Colonel Christopher A. Morgan

The fort was named to honor the late Colonel Christopher A. Morgan, an aide-de-camp for General Pope. (Note: A number of sources mistakenly attribute the fort’s name to Major Christopher A. Morgan of the 1st Illinois Cavalry and some state that Morgan was the first commander of the fort – this is incorrect.) Morgan had no direct connection with the fort , but as the fort – and later the town – was named for him, a slight digression is warranted. Frank Hall described the man and his demise:

Colonel Morgan was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was there liberally educated. Upon attaining his majority he became a partner with his father and two brothers in the business of book publishing and printing, under the firm name of E. Morgan & Sons. At the beginning of our civil war in 1861, the subject of this sketch relinquished his business and enlisted as a private in the 39th Ohio volunteers, but soon afterward was promoted to a captaincy in that regiment. Major-General John Pope, recognizing in young Morgan a man of unusual merit, attached him to his staff. 

His courage and good judgment were conspicuous in the numerous campaigns and battles in which he was engaged, and his continuous service throughout the war, therefore he was promoted to the rank of colonel. When peace was at last proclaimed, his ability was so fully recognized he was induced to remain in the military service, continuing on the staff of General Pope, who had been assigned to the Department of the Missouri, with headquarters at St. Louis. Here Colonel Morgan was made inspector-general of the department. 

He occupied rooms in General Pope’s residence on Choteau avenue. By some accident, during the night of January 20th, 1866, while he slept, the fire was extinguished, and the gas escaping into the room asphyxiated him. His character is thus defined in General Pope’s orders announcing the death of his aid: “His persona character was without a blemish and beyond reproach. To his admirable qualities as an officer were added a high sense of honor, unswerving moral rectitude, and constant respect for the rights and feelings of others. A true and gallant soldier, a high-minded and gallant gentleman, a firm and unwavering friend, he was an ornament to the service and to the society in which he moved.

    

Morgan was with the General during his most famous battle, the capture of New Madrid, Missouri and Island No. 10 in the Mississippi River which freed the river from a Confederate blockade . Morgan was also with General Pope during the Campaign in Virginia where he and the General had a close call during a battle near Culpepper, Virginia on August 10, 1862 against Stonewall Jackson’s confederate forces. The generals and their staffs were viewing the battle lines from a nearby hill when:

Very suddenly, while the fire was every where still, a volley of musketry came out of these woods, and a battalion of rebel cavalry dashed from the cover and charged down the hill at a gallop, discharging their carbines as they came. Generals, staffs, and escorts mounted and started without much delay, riding straight for our own lines, but scattering to avoid the rebel fire. But the moment the rebel cavalry came in sight, the nearest infantry, ignorant or careless of their generals’ position, opened with a volley along the whole line. It checked the rebels and did not kill many friends; but for four or five minutes the cross-fire under which generals and all were compelled to pass was rapid and hot. The sight of a sheet of flame from the line whose protection we sought and the whiz of friendly bullets was a little startling; but there was nothing to do but keep on, for the fire continued, and the longer we waited the worse it would be. Two of General Pope’s body-guards were killed and one wounded. 

General Banks was severely injured by a runaway cavalry horse, which struck him on the side, but he kept his seat and remained in the field all last night and this morning. Colonel Ruggles, General Pope’s Chief of Staff, had his horse shot under him [and] Colonel Morgan, Aid-de-Camp to Gen. Pope, and Major Perkins, General Banks’s [sic] Chief of Staff, both had bullets through their hats.

Morgan was also likely with General Pope when he was defeated at the 2nd Battle of Bull Run at the end of August 1862.

Six months after Morgan’s death, General Pope set off on a tour of the forts in the Department of the Missouri and visited Fort Wardwell on June 22-24. Major Kellogg, a native of Ohio, had assumed command just a fortnight earlier and it is possible that during the General’s time at the fort, he talked of his former aide-de-camp, also a native of Ohio for during his stay at Fort Wardwell, General Pope ordered the name of the fort changed to Fort Morgan.

Indian Encampment on the Platte River, Colorado by Thomas Worthington Whittredge. 

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Sources:

1. Photo Source: Indian Encampment on the Platte River, Colorado by Thomas Worthington Whittredge. Whittredge accompanied General Pope on his tour of the forts.
2. Frazer, Robert Walter, Forts of the West (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1965), p. 40.
3. Hall, Frank, History of the State of Colorado (Chicago, Blakely Printing, 1889), pp. 238-9.
4. Pope, John, “The Capture of New-Madrid, Mo. General Pope’s Official Report,” in The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, Volume 4 (New York: G. P. Putnam, 1862), pp. 297-299.
5. August 10, 1863, in The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, Volume 5 (New York: G. P. Putnam, 1863), pp. 329-331.