Saturday, June 13, 2015

Mosby's Rangers...!

Just a little Civil War history for ya this morning. Ya gotta love history, right?

You might have heard the name "gray ghost" before, and that was another name for John Mosby. Interesting bit of history here if you likie stories from the Civil War era.

Mosby’s Rangers


Photo via Wikipedia

John Mosby, nicknamed “the gray ghost,” led the 43rd Battalion, 1st Virginia Cavalry, known as “Mosby’s Rangers.” Major Mosby would don a disguise and locate an appropriate location for a raid, and then his unit would strike. Mosby’s Rangers was famous for its quick raids and ability to elude Union troops by “disappearing” among local farmers and townspeople. They gained notoriety in a raid on Fairfax Court House, when they captured Union Brigadier General Edwin Stoughton, a few other officers, and many horses. President Lincoln was more grieved by the loss of the horses than of the general, saying, “I can make a much better brigadier in five minutes, but the horses cost $125 apiece."

Mosby’s Rangers caused problems for the Union by disrupting supply lines, capturing Union couriers, and giving information to the Confederate Army. Major Mosby operated with impunity, employing his own warfare tactics and looting public and personal property. At the end of the war, Mosby became a Republican and worked as a representative for President Grant, serving as the American consul in Hong Kong. He also served as an official in the Department of the Interior.

Seems like Mosby made the move from militia man to politics fairly seamlessly. Guess that happened a lot back in those days, though.

Coffee out on the patio this morning. Watch out for the spider webs!

6 comments:

Chickenmom said...

Always like learning history Mr. Hermit, especially about the South. I'll trade you the spider webs for all the gypsy moths caterpillars dropping out of trees and crawling around here!

Mamahen said...

Interesting bit of history....Maybe if you had one of those straw hats with a wide brim n walked with you head slightly tilted it would save getting your face in those pesky webs...just a thought...anyway I'm on my way with some strawberry cookie bars to share :))

JO said...

Another lesson learned here at Mr. Hermits patio.

Sure is a beautiful morning here so I better get moving and finish loading up the truck before it gets hot. Don't know when I will be online again.

HermitJim said...

Hey Phyllis...
Haven't seen that many caterpillars yet around here, but I'm sure it's coming!

Thanks for dropping by this morning!



Hey Mamahen...
Trouble is...they rebuild them as fast as I take 'em down. I don't like spiders much!

Thanks for stopping by today!



Hey Jo...
You have fun while out camping. I'm glad the wewather is co-operating a bit.

Thanks, sweetie, for coming over today!

Dizzy-Dick said...

The last military man to become president was Eisenhower, I think. Maybe now is the time for another one. Some one like General George S. Patton.

Unknown said...

Something to think about Roughly 1,264,000 American soldiers have died in the nation's wars--620,000 in the Civil War and 644,000 in all other conflicts. It was only as recently as the Vietnam War that the amount of American deaths in foreign wars eclipsed the number who died in the Civil War.