The Rebels were feeling feisty in the summer of 1863. Lee thought an invasion of the North would be a good idea. Pemberton figured Johnson was coming any day now to save him at Vicksburg, there were raids all up and down the Mississippi to dislodge the Union. Read was raiding shipping along the Northeast with the Tacony, a ship he stole from the Union (the audacity) .
Then there was General John Hunt Morgan, a Confederate calvary officer who decided to do a little raiding in the western border states. The idea being that troops from those states would be ordered home from the main battle fronts to protect personal interests. States Rights and all. Which was a great Southern belief. Not so much in the Union. His plan didn't work. He was captured in Ohio after making a right nuisance of himself but not doing too much.
On July 4, in Taylor County, Kentucky, along the Green River, he ran into the 25th Michigan. The 25th was holding the river and was not about to allow the Rebels to cross. Only problem was, the 25th was outmanned and outgunned. By about 5 to 1. Morgan also had artillery which the 25th didn't.
The 25th however had dug in and built some earthworks for protection. They also had the redoubtable Colonel Orlando Hurley Moore as the commanding officer. The Great Lakes aren't the only thing great about the State of Michigan.
Morgan assessed the situation and called on the 25th to surrender. In a response that should be printed on t-shirts and bumper stickers, Colonel Moore replied: "This being the Fourth of July, I cannot entertain the proposition of surrender." So they didn't. Not ever. Morgan tried eight times to overrun the 25th's position. He finally gave up and went elsewhere to cause trouble. The casualty figures matched the disparate numbers - 6 Union killed, 35 Rebels killed.
Do not mess with a Michigander on the Glorious Fourth of July.
Sources:Michigan and the Civil War: A Great and Bloody Sacrifice by Jack DempseyWikipedia for information on Morgan's Raid