Perfect for this fighting style were Mosbys Rangers, most of whom were young, between 17-25, who sought the glory of war on horseback. [citation needed]. Munson "never actually saw blood drawn with a sabre but twice in our war, though I saw them flash by the thousand at Brandy Station. In 1906, after nearly 54 years of military service, he retired. Kathleen Golden is an associate curator in the Division of Armed Forces History. Attorney for the Southern PacificRailroad in 1885-1901. General Rosser erred here indicating ignorance of Mosby's tactics, as it has been tirelessly repeated that Mosby's men rejected the saber for the much more efficient six shot pistol. . Early the next morning, hearing reports of Federal troops near Berryville, Chapman approached the town from the southwest and met the 6th New York Cavalry regiment, a lead element of Sheridans force. They hold shooting contests, and trade tobacco for coffee. I am no longer your commander. Your mission is to infiltrate enemy lines to disrupt the Union war effort. A few rangers carried other weapons, but Mosby favored pistols, especially 1860 Colt Army revolvers, because they provided close-combat firepower without being cumbersome. Threats of bodily harm to him and his family forced Mosby to give up his law practice and leave his home in Warrenton, Virginia. That was [our] final ride together. In a 1907 letter he wrote: I am not ashamed of having fought on the side of slaverya soldier fights for his countryright or wronghe is not responsible for the political merits of the course he fights in and he added,The South was my country.. RecPak is a meal replacement for the outdoors that saves you weight, space and time in the most challenging environments, just add water. The mens treatment of their horses and the sentiment they shared about their horses, not as animals but as members of the unit was legendary. Seeing a comrade in arms struggling through the waves some distance off and not receiving that attention from the Federal soldiers which he thought due to his rank, Cab cried out at the top of his voice, Hurry up, Major Hibbs! Read Next: Oldest Merrills Marauder MG Milton Pitcher Dies at 100. but the first of many raids with Mosby's men."[9]. Mosbys Rangers and McNeills Rangers. McKay, Thomas B. Mosby's four requirements to become a member of his com-mand, besides being a fighter with good character, included the following.12. Served in the 1st Maryland Cavalrybefore joining Mosby. The 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion, also known as Mosby's Rangers, Mosby's Raiders, or Mosby's Men, was a battalion of partisan cavalry in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Among the Battalion's youngest members was a 16-year-old Scottsville boy named Henry G. Harris. That was important because Mosby, essentially a teetotaler, despised the use of needed forage for the distilling of alcoholhe believed it served a better purpose by feeding horses or soldiers. All Rights Reserved. Inc. He moved to Washington, D.C., where he continued to practice law and also worked as a diplomat. We did more than any other body of men to give the Colt pistol its great reputation, wrote Mosby. Mosby often played up his exploits to gain attention in the press for his unit and to emphasize the fact that the 43rd Battalion was a legitimate military command within the command structure of the Confederate States of America's army. . Fish, Charles JOSHUA WARFIELD RIGGS,Private, Company D. Served in the 1st Virginia Cavalry andthe 1st Maryland Cavalry prior to joiningMosby. The roster of the 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion, better known as Mosby's Rangers, eventually over the course of the last two years of the war contained over 1900 men, although at no time were there more than a fraction available for action. He was admitted to the insaneward at Bellevue Hospital in August. The first three requirements were obvious. It was no uncommon thing for one of our men to gallop by a tree at full tilt, and put three bullets in its trunk in succession. Robert later became Maj. Gen. Arnold Elzeys aide-de-camp before returning to Ireland in 1864. Mosbys men dismissed the use of sabers, thinking them too limiting in combat. John Singleton Mosby will always be regarded as one of the Civil War's most famousperhaps infamousfigures, and though he doesn't quite reside in the war's pantheon alongside the likes of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Ulysses S. Grant, he assuredly stands as an equal to military history's . The rangers fired two cannon rounds, then charged into the unsuspecting Federal troops. Corder, Joseph M. Or they would simply "skedaddle", that is scatter to the four winds, and individually make their way back to the farms in Loudoun and Fauquier counties where they were welcomed, hidden, and succoured. He served under J.E.B. Mosby himself had six horses that hed change out frequently. Oldest Merrills Marauder MG Milton Pitcher Dies at 100. Samuel Sam Forrer Chapman, born in 1838, and his brother, William Henry Chapman, born in 1840, both joined the Confederate Army early in the war and were members of Virginias famed Dixie Artillery by the end of 1861. The remaining Rangers fled, leaving Hoskins lying on the field in a pool of his own blood. Ranger Ben Palmer once saw Massow starting a raid with his trusted saber by his side and asked him in complete seriousness, Do you want to be killed? To which Massow replied, A good soldier is always prepared to die!. Captured on January 4, 1865, and sentto Fort Warren in Boston Harbor, fromwhich he was released on June 13,1865. The method of operation involved executing small raids with up to 150 men (but usually 20 to 80) behind Union lines by entering the objective area undetected, quickly executing their mission, and then rapidly withdrawing, dispersing the troops among local Southern sympathizers, and melting into the countryside. Present on June - Dec. 1863 muster roll. He also said that after he got to the burning cars he made up for lost time. Northern newspapers and Unionists referred to them as guerrillas, a term of opprobrium at the time. One occurred on March 30th, 1865, when five rangers trapped two Federals at the Daniel Bonham farm about three miles west of Berryville. [15], For instance, describing the fight at Miskel's barn, Munson says of William H. Chapman (later lieutenant colonel of Mosby's command) wheeling his horse in a thicket of Yankees "[t]he pistols were not a foot apart. Later, an Englishman named Charles Green who lived nearby in the small town of Greenwich, Va., found Hoskins and took him to his home. Morrow convinces pretty Ansonia Forde to provide false information to trap Mosby. The conflict between Mosbys Rangers and Sheridans troops in the Valley became increasingly brutal. Trenary, B. I had no faith in the saber as a weapon. Mosby disbanded the 43rd at Salem on April 21,1865 [1] He took part in Stuarts famous ride around McClellans army but was captured on July 20, while waiting for a train at Beaverdam Depot. He is a different man entirely from what I supposed. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ . John Atkins was mortally wounded during the Rangers fight against the 8th Illinois Cavalry on October 29, 1864, near Upperville, Va. His last words were: I have come three thousand miles to fight for the Confederacy, but it is all over now. Cab had earned Hibbs ire, but his playful exuberance created an even bigger quandary for himself on October 14, 1864, during the famed Greenback Raid, when Mosbys men derailed a train on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in Jefferson County, W.Va., seizing $172,000 in paper currency from two Union army paymasters. A few guerrillas equipped themselves with carbines captured from the Union, but "they were unhandy things to carry" and unsuited for fighting on horseback; indeed in the thick of a February 1865 fight the carbines' long barrels made them too unwieldy to fire, and they were used instead as clubs. With no formal surrender, however, Union Major General Winfield S. Hancock offered a reward of $2,000 for Mosby's capture, later raised to $5,000. . It's been 150 years since Mosby formed the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry, more popularly known as "Mosby's Rangers," but there are still many ways to explore Mosby's story. Ten days later, April 9th, Confederate commanding General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia. "[8] A few partisans were wizened old men in their 40s, but most were in their late teens or early 20s; two paroled after the war at Winchester were only 14 years old. The furious Federals wanted to take revenge against the six captured rangers; permission was granted, probably by Federal cavalry corps commander, Maj. Gen. Alfred Torbert. Great-grandson of John Henley, a signerof the Declaration of Independence. At sunrise, Mosbys force struck just north of Berryville, Virginia. [13] Mosby and his men had a "poor opinion" of cavalry sabres, and did not use them. Sam was grievously wounded in the Grapewood Farm Fight in Auburn, Fauquier County, (where Hoskins had been mortally wounded) and paroled on the field by the victorious Union cavalry. . Stuarts cavalry has possession of the Court House; be quick and dress.. As Massow passed Reed, the Union captain shot him in the back and out of the saddle. Stuart. Ignoring Earlys indifference, Mosby decided to stretch his resources to defend the Valley anyway, to vex and embarrass Sheridan andto prevent his advance into the interior of the state. Mosby was acting on his own; his best friend and mentor, Jeb Stuart, had been killed in action on May 12th, 1864. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. In a bit of an interesting twist of fate, after the war, Mosby became a political ally and close confidant to President Ulysses S. Grant, his former enemy during the war and served as a consul to Hong Kong. On June 17, Mosby surrendered to Major General John Gregg in Lynchburg, Virginia. Massow waved Reed to the rear to await his fate as a prisoner and then began to ride by Reed in search of another target. Mosby noted William in dispatches for conspicuous gallantry at least twice. The vision we have cherished for a free and independent country has vanished and that country is now the spoil of a conqueror. The 43rd Battalion was formed on June 10, 1863 at Rector's Cross Roads, near Hockman, Noah Younger Rangers called him Major, probably a combined result of youthful impertinence and an abiding respect for ones elders. On February 22, 1864, during a fight at Ankers Shop (Second Dranesville) in present-day Sterling, Va., Massow got that wish, though not in a manner he could celebrate. While recuperating, Sam fell in love with his future wife, Eliza Rebecca Miss Beck Elgin. But as I recalled how cruelly I had spurred him to the chase the evening before, how without a groan of protest he responded the best he could, and how patiently he had stood with me, all unconscious of his suffering, on that lonely, miserable watch, I was not ashamed to throw my arms around his neck and weep out of my grief and contrition. Reed, taking quick note of his predicament, threw up his arms to indicate his surrender. In that clash, Mosby and about 150 men ambushed and then attacked a 300-man detachment of the 2nd Massachusetts and 16th New York Cavalry regiments. The letters had been fromcorrespondence his grandmother hadconducted with those luminaries. A cursory review of unit rosters from both sides during the war reveals many family connections. Sheridan had burned out most of the farms and crops. This sort of shooting left the enemy with a good many empty saddles after an engagement. He and Mosby remained close friends and communicated frequently until Mosbys death in 1916. How long he had stood there in mute appeal for sympathy and relief, I do not know--perhaps all night. Remy Van Lierde: The Belgian WWII Ace Who Encountered a 50 Feet Long Snake? Although most of the Federals had passed, the wagon train of the Union Cavalry Corps was vulnerable. After February 1864, the Confederate Congress revoked the authority of all partisan units, except for two, one of which was the 43rd Battalion, the other being McNeill's Rangers. They are a terror to the citizens and an injury to the cause [because], General Lee sent the letter on to the Confederate War Department with an endorsement recommending "the law authorizing these partisan corps be abolished." His troops were such a thorn in the Unions rear areas and supply trains that his area of operations became known as Mosbys Confederacy. They were masters at the art of guerrilla warfare, gather intelligence of the enemy, able to strike quickly in the rear of Union forces, and then able to melt away undetected from pursuing forces. John Singleton Mosby will always be regarded as one of the Civil Wars most famousperhaps infamousfigures, and though he doesnt quite reside in the wars pantheon alongside the likes of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Ulysses S. Grant, he assuredly stands as an equal to military historys unconventional warfare legends such as Robert Rogers, Francis Marion, T.E. After the war he practicedlaw and was a judge on the SupremeBench of Baltimore for 22 years. They participated in his raids as often as possible. Mosby's Marauders: Directed by Michael O'Herlihy. 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