REBEL CHIEFS AND THEIR RAIDS.
1863.--Rebel Raids by Stuart, Imboden, and Fitz-Hugh Lee.--John S. Mosby,
Guerilla Chief.--His Character.--His Command.--Daring and Plunder.--
Aided by Citizens.--Condition of the Country Favorable for their
Depredations.--Our Picket Lines too Light.--Attacks on Pickets at
Herndon Station, Cub Run, and Frying-Pan Church.--Miss Laura
Ratcliffe, Mosby's Informant.--Mosby at Fairfax Court House.--
Capture of General Stoughton.--Fight at Chantilly.--Mosby lauded by
His Chiefs.--Mosby beaten at Warrenton Junction.--Severely whipped
at Greenwich, where he loses a Howitzer captured from Colonel Baker
at Ball's Bluff.
The Rebel cavalry has been very active all winter, as may be seen by the
many raids which they have made, beginning as far back as December
twenty-fifth, when their chief, J. E. B. Stuart, anxious to obtain
something suitable with which to celebrate the holidays, crossed the
Rappahannock, advanced on Dumfries, where it would seem that our boys,
freezing dumb (Dumfries), suffered the raider to capture not less than
twenty-five wagons, and at least two hundred prisoners. Moving boldly
northward, he struck the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, burning the
bridge across the Accotink Run, and from Burke's Station he swung around
Fairfax Court House, and returned, by long, circuitous route, into their
lines with their hard-earned spoils.
A lull of operations followed this bold holiday enterprise, until the
sixteenth of February, when a party of General John D. Imboden's
rangers, in the Shenandoah Valley, made a rapid raid to Romney, farther
west, where they captured several men, horses, and wagons, having taken
our forces entirely by surprise. The success which characterized these
forays was not only disgraceful to ourselves, and very disheartening,
but it gave the Rebels an audacious effrontery and malignant boldness,
which led them into more frequent and reckless movements. But our men
were a little more on the alert, and thus averted, to a great extent,
the injury which was intended.
_February 25._--To-day Fitz-Hugh Lee, almost in the very face of our
pickets, crossed the Rappahannock near Falmouth, attacked by surprise a
camp, where he captured one hundred and fifty prisoners, but was not
able to return without some loss. The next day General W. E. Jones
marched with a brigade into the Valley, attacked and routed two
regiments of General Milroy's cavalry, and, with slight loss from his
command, escaped with about two hundred prisoners. The most daring,
however, of all these raids was made by Major White, with his band of
Loudon County rangers, which differs not much from guerillas, into
Maryland, where they captured a few prisoners, but spent most of their
time and strength in plunder. Poolesville was the scene of their
depredations.
It did seem as though nearly every Rebel cavalry officer had been
touched with a magic wand which filled him with the most weird and
romantic views of warfare, and led him into enterprises almost as wild
as any of Dick Turpin's. Fauquier County was the theatre of several of
these movements by Captain Randolph, of the Black Horse Cavalry. And in
these days appeared another partisan, whose name for the first time
flashes out in big capitals in the official as well as other bulletins,
amid most startling manoeuvrings: it is John S. Mosby. To the Harris
Light this gentleman was not wholly unknown, and we distinctly remember
the time when he was a prisoner in our hands. It appears that he was
then sent to Old Capitol Prison at Washington. Not long thereafter he
was released; and, being bent on revenge, and naturally fitted for
guerilla operations, he soon received permission from his chief, to
operate on an independent plan.
This Mosby, as we have been informed by an acquaintance of his, a Rebel
soldier who has known him from early life, has always been a sort of
guerilla--deserting from his father's house in mere boyhood--fighting
duels as a pastime--roving the country far and wide in search of
pleasure or profit--a thorough student of human nature and of the
country in which he operates--bold and daring to a fault and romantic in
his make--and finding now his chief delight in the adventures of
guerilla life.
His commission is a roving one, and his command seems to be limited
neither to kind or number. Many of his men are citizens, who spend a
portion of their time in their ordinary business, and who hold
themselves in readiness for any movements indicated by their
commander-in-chief. Occasionally he is accompanied and assisted in his
forays by daring men from various commands, who are at home on leaves
of absence or furloughs, while a few seem to be directly and continually
under his control. The principal stimulus of the entire party (except
the bad whiskey which they are said to use), is the plunder which they
share. It is their custom at times to parole their prisoners and send
them back to our lines, though often, when large numbers are taken, they
are sent to Richmond; but all horses and equipments, which now command
enormous prices in Dixie, are the property of the captors.
The region of the country they have chosen for their operations is
certainly well adapted to facilitate their designs. Deep ravines
traverse the country, skirted with dense, dark foliage, which affords
them shelter, and through which they pass like so many wild turkeys or
wild boars, knowing, as they do, all the roads and by-paths. Indeed,
some of their parties are dwellers in these regions, and are acquainted
with every nook and corner, where they can hide securely with their prey
and elude their pursuers. When the immediate neighborhoods of their
depredations do not offer a sufficient asylum, they fly to the
fastnesses and caverns of the Bull Run Mountains.
Then, too, there is a certain degree of carelessness on the part of our
own men, which merits censure and causes trouble. For instance, they
frequently call at the homes of bitter Rebels for the purposes of
pleasure, or to get articles of food, which they purchase or take, and
while at these places they are too free to talk about the condition of
our army, the position of our picket lines and posts, etc.--information
which is grasped with wonderful avidity and as readily transmitted to
Mosby and his men. Scarcely does any important event transpire among us,
that is not fully understood immediately by the Rebel families within
our lines, and is very easily borne to those outside the lines between
two days. Thus movements even in contemplation have been heralded before
the incipient steps had been taken, and consequently thwarted. Our only
safety from this source of trouble would be to drive out of our lines
all Rebel families, thus preventing the means of communicating the news
to the outer world.
Another simple statement will explain the chances of the enemy and the
causes of many of our casualties. Our picket-lines are too much
extended, covering too wide a territory to make them as strong as they
should be. Only a brigade is doing the work of a division, and
consequently the picket-posts are not sufficiently near each other.
Thus, in the night, it requires no very great dexterity to creep through
the bushes between the pickets unobserved, and, once within our lines,
any amount of mischief may be done by the miscreants. The method
indicated here is usually the one employed by these active guerillas,
and it forms the chief stratagem of all their movements upon us.
Their first important attack upon our pickets took place on or about the
tenth of January. A small Federal picket was doing duty at Herndon
Station, on the Loudon and Hampshire Railroad. Mosby determined to
effect their capture. Led by a skilful guide, he dismounted his command
some distance from the picket-lines. Then they all crept cautiously
between the vedettes, until they reached the rear of the post, and from
that direction advanced upon the unsuspecting boys, whose forms could be
distinctly seen by the flaring light of their bivouac fire. While the
pickets were thus a fine shot and mark for the enemy, the attacking
force was concealed perfectly by the darkness of night and the shades of
the thick pines. A pistol-shot from the guerillas was followed by a
charge, when our boys were suddenly surrounded and captured.
This attack and capture was followed by another similar enterprise a few
nights afterwards at Cub Run, near the Little River Turnpike. The picket
relief was captured by a charge made in their rear, and only the two
vedettes made their escape. Later in the same night a similar assault
was made upon our post at Frying-Pan Church. Not far from this church
resides a Miss Laura Ratcliffe, a very active and cunning Rebel, who is
known to our men, and is at least suspected of assisting Mosby not a
little in his movements. The cavalry brigade doing picket duty at this
point is composed of the First Virginia (many of whose men were raised
in these parts), the First Vermont, the Fifth New York, and the
Eighteenth Pennsylvania. The latter of these regiments has but recently
been mustered into the service, is poorly drilled and worse equipped,
and is by no means fitted to picket against so wily a foe as Mosby.
Though great caution is exercised by Colonel Percy Wyndham, who is in
command of the brigade, to arrange and change the alternation of the
pickets, so that the regiments to picket at a given point may not be
known beforehand; yet by means of Miss Ratcliffe and her rebellions
sisterhood, Mosby is generally informed of the regiment doing duty, and
his attacks are usually directed against the unskilled and unsuspecting.
Having approached, under cover of the night above alluded to, within a
few hundred yards of the pickets, whose position and strength he knew
very well from information received by the neighbors, the horses were
left in charge of one man, while the party skulked along through the
thick underbrush, until they could approach the post from the direction
of the Union camp. The picket relief was mostly quartered in an old
house near by, with a single sentinel stationed at the door. Seeing the
Mosby party approaching, he supposed that they were a patrol, and
consequently allowed them to come within a few paces of the house before
he challenged them. But it was now too late; and springing forward like
panthers, the guerillas presented their pistols at his head, ordering a
surrender. The house was immediately surrounded and the assailants began
to fire through the thin weather-boarding upon the men shut up within.
This fire, however, was vigorously returned for a time, but yielding at
last to superior numbers, who had greatly the advantage, the whole party
was compelled to surrender.
The success with which Mosby carried on his operations made him a sort
of terror to our pickets, while it attracted to him from all quarters of
Rebeldom a larger and more enthusiastic command. They became wonderfully
skilled and bold, as may be seen by the following daring exploit. On
the night of the eighth of March, during rain and intense darkness,
Mosby led a squadron of his conglomerate command through the pines
between the pickets near the Turnpike from Centreville to Fairfax Court
House. Striking through the country, so as to avoid some infantry camps,
he soon reached the road leading from Fairfax Station to the Court
House. Moving now with perfect confidence, as no pickets along this
route would suspect the character of such a cavalcade several miles
inside our lines, about two o'clock in the morning he entered the
village and began operations. The first thing was to capture the pickets
stationed along the streets in a quiet manner, so as to arouse no one
from their slumbers, and this was easily accomplished. The way was now
fully open to the Confederate band. Divided into parties, each with its
work assigned, they quickly accomplished the mischief they desired.
Mosby, with a small band, proceeded to General Stoughton's headquarters,
in the house of a Dr. Gunnel. Dismounting, he soon stood knocking at the
door. A voice from an open window above demanded their business at such
an unseasonable hour. "Despatches for General Stoughton," responded
Mosby. The door was quickly unlocked, and the guerilla chief stood by
the bedside of the sleeping general, who had but a few moments before
retired from a dancing and convivial party. Fancy now the reenactment of
the scene in old Ticonderoga fort, when Ethan Allen, by stratagem, stood
in the presence of His Majesty's sleeping commander.
Stoughton was soon apprised of the character of his nightly visitors,
and quickly making his toilet, he was hurried away with a portion of his
escort, and several other prisoners, including Captain Augustus Barker,
of the Fifth New York Cavalry. Fifty-eight of the finest horses from the
officers' stables were also captured; and Mosby retraced his sinuous
route through our lines of pickets so rapidly, that he escaped all his
pursuers.
The morning light of the ninth of March revealed the boldness and
success of the raiders, and no little excitement prevailed. Several
parties of cavalry were ordered out in pursuit of the flying partisans,
but all returned at night unsuccessful. This was an occasion for great
humiliation on the part of our troops, stationed about the Court House,
while in Washington and throughout the nation not a little humor was
drawn from the remark made by the President when some one told him of
the loss we had sustained; "Yes," he characteristically replied, "that
of the horses _is_ bad; but I can make another general in five minutes."
Suspicious that Rebel citizens within our lines were more or less
implicated in this and other raids, quite a number of arrests were made
among them, which cleared the country of the most flagitious cases.
However, it is very probable that some innocent ones were made to
suffer, while the most guilty were allowed to escape.
_March 23._--The pickets near Chantilly had been quiet for several days,
but toward night a company of cavaliers, mostly dressed in blue
uniforms, emerged from a piece of wood within a mile of the Chantilly
mansion, and moved directly toward the picket post stationed near a
small run on the Little River Turnpike. The picket, supposing them to be
Union troops, watched their approach without suspicion; and when they
had come within a few feet of him they introduced themselves by shooting
him through the head. The alarm being thus given, the nearest reserve
made a sudden descent upon the attacking party, which proved to be
Mosby's, and the guerillas retreated for some distance up the turnpike,
closely pursued. Having followed them about three miles, they came to a
barricade of trees which had been fallen across the road. Back of this
obstruction Mosby had formed a large part of his command, and our column
was stopped by a heavy fire from carbines and pistols in their front and
also by a flank-fire from the woods. At this inopportune moment Mosby
made a charge which broke our column. The boys were driven back at a
furious rate, and had not strength to rally. Some horses giving out, the
hapless riders were captured.
But as Rebels and Yankees were uniformed much alike, it gave some of our
boys an opportunity for stratagem. For instance, one of our fellows
finding himself overtaken by the enemy, began to fire his pistol in the
direction of his flying comrades (with care not to harm them), but with
sufficient vim to be taken by the enemy, in their haste, as one of their
number. In this way they passed him by, and he effected his escape.
This scrambling race continued for about three miles, back to the ground
where the affair commenced, when our men were reenforced by the reserve
from Frying-Pan Church. The Mosbyites were now compelled to halt, and a
charge made upon them drove them back up the pike. They were pursued
several miles, but night came on and our men were compelled to return.
Three of our men were killed, and about thirty-five were taken
prisoners, including one lieutenant. Several horses were also taken
away. The enemy suffered no appreciable loss.
Mosby's plans were certainly made with great wisdom and forethought, and
executed with a dash and will which were at times very astonishing. His
men must have been warmly attached to him as their leader, while the
gain they made by their plunder greatly increased their zeal. The
command was truly _unique_ in its leader, its composition, and its
_modus operandi_, while its results, assisted as they were by the
topography of the country, and the Rebel sympathizers within and just
without our lines, attracted no little attention. The orders of General
Stuart and even those of General Lee associated the name of Mosby with
consummate daring and continual success, stimulating the band to greater
deeds. We append one specimen of those orders, furnished us by one of
their own number:
HEADQUARTERS, CAVALRY DIVISION,
Army of Northern Virginia, March 27, 1863.
CAPTAIN--Your telegram, announcing your brilliant achievements
near Chantilly, was duly received and forwarded to General
Lee. He exclaimed upon reading it, "Hurrah for Mosby! I wish
I had a hundred like him!"
Heartily wishing you continued success, I remain your
obedient servant,
J. E. B. STUART,
Major-General Commanding.
Captain J. S. MOSBY, commanding, etc., etc.
But it is not often permitted one man always to prosper in his
enterprises, and even the wonderful Mosby was destined to meet equals,
and to be worsted in engagements. Later in the season, while General
Stahel's cavalry division was picketing the line of the Orange and
Alexandria Railroad, Mosby made a sudden descent one morning upon the
First Virginia Cavalry at Warrenton Junction. Unfortunately, these Union
Virginians, who were one of the best regiments in our service, were just
then unprepared for any such manoeuvring. They had just been relieved
from duty, and were taking their rest. Many of the men were lounging
about under the shade of trees, or quartered for the time in a few block
buildings situated in an angle formed by the two railroads. Their horses
were mostly "unsaddled and unbridled, and hence not fit for a fight,"
while many of them were grazing loosely and quietly in the adjoining
fields.
Mosby advanced upon them from the direction of Warrenton--was at first
mistaken for a squadron of our own cavalry, which had been sent out on a
scouting expedition. The error was soon corrected by a fierce charge
made by the guerillas. Such of the men as were roaming about the
premises, mostly unarmed, of course immediately surrendered; but about
one hundred of them fled for refuge in one of the largest buildings,
resolved to sell themselves (if it came to that) at the dearest price.
And now commenced a fearful struggle. The Confederates would ride up
near the windows and discharge their pieces at the men within, while the
brave fellows inside, commanded and inspired by Major Steele, one of
the bravest of the brave, defended themselves with a noble
determination. All efforts of Mosby to make them surrender were in vain.
Finding at last that he could not intimidate them with bullets, he
ordered the torch to be applied to a pile of hay near by, and the house
was set on fire. Just at this juncture of affairs a strong party of
Mosby's gang, having dismounted from their horses, rushed against the
door of the building with such force as to burst it open. Surrounded now
by the flames, which were spreading rapidly, and attacked with
desperation by the foe, the whole party was compelled to surrender.
Flushed with success, the guerillas were making preparations to retire
from the field with their booty, when the Fifth New York Cavalry, which
had been bivouacked in a grove not far from Cedar Run Bridge, arrived at
the Junction, whither they had been attracted by the firing, and
immediately fell upon the foe like an avalanche. Major Hammond commanded
in person. Mosby was heard to exclaim, "My God! it is the Fifth New
York!" A hand-to-hand encounter now took place, in which bravery was
fired with desperation, and Yankee sabres were used with fearful effect.
The Rebels soon broke and fled in every direction, demoralized and
panic-stricken, leaving behind not only the captures they had made, but
many of their own number. Some Rebel heads were fearfully gashed and
mangled, one of them exhibiting his lower jaw-bone not only dislocated,
but almost entirely severed with one determined blow from the strong
hand of a cavalryman.
General Stahel, in his despatch to General Heintzelman, says: "The
Rebels, who fled in the direction of Warrenton, were pursued by Major
Hammond, Fifth New York Cavalry, who has returned, and reports our
charge at Warrenton Junction as being so terrific as to have thoroughly
routed and scattered them in every direction. I have sent in
twenty-three prisoners of Mosby's command, all of whom are wounded--the
greater part of them badly. Dick Moran (a notorious bushwhacker) is
among the number. There are also three officers of Mosby's. The loss of
the enemy was very heavy in killed, besides many wounded, who scattered
and prevented capture. I have no hopes of the recovery of Major Steele,
of the First Virginia. Our loss is one killed and fourteen wounded."
Templeman, one of Stonewall Jackson's best spies, was killed; and the
partisans confessed themselves thoroughly whipped. They were wont to
call this their first retreat, in which they did some tall running. The
following complimentary order was issued:
HEADQUARTERS STAHEL'S CAVALRY DIVISION,
Fairfax Court House, Va., ----, 1863.
SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 80.
When soldiers perform brave deeds, a proper acknowledgment
of their services is justly their due. The commanding
general, therefore, desires to express his gratification at
the conduct of the officers and men of Colonel De Forest's
command, who were engaged in the fight at Warrenton
Junction, on Sunday, ----, 1863. By your promptness and
gallantry the gang of guerillas who have so long infested
the vicinity has been badly beaten and broken up. The heavy
loss of the enemy in killed, wounded, and prisoners, proves
the determination of your resistance and the vigor of your
attack. Deeds like this are worthy of emulation, and give
strength and confidence to the command.
By command of
MAJOR-GENERAL STAHEL.
Thoroughly as Mosby had been whipped on this occasion, and diminished as
was his command, it was not long before he was again heard from. It must
be confessed that he possessed remarkable recuperative powers. His
qualities of heart and mind seemed to attach his men to him peculiarly,
while his mode of warfare was calling many young and daring Virginians
to his standard. By this means his numbers were soon recruited, and he
was again on the rampage.
At this time the government was sending supplies to the army on the
Rappahannock _via_ the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. Each train was in
charge of a guard, and all the principal bridges and exposed places on
the route were under pickets. Besides this, frequent patrols were sent
from one picket post to the other, so that the entire road was under a
close surveillance. One morning, between seven and eight o'clock, the
cavalry pickets and reserves about Catlett's Station were startled by
artillery firing just below them on the railroad. A train laden with
rations and forage had just passed on its way to the Rappahannock. It
was soon ascertained that during the night the guerillas had carefully
unfastened one of the rails in the woods, and by means of a wire
attached to it and extended to some distance from the road, in a manner
to be unobserved by the patrols, a man concealed behind a tree had
drawn the rail out of place just as the engine was approaching it,
throwing it off the track. A mountain howitzer, which had been placed in
position, immediately plunged a shell through the engine, and at the
same time a charge was made upon the guard. This consisted mostly of men
whose term of service expired that very day, and their resistance
amounted to nothing. They soon fled in shameful confusion, leaving the
ground to the Rebels, who, after taking such plunder as they could
carry, fired the train, and then started on the road to Haymarket.
But the cavalry had been aroused, and detachments of the First Vermont
and Fifth New York, each in separate routes, commenced a vigorous
pursuit. Mosby, who commanded in person, evidently had not reckoned on
so sudden and sharp an encounter. He had not proceeded two miles before
he espied the boys in blue eagerly flying after him. His howitzer was
quickly brought into position, and a shell was accurately thrown among
his pursuers, suddenly dismounting one of the officers, whose horse was
killed. But the detention of the column was only temporary, the boys
being determined once more to cross sabres with the chivalry. The nature
of the ground was unfavorable for a cavalry charge, and the enemy showed
no disposition to fight, but fled as rapidly as possible, firing an
occasional shell, but without inflicting any injury. Eagerly the boys
spurred on their chargers, and were soon joined by the Vermonters, who
added fresh excitement to the chase.
Mosby, finding himself too closely followed for his comfort, and
knowing that something desperate must be done, determined to sell his
howitzer as dearly as possible. Having reached the head of a narrow
lane, near the house of a Mr. Warren Fitzhugh, he wheeled the piece into
position and commenced a rapid fire. There was no way for our boys to
reach the howitzer except through the lane, the whole length of which
was raked by every discharge. "That gun must be captured," exclaimed
Lieutenant Elmer J. Barker, of the Fifth New York, "and who will
volunteer to charge it with me?" About thirty brave fellows responded
promptly, and suiting the action to the words, "charge, boys!" he rushed
furiously forward at their head, while the fields rang with their
maddening yell. But the brave lieutenant fell severely wounded before a
murderous discharge of grape and canister, which killed three of his men
and wounded several. The lieutenant's faithful horse was also mortally
wounded. But before the piece could be reloaded with its only one
remaining shell, the surviving comrades were crossing sabres with the
gunners over the gun. The conflict here was desperate, but of short
duration. Mosby's lieutenant, Chapman, fought with the rammer of the
gun, but fell wounded and was captured. At length those who could not
escape surrendered, and the howitzer was ours. It bore an inscription
which showed that it had been captured by the Rebels from the lamented
Colonel Baker, at Ball's Bluff.
Among the enemy's wounded and captured was a Captain Hoskins, formerly
of the British army, who had run the blockade and espoused the Rebel
cause. He received his death-wound as follows: having wounded a private
soldier in a hand-to-hand encounter, he roughly cried out, "Surrender,
you d----d Yankee!" "I'll see you d----d first," was the characteristic
reply, while the Yankee boy lodged a pistol ball in the captain's neck,
from which he did not long survive. An interesting diary was found in
Captain Hoskins' possession, describing mainly his private life since
entering Mosby's command.
Mosby himself barely escaped being captured on this occasion, and he
carried the mark of a sabre-cut on his arm. The fight had been desperate
on both sides, but the guerillas were badly worsted, and driven away as
far as the jaded condition of our horses would permit us to pursue them.
In their flight the spoils, which had been taken from the captured
train, were left behind, strewn in every direction. This fight occurred
near the little village of Greenwich, and gave Mosby a blow quite as
severe as any he had ever received.