~ MOSBYS RANGERS ~ I got my hands on this book about Mosbys Rangers by Jeffry D. Wert. It is said to be the true Adventures of the Most Famous Command of The War of 1862, therefore I want to share some highlights I think you will enjoy reading . . . In January 1863 Confederate Major General J.W.B. Stuart, with the approval of General Robert E. Lee, detailed one of Stuarts best scouts, John Singleton Mosby, and fifteen men to operate within Union lines in northern Virginia. From their original nucleus, the unit evolved into the 43rd Battalion of Virginia Cavalry or Mosbys Partisan Rangers. During a span of roughly twenty-eight months, the 43Battalion was a matchless body of guerrillas , in turn becoming probably the most renowned combat unit of the Civil War. Under Mosbys brilliant leadership, the Rangers were a constant presence in northern Virginia, striking daily in day light and in darkness at Union outposts, pickets, wagon trains, troop detachments, headquarters and railroads. The Confederates attacked without warning and then disappeared. They seemed to relish the combat, fighting with a bravado that instilled both fear and hatred in their foes. Although they appeared as warriors of an earlier age, the struggle between them and their opponents with brutal, deadly war fare. By the Wars conclusion, in April 1865, the Rangers stood unvanquished. All Federal counter operations against them had failed and, once the principal armies of the Confederacy had surrendered or had been brought to bay, Mosby disbanded his command instead of accepting terms of surrender. Such a choice fit both Mosby and the men he led. This book is a history of the 43rd Battalion of Virginia Cavalry, of John Mosby and the men who shared his mission with him for over two year. It is a recounting of their famous command--of its organization, membership, mode of operations, raids and exploits. It is also a reexamination, the first modern study, utilizing both unpublished and published sources, of Mosbys Rangers and their record. It presents the story of hard young men engaged in a hard war, a conflict shorn of romantic illusions by the staggering carnage. ALthough the 43rd Battalion blogged to one man--John Singleton Mosby--he shares there pages with the youthful daredevils who rode by his side. An extraordinary officer, Mosby led by example and by the imposition of his will, and was the should of the commend. While any history of the battalion must have Mosby at the center stage he was surrounded by a remarkable group of officers and enlisted men. With him on scouts and on raids were men such as Adolphus Dolly Richards, William and Samuel Chapman, Richard Montjoy, James Big Yankee Ames, John Russell, Harry Hatcher, william Smith, Fount Beattie, William Thomas Turner and numerous others cut from a similar cloth. Mosbys story is alo theirs. Altogether, over 1,900 men belonged to the battalion. Through-out the units existence, recruits came in weekly, attracted by the glamour and successes, the lack of regulations and routine found in the regular army, the opportunity for many to be near home and the acquisition of plunder, which the members divided equally amount themselves. They were overwhelmingly Virginians and Marylanders, with several dozen from other Confederate states. If they would not or could not adapt to Mosbys discipline and standards, Mosby went them to the Army of northern Virginia. T fortunes and fate of the Rangers were also shared by the civilians who sheltered and fed Mosbys men, warning them of Union troops in the area and hiding them within their homes. When Mosby began his operations in early 1863, he chose the strategically important section of Virginia in the counties of Fauquier and Loudoun in the Piedmont region east of the BLue Ridge Mountains as his base. The area soon became known as Mosbys Confederacy and, from its farms, villages and woodlots, the Rangers rode forth until the end. Without the support of the sympathetic populace, the 43, Battalion found not have functioned as a guerrilla command. But the people of Fauquier and Loudoun soon learned that their efforts on behalf of the Rangers brought a price. Many say their homes and livelihoods reduced to ashes, and their husbands and fathers in Union prisons. It is their story too, and this book relates the sacrifices and the joys of life in Mosbys Confederacy. Finally, good military history requires balance, and integration of both sides movements and actions into the narrative. Ranger operations usually resulted in Federal counter operations, an these efforts by the Rangers opponents are described in the book. Tough veteran Union cavalry regiments were assigned the temporary duty of p[[psing the Confederates and, although the Northerners ultimately failed, they proved to be worthy foes. They fought, bled and died in the fields, woodlots and roadbeds as did the Rangers. When John Mosby disbanded his command on a spring day in 1865, the men rode away from their final rendezvous with a legacy unequaled by other similar unit of the war and with a historical fascination that transcends time. To retell their story frankly and without the veneer of romance is to do tim and their foes justice. In the end, they were nothing more than men caught in a vicious war who tried to do their duty. That is reason enough to honor them and to recount their lives as Mosbys Rangers. Source: From the Book ~ Mosbys Rangers ~ by Jeffry D. Wert The most thoroughly researched and the most balanced--treatment we are ever likely to have on the Gray Ghost of the Confederacy
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 00:23:47 +0000
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