During the Civil War, the Union Army was successful in pushing the Cofederate forces back into the South. As the Union Army progressed South, the Confederacy desperately tried to slowdown or completely halt its progress. Enter John Mosby. Nicknamed "The Gray Ghost", Mosby and his Rangers took part in quick lightening raids against the Union Army by primarily intercepting and capturing their railroads, dispatches, horses, and soldiers. But who was John Mosby, and why was he feared by the Union Army?
Born in Powhatan County, Virginia in 1833, John Singleton Mosby was the son of Virginia McLaurine Mosby and Alfred Daniel Mosby. Even though he had a small stature and was sickly, Mosby often got into fights with local boys. While arrending the University of Virginia, John Mosby got into an altercation with George Turpin, a local bully at the university, which resulted in Mosby being expelled from the university and jailed in Charlottesville. While in jail, Mosby showed an interest in law after befriending the Virginia Commonwealth's Attorney and reading his law books. After being pardoned from prison, Mosby became a law clerk and eventually ended setting up his own small practice. As news of secession spread, Mosby took a unionist stand, even though he despised the idea of secession. After the events at Fort Sumter, when Virgina was forced to take arms, Mosby "with a heavy heart, did the only thing possibe for a Virginia Gentleman to do: he enlisted in the service of his mother state."[1]
John Mosby enlisted as a private in the the 1st Virginia Cavalry and due to his bravery as well as his skills in scouting, he was promoted to 1st lieutenant thus earning him the respect of Gen. J.E.B Stuart. After capture and brief imprisonment, Mosby returned to the service of Gen. J.E.B Stuart and was given "the authority to raise a band of partisans for service in the Loudoun Valley in northern virginia."[1] Being one of the two Confederate partisan Ranger units (partisan units refering to units that engaged in guerilla warfare) in the Confederacy at the time, the job of Mosby's Rangers was to disrupt Union supply lines by operating behind enemy lines. Originally consisting of a few men, Mosby's Rangers ranks swelled due to support from the Northern Virginian community. Since his operations were so successful, he earned a legendary reputation, and he steadily rose in rank: from Captain to Major, to Lieutenant Colonel, and finally to a full fledged Colonel. His reputation also earned him the fear of the Union Army. It was due to this fear that the nickname "The Gray Ghost" was given to him by Lincoln because the Union Army feared that Lincoln would be kidnapped by Mosby "right underneath thier noses."[2] Despite the succesful operations of Mosby's Rangers, the Confederacy ended up losing the war and Mosby disbanded his rangers unit after General Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Court House.
After the Civil War, Mosby moved to Warrenton County, which was known as "Mosby's Confederacy", so that he could stay close to his men. He became a politician and a staunch supporter of reconstruction. Mosby possesed many different occupations during the closing years of his life: he was the U.S. consul to Hong Kong, he was a lawyer for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, an employee for the Department of the Interior, and finally an assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice. Mosby died of natural causes on May 30, 1916, Memorial Day, at the age of 82. Even though Mosby disapproved of slavery, he fought on the confederate side because a "soldier fights for his country—right or wrong—he is not responsible for the political merits of the course he fights in."[2] The South was John Mosby's country.
(For pictures, click here: Civil War: John Mosby and his Ranger's)
Work Cited:
1. Mosby, Col Biography of Col. John Singleton Mosby. Retrieved October 26, 2007, from Mosby's Rangers.com Web site: http://mosbysrangers.com/bio/
2. Colonel John S. Mosby. Retrieved October 26, 2007, from The Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley Web site: http://www.angelfire.com/va3/valleywar/people/mosby.html
3. (2005). Retrieved October 26, 2007, from The Mosby Heritage Area Association Web site: http://www.mosbyheritagearea.org/index.htm
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