John
Singleton
Mosby was
born in
Edgemont,
Virginia, on
6th
December,
1833. He was
a sickly
child and
the
doctor’s
told his
parents that
he would not
live to be 6
years old.
Fortunately,
for the
state of
Virginia,
they were
wrong.
Brought up
near
Charlottesville
he entered
the
University
of Virginia
in 1849. At
the
university
he was
charged with
shooting
another
student and
was
sentenced to
a one year
term. While
in prison he
befriended
his
prosecutor,
started to
study law
and after
his release
he became a
lawyer in
Bristol.
On the
outbreak of
the American
Civil War
Mosby joined
the
Washington
Mounted
Rifles under
William
“Grumble”
Jones of the
Confederate
Army. At
first he
served as a
private in
the 1st
Virginia
Cavalry and
fought at
First
Manassas.
Promoted to
the rank of
lieutenant
in February,
1862, Mosby
began
scouting for
James Ewell
Brown
“Jeb”
Stuart and
was
responsible
for the ride
around
George
McClellan in
June of that
year.
In January
1863 Mosby
and a team
of nine men
began
raiding
isolated
Union Army
posts in
Virginia and
Maryland. As
captured
goods were
divided up
between the
men Union
officials
regarded
Mosby's men
as criminals
and
bushwackers
rather than
soldiers.
On 10 June
1863, Mosby
was given
permission
to organize
Company A of
the 43rd
Battalion of
Virginia
Cavalry.
This
is the
company that
became known
as
“Mosby’s
Rangers.”
Mosby became
an expert in
guerrilla
warfare
tactics and
his partisan
unit of a
hundred
raiders was
very active
during the
Wilderness
campaign.
Mosby and
his men
undermined
the enemy's
transport
system by
destroying
rail lines,
bridges, and
supply
trains.
In the
spring of
1864 General
Philip
Sheridan
sent out
Captain
Richard
Blazer with
a hundred
armed scouts
with Spencer
rifles to
hunt down
Mosby and
destroy his
entire
command.
But
on the 18th
of November
1864
Mosby’s
men met,
defeated and
basically
wiped out
Blazer’s
Scouts at Kabeltown.
Mosby's
military
successes
earned him
promotions
to captain,
major and
finally
colonel in
December,
1864.
He
was
universally
recognized
by numerous
historians
for
extending
the war by
several
months
because the
Union had to
hold back
troops from
Petersburg
to guard the
capitol.
On news of
the
Confederate
surrender,
Mosby
disbanded
his Partisan
Rangers and
resumed his
work as a
lawyer. He
upset many
of his
former
supporters
by joining
the
Republican
Party and
backed
Ulysses S.
Grant for
president in
1868.
Mosby served
as U.S.
consul at
Hong Kong
(1878-1885)
and
assistant
attorney in
the Justice
Department
(1904-10).
He wrote two
books about
his war
experiences:
War
Reminiscences
by Colonel
John S.
Mosby (1887)
and Stuart's
Cavalry in
the
Gettysburg
Campaign
(1908).
John
Singleton
Mosby died
on 30 May
1916 and is
buried in
Warrenton,
Virginia.
Composed
by Gregg
Dudding
