Newburgh Raid
| Newburgh Raid | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
Fake cannons found after the Newburgh Raid | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| United States (Union) | Confederate States | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Union Bethell | Adam Rankin Johnson | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Indiana Legion | Confederate partisan rangers | ||||||
The Newburgh Raid was a successful raid by Confederate partisans on Newburgh, Indiana, on July 18, 1862, making it the first town in a northern state to be captured during the American Civil War. Confederate colonel Adam Rankin Johnson led the raid by using a force of only about 35 men he had recruited from nearby Henderson, Kentucky. They confiscated supplies and ammunition without a shot being fired by tricking Newburgh's defenders into thinking the town was surrounded by cannons. In reality, the so-called cannons were an assemblage of a stove pipe, a charred log, and wagon wheels, forever giving the Confederate commander the nickname of Adam "Stovepipe" Johnson.
The raid convinced the federal government to supply Indiana with a permanent force of regular Union Army soldiers to counter future raids and proved to be a significant boost for Union recruiting in Indiana.