Markers, monuments and kiosks memorialize the Battle of Buffington Island, the only Civil War battle in Ohio, at the Buffington Island Battlefield Memorial Park in Portland in Meigs County. David Mallory will present a program about the battle at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Southeast Ohio History Center in Athens. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

ATHENS — The only Civil War battle in Ohio will be discussed at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Southeast Ohio History Center in Athens.

Author David Mallory will present a program about the Battle of Buffington Island in July 1863 when Union troops were sent to quash the raids in Southeast Ohio by Brig. Gen. John H. Morgan and about 2,000 Confederate cavalry men.

Morgan and his troops in the summer of 1863 terrorized towns and farms in Indiana and Ohio in hopes of diverting Union resources from Confederate forces in Tennessee. Ohio contributed more men per capita to fight for the Union in the American Civil War than any other state with most engagements in the Southern states.

Morgan’s forces were caught attempting to re-cross the Ohio River.

On July 19, 1863, Morgan’s troops were met by local militia and Union gunboats near Buffington Island in Meigs County. More than 70 soldiers were killed, 130 wounded and 750 were captured before Morgan and his remaining soldiers fled north where they were finally captured in Columbiana County.

The battle has been memorialized at Buffington Island Battlefield Memorial Park in Meigs County at Portland.

Mowery, who wrote “Morgan’s Great Raid and Cincinnati in the Civil War,” will tell the story of the Battle of Buffington Island and other incidents in the region. Mowery also will discuss efforts to

preserve Ohio’s only Civil War battlefield.

A computer and software engineer from Cincinnati, Mowery has studied the Civil War for 45 years and has visited all of the major Civil War battlefield parks. He has researched hundreds of minor Civil War skirmishes.

He is a member of the American Battlefield Trust, a non-profit group dedicated to battlefield preservation.

The History Center is located at 24 West State St. Limited parking is available in the rear.

For more information about the presentation or about the History Center call 740-592-2280 or go to www.southeastohiohistory.org.