Henry C. Magruder

Henry C. Magruder (1844 - October 20, 1865) was a Confederate soldier and guerrilla during the American Civil War. Born in Bullitt County, he took part in several major Western theater, but he is best known for his fate as a guerrilla.

Magruder enlisted in the Confederate States Army at age 17 and served under General Simon Bolivar Buckner at the Battle of Fort Donelson. He was captured when the Buckner chose to surrender the fort rather than allow his men to fight their way out, but he soon managed to escape. Magruder joined the personal bodyguard of Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston, serving under him at the Battle of Shiloh. Following General Johnston's death, Magruder transferred to General John Hunt Morgan's famous Kentucky Cavalry. He took part in Morgan's raid into Ohio and Indiana, but again escaped capture and was able to cross the Ohio River to Kentucky.

Finding himself now well behind Union lines, Magruder located other escaped Confederates and led them in raids against Union military targets south of Louisville. As historian Walter L. Hixson notes, "Magruder also plundered Union homes, burned alive an African-American man, and violated southern gender codes by raping the wife of a Union soldier and six other 'young ladies' at a school."

In February 1865, Margruder's small band was ambushed by pro-Union home guards. Magruder was himself seriously wounded, being shot in his arm, back, and a lung. Magruder and two others avoided capture for a number of weeks, but they were eventually cornered in a barn and forced to surrender.

One of his colleagues was almost immediately hanged, but Henry Magruder was kept alive until he was well enough to stand trial. He was then charged as being a guerilla and was convicted, even though he could show he had been a regular Confederate soldier. Henry Magruder was hanged at Louisville on 20 October 1865 at the age of 21.

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