 On July 4, 1862, Morgan and his men left Knoxville, Tennessee and captured Tompkinsville five days later.After a brief stop in Glasgow, where many of Morgan's troops were from, they continued to Lebanon, capturing it on July 12.From there, the cavalry stopped in Harrodsburg and Georgetown, and upon seeing that Lexington was too heavily fortified, turned their attention to the town of Cynthiana.