Newburgh Raid

BelligerentsUnited States (Union)Confederate StatesCommanders and leaders Union BethellAdam Rankin JohnsonUnits involvedIndiana LegionConfederatepartisan 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.