Col. John S. Mosby
“The Marble Man” and the “Gray
Ghost.” If we mention those two names, Robert E. Lee and John S. Mosby come to
mind. Lee commanded the Army of Northern Virginia. Mosby was a colonel, charged
with disrupting Federal operations behind the lines in Northern Virginia. While
Mosby might not have been a “trusted” lieutenant like Jackson or Longstreet, he
still communicated frequently with the commanding general. (Note: “The Marble Man”
and the “Gray Ghost” were names applied much later.)
Mosby was much younger than Lee. He
was born in Powhatan County, Virginia, in 1833. Small in stature and frequently
bullied, Mosby shot one of those bullies. Convicted of the crime and expelled
from the University of Virginia, Mosby wound up studying law under the
prosecting attorney while incarcerated. Mosby was later pardoned by the
Virginia governor and was admitted to the bar. He and his family were living in
Bristol when the war began.
Lee was born in 1807 at Stratford
Hall, the son of a Revolutionary War hero and former governor of Virginia. Lee
grew up in Alexandria, graduated from West Point, and served as an engineer in
the United States army. He was three times brevetted for his role in the
Mexican-American War. In the early days of the secession crisis, Lee was
serving with a cavalry regiment in Texas.
At the beginning of the war, Mosby
enlisted as a private in the Washington Mounted Rifles, under Grumble Jones. While
members of the 1st Virginia Cavalry, the men of the Washington
Mounted Rifles were not seriously engaged at First Manassas. In early 1862,
Private Mosby was promoted to adjutant of the regiment, with the rank of first lieutenant.
Mosby slipped off on his first scout in March 1862, reporting back to Stuart
that there was no serious pursuit of the Confederate army as it pulled back
from the Manassas area to the Rappahannock River. When Fitzhugh Lee replaced
Jones, Mosby resigned. Stuart kept Mosby as a scout. It was Mosby who scouted
the Federal position that led to Stuart’s famed ride around McClellan in June
1862. Lee made mention of Mosby in a general report of the operation. Mosby continued
under Stuart’s command during the Seven Days battles. After this campaign Mosby
came up with the idea of a partisan ranger command that could harass Federal
supply columns. While on his way to consult with Jackson at Gordonsville, Mosby
was captured. Upon being paroled and released, Mosby made his way to Lee’s
headquarters, explaining to Lee what he had seen at Hampton Roads. This was
probably the first meeting between Lee and Mosby. The date: August 5, 1862.
Mosby served on Stuart’s staff the
next few months, serving as a scout. It was at the end of December 1862, while
Stuart was scouting in Loudoun County, that Mosby received permission to remain
behind with nine men. On January 10, they made their first raid, capturing a
picket post near Herndon, Virginia. By January 22, when they reported back to
Stuart, they had captured twenty horses and men. Mosby asked for a few more
men, and Stuart granted his request. It was the beginning of Mosby’s Rangers
and the 43rd Battalion, Virginia Cavalry.
Lee and Mosby communicated often
over the next couple of years. It was Lee who wrote General Samuel Cooper of
Mosby’s capture of Brig. Gen. Edwin Stoughton in March 1863.[1] Lee recommended that same
month that Mosby needed to be promoted, and the rank of captain came a couple
of days later, along with orders to recruit his command.[2] With Mosby operating so
close to the Washington, D.C. defenses, Lee frequent wrote to his superiors
with details of his raids and the information gathered.
Mosby continued to raid Federal
wagons trains north of the Rappahannock as Lee began moving the army north, the
start of the Gettysburg campaign. It was Mosby who suggested Stuart ride once
again around the Federal army, and Mosby who scouted that army with two men,
trying to decern its intentions.
In August 1863, Lee wrote Stuart about
Mosby: “I fear he exercises but little control over his men…his attention has
been more directed toward the capture of wagons than military damages to the
enemy.” Lee wanted Mosby to attack
railroads, trying to force Meade to pull troops away from the army to guard the
vital supply lines.[3]
Lee again mentioned
Mosby in December 1863, writing that he had destroyed a wagon train at Brandy
Station, capturing 112 mules.[4]
In April 1864, Lee wrote Cooper that he was attempting to “have Col. Mosby’s
battalion mustered into regular service. If this cannot be done I recommended
that this battalion be retained as partisans for the present.”[5]
For much of April, Mosby continued to funnel information to Lee regarding troop
movements.
When Jubal Early
commenced his campaign through the Shenandoah Valley in June, July, and August 1864,
Mosby joined in, attacking Federal positions at Point of Rocks, Mount Zion
Church, the Snicker’s Gap War, Berryville Wagon Train Raid, Gold’s Farm, and
others.
Mosby paid Lee a visit
at the latter’s headquarters near Petersburg on December 6, 1864. At Edge Hill,
they had a meal together – a leg of mutton, which Lee joked about as being
stolen since it was a rarity.[6]
Mosby visited Lee’s headquarters again on February 2, 1865.[7]
This appears to be the last time the two met during the war.
Lee of course
surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. In Loudoun County,
Mosby received word of the surrender on April 15, asking for a ceasefire so he
could verify the validity of the news. This was granted. Word was sent to Lee,
now back in Richmond. What should the rangers do? Lee’s response? He thought
they should go home. Mosby disbanded the 43rd Battalion on April 21,
1865, in Salem. Mosby and a few others rode south, trying to link up with the
Army of Tennessee. When they learned that Johnston had also surrendered, they
returned, and Mosby, confirming that he would not be arrested, likewise
surrendered on June 17.
