all the information she had come up with by visiting courthouses, libraries, and cemeteries.

She had uncovered a wealth of information that neither of us had seen before.

Our purpose in writing this historical fiction work is three-fold:

First, to write something our reads will enjoy.

Second, to write in such a way as to honor our long dead relatives.

Third, as we see our nation become more and more divided, to remind ourselves of the terrible cost of the Civil war, not only in the loss of over 630,000 lives, but also the horrendous destruction of property, and the social upheaval in so many families.

Perhaps, if we know and understand the underlying causes of our true history, another such tragedy can be averted.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667826486

Book preview

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© 2022 Bill Hines and Martha Hines-Templeton. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-66782-647-9 (Print)

ISBN 978-1-66782-648-6 (eBook)

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Contents

Introduction

Purpose

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

Conclusion

Introduction

In 2011, my sister, Martha Hines-Templeton, author of Twice a Hero, made a trip through Virginia, Kentucky, and the Ozarks of southern Missouri, to learn as much as she could about our dad’s side of the family, specifically the Hines, Sellars, Alley and Mahan’s.

She sent me all the information she had come up with by visiting courthouses, libraries, and cemeteries.

She had uncovered a wealth of information that neither of us had seen before.

After retiring from veterinary practice and selling the ranch, I had time on my hands and went through her research more thoroughly.

I became particularly intrigued by one of our cousins, separated by several generations, Thomas Henry Hines, who during the Civil War was called by the Union Army, The most dangerous man in the Confederacy, because of his spying activity.

He often seemed to know more about Union troop movements that were coming up, than the Union soldiers knew. In addition, when captured, he could never be held, as he was a master at escaping.

Our grandfather seven generations back from us had 14 grandsons who fought in that war. Twelve for the Confederacy and two for the Union. Brother against brother, father against son, or in their case, cousin against cousin.

Bill Hines

Purpose

This is of necessity a work of fiction since so much of family history has been lost, although it is based on real historical lives in the Civil War era.

Some of the characters are fictional, though most were real. After the death of the most dangerous man in the confederacy, the story broadens to include other people, mostly related to him and taking us up to the generation just past.

Our purpose in writing this historical fiction work is three-fold:

First, to write something our reads will enjoy.

Second, to write in such a way as to honor our long dead relatives.

Third, as we see our nation become more and more divided, to remind ourselves of the terrible cost of the Civil war, not only in the loss of over 630,000 lives, but also the horrendous destruction of property, and the social upheaval in so many families.

Perhaps, if we know and understand the underlying causes of our true history, another such tragedy can be averted.

Photos, courtesy of Wikipedia and family photo albums.

Bill Hines and Martha Hines-Templeton

1

The Most Dangerous Man in the Confederacy:

The water squished in his boots and the mud tried to hold him back with every step as Captain Thomas Henry Hines, 9 th Kentucky Cavalry, Confederate Army tried to hurry the horse he was leading across the muddy field.

A groan from the man on the horse told him that General John Hunt Thunderbolt Morgan was still with him.

They were now beyond the line of trees and needed to get across the field quickly, for even in the darkness Thomas could hear the faint sounds of the prison guards trying to pick up their trail.

It was shortly after midnight when Thomas, the General and five other officers had escaped from the Ohio Federal Prison after six weeks of digging a tunnel with spoons, kitchen knives, and a purloined shovel.

Capt. Hines had hatched the escape plan after noticing that the cells on the level with his were dryer than others and he surmised that there must be an air vent under them.

It took three weeks of chipping away with the spoons and kitchen knives to get past the concrete and through the soil down to a four-foot x four-foot box which was part of the ventilation shaft.

After some calculations the men decided to dig toward the prison wall but had come up just short of the twenty five-foot high outer wall.

Leaving their digging tools beside the pile of coal where they emerged from underground, the men crept to the outer wall.

They scaled the wall while the sentries were huddling out of the rainstorm that was lashing the prison.

Captain Hines had gotten a message out to the leader of the Copperhead Movement, a group of Indiana and Ohio residents who were Confederate sympathizers, and the Copperheads had horses waiting for them in the woods just north of the prison.

Knowing they would soon be discovered the men rode hard for the tree line further north of the prison, but as they galloped in General Morgan’s horse tripped in the tangle of rain slicked deadfall trees and went down.

The General was thrown off and tore his leg open on a sharp limb as he fell. From the groans he was hearing, Thomas guessed the General broke some ribs also.

Two of the other officers had turned back south to try to lure the enemy away and the other three were somewhere ahead trying to catch the General’s horse. They must get the General to safety at all costs.

Thomas had taken off his neck scarf and used it as a tourniquet to slow the bleeding from the General’s leg, and he stopped for a moment to examine the wound.

How are you making it Sir, he queried the General. Morgan groaned and rocked slightly but said through clenched teeth, I’m doing alright, I can still ride. What’s your plan now, do you think we’ve gotten away?

Hard to say, Sir. Sheldon and Taylor turned back south to try to draw the prison guards away from us; the other three are somewhere ahead trying to catch your horse. Are you going to be up to riding the rest of the night?

I think so. Morgan replied, Do you plan to get us to Canada?

That would be our best chance Sir. Hines replied, If we can get into Ontario, I have an aunt there who is a nurse. She would take us in.

The captain didn’t elaborate on the fact that Aunt Katherine Angelina Trudeau was also an ardent abolitionist. She didn’t agree with the Confederate cause, but Thomas was sure she would never turn away a wounded man, regardless of which side he was on.

General John Hunt Morgan

The rain continued to pour down, fortunately the lightning had stopped so they wouldn’t be so easily seen, and the torrents were washing away their tracks.

Finally, they were across the field and into woods again. Thomas began to think about where he might hide them to let the General rest awhile.

The rain had stopped now and there was moonlight to see by. They were able to navigate better with the light.

The mid-November trees, most of their leaves gone now, stretched their bare branches toward the sky in a silent supplication for a return of spring.

The dank, musty smells of wet, decaying leaves and horse sweat were their only companions now as they pushed on through the night. The wind came up and moaned through the bare tree branches seemingly in unison with General Morgan’s moans.

Shortly before dawn, he spotted an old barn in the distance. It had been part of a homestead farm in the past but there was no house around for as far as he could see. The barn had seen its better days and listed precariously to the east.

Should he chance going out into the clearing around the barn? Captain Hines knew the General really needed to rest for a while.

The weathered old barn was their only hope of a refuge where the General could rest and where they would be un-detected.

There was nothing to do but take the risk and he led his horse with the General aboard into the barn.

After helping Morgan from the horse, Thomas laid him down as comfortably as possible, then unsaddled the horse, and using wisps of old hay, brushed it down.

The old barn smelled of mice and decaying hay. The roof had begun leaking long ago and parts of the inner sanctum was covered by mold.

Each gust of wind elicited groans from its ancient frame, but it would be better than being outside.

Both men slept fitfully off and on for a few hours then Hines told the General, I’ll go see if I can find something for us to eat if you’ll be alright for a while.

I’ll be OK, Morgan replied, How far do you figure it is to the Canadian border?,

"Not sure, Sir,