Contents of Mosby's Confederacy

Rather a busy day here and expecting a snowstorm or just a mess tomorrow (we generally get our first snowfall in early December), so not much free time to devote to the blog. I thought it best to post the table of contents of Mosby's Confederacy to give an idea of the book's organization and ... contents. The various tours listed can each be accomplished in the space of day, provided one has a reliable guide, such as the book or a knowledgeable individual.

Mosby's Confederacy

Evans, Thomas J., and James M. Moyer. Mosby's Confederacy: A Guide to the Roads and Sites of Colonel John Singleton Mosby. Shippensburg, Pa.: White Mane Pub. Co, 1991.

From the book’s dust-jacket: “As Mosby said after reading the Life of Marion, ‘I remember how I shouted when I read aloud…the way the great partisan hid in the swamp and outwitted the British.’ As an old veteran, he explained his war tactics to an interested small boy named George S. Patton, Jr. In between, Col. John Singleton Mosby earned a reputation as the Civil War’s greatest guerrilla leader. He so dominated his chosen battleground, centering in Northern Virginia, close to the seat of the Union government, that it became known as Mosby’s Confederacy.”

This wonderful book is relatively hard to come by, yet it is essential reading for anyone contemplating day-trips into Mosby’s Confederacy. It was written by many of the stalwarts of the Stuart-Mosby Historical Society, some of whom I’ve known and many I regret that I did not know. Several of these men and women fall into the category of those we call “old-timers,” in that they knew or knew someone who knew some of Mosby’s men. So, much of what is found here is based upon oral history or rather obscure written sources. Even if you never chance to enter Mosby’s Confederacy, you may be fascinated by the places and events described  in this book and the people who inhabited them not so long ago.

An Englishman with Mosby's Partisan Raiders

Capt. Bradford S. Hoskins, 44th Foot

(image courtesy of Bob Daly, via Stuart-Mosby Hist. Soc.)

Captain Hoskins was an English adventurer who was a veteran of the Crimean War and Garibaldi's Sicilian campaign. He enlisted with John S. Mosby's band of Confederate partisans and took part in the fight at Miskel's Farm in Loudoun County, Va. (Apr. 1, 1863), and the attack on a military train near Catlett's Station, Va., on May 30, 1863. In the Federal pursuit after this attack, Mosby's men were cornered at Grapewood Farm, near Greenwich, Va. After a sharp fight, they were defeated. Hoskins was mortally wounded in the fight and captured. He and Ranger Sam Chapman were cared for by a wealthy Englishman, Charles Green, whose home was in Greenwich. Hoskins died while under Green's care and is buried in the churchyard at Greenwich.



Mount Zion Church, July 6, 1864

Fieldstone Markers for Federal Cavalrymen Killed in the Action of

July 6, 1864

Major Mosby's partisan rangers destroyed the command of the "Fighting Major" William H. Forbes (2d Mass. Cav.) in a sharp fight along the Little River Turnpike near the Mount Zion Old School Baptist Church. Forbes had been hunting Mosby, but the "Gray Ghost" turned the tables on him in one of his most brilliant fights. No one knows exactly where the Union cavalrymen were buried in the church graveyard.

Aldie, June 17, 1863

Monument to the 1st Mass. Cav. west of Aldie, Va.

The monument marks the location of desperate fighting on the Snickersville Turnpike on June 17, 1863. The 1st Mass. was practically destroyed in close combat with the 2d and 3d Va. Cav. under the command of Col. Tom Munford, C.S.A.

We visited Aldie and Middleburg today and enjoyed the splendid, partly cloudy weather of the early afternoon. Beautiful Virginia horse country, not much changed in many respects from the days of Mosby and Stuart.

Little Fork Church

The ancient church, which was vandalized by Yankee cavalry during the war, is depicted in this photo from the book, showing the monument to the rangers dedicated May 25, 1904, which stands today.

I probably should have posted this earlier, to go with the Wiki reference, but I got distracted (not unusual for your correspondent).

Current Reading: The Little Fork Rangers

Hackley, Woodford B. The Little Fork Rangers; A Sketch of Company "D", Fourth Virginia Cavalry. Richmond, Va.: Press of the Dietz printing co, 1927.

This interesting source differs from some others I’ve discussed here in that it includes not only original materials and reminiscences but also latter-day musings on the history of the unit. The author-compiler, grandson of a member of the unit, was acutely aware of the deficiencies under which he labored but made an attempt to gather as much useful material as he could at a late date when few of the survivors were alive. The result is something of a hodge-podge, but still it’s quite useful for the historian, since there’s much here that can’t be found elsewhere.

The Little Fork Rangers were organized in Culpeper County, Va., in April, 1861, before the state’s secession. They took their name from the area between the fork of the Hazel and Rappahannock rivers, north of Culpeper.

One of the places where the rangers drilled was Little Fork Church. Wiki here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Fork_Church

Ebenezer Churches, near Bloomfield, Va.

It was at this site that the money from the Greenback Raid was divided among Mosby’s men on the afternoon of October 15, 1864. The amount captured, $173,000 was parceled-out in equal shares of $2,000 among the rangers. Mosby refused a share, but the men later voted to buy him a thoroughbred horse with the money that would have been his had he taken a share. There are two churches, built side-by-side, the first having been constructed in 1804 (one source says 1765) and the second in 1855, as the result of a division in the congregation. The magnificent map of the John Singleton Mosby Heritage Area, surveyed and drawn by map-maker Eugene M. Scheel and edited by historian John K. Gott, has a description of the churches and notes: “The Hebrew Eben-ezer means stone of help, erected by Samuel to memorialize the Israeli[te] victory over the Philistines.”

According to a recent article in The Washington Post the money from the raid was divvied up at the Rock Hill Farm, about five miles south of Round Hill, Va.: “Rock Hill had a brief role in the Civil War. It is believed to be the site where Mosby’s Rangers, a guerrilla-style band of Confederate soldiers, divided up money from the Green Back [sic] Raid.” (Kafia A. Hosh, “Landmark Not Showing Its Age,” The Washington Post [June 28, 2009], C1). It will be interesting to examine the evidence for this claim, which I expect can be found in the documentation prepared for the property’s nomination for the Virginia Landmarks Register.

Old Duffields Station

This structure, overgrown with weeds and virtually collapsing, still stands down the tracks from the modern commuter station. The depot was raided by Mosby on June 29, 1864. Constructed in 1839, it is said to be the second oldest surviving train station in the U.S.

Site of the Greenback Raid (Oct. 14, 1864)

The railroad cut in the photo is the location of Confederate partisan ranger Col. John S. Mosby’s famous attack on the train carrying a payroll for Phil Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah. It is located between Duffields Station to the east and Kearnysville in the west in Jefferson County, W. Va. I visited the spot a few years ago with Don Hakenson of the Stuart-Mosby Historical Society, who knows Mosby’s Confederacy as well as anyone. The county gives the site as where Wiltshire Road intersects the railway, but Don guided us to a location near Warm Springs Road, and the photo is taken looking west from there.

It was here, in the deep cut, on the night of October 14, 1864, that Mosby and 84 of his partisan rangers (43d Battalion, Virginia Cavalry) ambushed, derailed, and destroyed the express train on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. After taking the payroll and several prisoners, the raiders burned the train and returned to Loudoun County, Va.