John Mosby & Partisan Rangers - a question

Anna Elizabeth Henry

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After recently discovering that an ancestor of mine fled his home in Fauquier County, Va in the fall of 1864 because Mosby's men threatened his life my interest in Mosby and the exploits of his men has been piqued. I know the basics about Mosby and other partisan rangers of the war, but never pursued it any further.

I was wondering if anyone on the forum could point me in the right direction into learning more about Mosby's exploits in northern Virginia around this time. I know there seems to be some books about him and his men on Amazon, but I'm unsure of which is better or more worth pursuing. Also, websites would be helpful, too. I Googled Mosby but turned up the regular run of the mill information I already knew. I'm curious to learn about how various partisan groups harassed local citizens and what exactly my very great-grandfather did to tick off Mosby's men enough for him to flee his home and end up a refugee in Alexandria, Va. as a result. I'm sure he wasn't the only person who didn't kowtow to Mosby's men.

I've attached an image of the letter I discovered on Fold3 as a point of reference for the type of information I'm hoping to learn about Mosby's men. Any books, websites or insight into this area of the ACW would be greatly appreciated as I'd like to understand from a historical point of view what my ancestor went through, plus its a fascinating topic. Thanks!
 

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I would start with his autobiography and some of the autobiographies of his men. There are several which are available on Google books or similar free services online. Mosby was an entertaining writer!

As I understand it, he wasn't necessarily well-loved even by all supporters of the Confederacy within the area he occupied, because he had definite and sometimes quirky opinions about what should go on, and considered himself the authority. For example he busted up stills and forbid the making of alcohol. Do you know if your ancestor was a Unionist?

Edit: assuming Fielder Hooper is your ancestor, well, there you have it. Giving information to the Feds about the location of Mosby or his men in an effort to get them killed would probably cause them to threaten to string you up. Such informants got him nearly killed many times. A known Unionist who had taken the oath was suspect.
 
I would start with his autobiography and some of the autobiographies of his men. There are several which are available on Google books or similar free services online. Mosby was an entertaining writer!

As I understand it, he wasn't necessarily well-loved even by all supporters of the Confederacy within the area he occupied, because he had definite and sometimes quirky opinions about what should go on, and considered himself the authority. For example he busted up stills and forbid the making of alcohol. Do you know if your ancestor was a Unionist?

Edit: assuming Fielder Hooper is your ancestor, well, there you have it. Giving information to the Feds about the location of Mosby or his men in an effort to get them killed would probably cause them to threaten to string you up. Such informants got him nearly killed many times. A known Unionist who had taken the oath was suspect.

Yes, @Allie it's poor Fielder Hooper and yes, he did take the oath, three times he claims. I'm sure that didn't make him popular with his pro-Confederate neighbors. Thanks, I'll look into Google books, as free is always a good thing :thumbsup:

Oh, wow, I didn't realize Mosby wasn't always liked by his own supporters! What I find most ironic, my great grandfather idolized Mosby, clearly the stories of his own great-grandfather being harassed and threatened didn't trickle down the family tree. Go figure!

Eek! Mosby was into prohibition? No wonder he made enemies among his own :tongue:
 
After recently discovering that an ancestor of mine fled his home in Fauquier County, Va in the fall of 1864 because Mosby's men threatened his life my interest in Mosby and the exploits of his men has been piqued. I know the basics about Mosby and other partisan rangers of the war, but never pursued it any further.

I was wondering if anyone on the forum could point me in the right direction into learning more about Mosby's exploits in northern Virginia around this time. I know there seems to be some books about him and his men on Amazon, but I'm unsure of which is better or more worth pursuing. Also, websites would be helpful, too. I Googled Mosby but turned up the regular run of the mill information I already knew. I'm curious to learn about how various partisan groups harassed local citizens and what exactly my very great-grandfather did to tick off Mosby's men enough for him to flee his home and end up a refugee in Alexandria, Va. as a result. I'm sure he wasn't the only person who didn't kowtow to Mosby's men.

I've attached an image of the letter I discovered on Fold3 as a point of reference for the type of information I'm hoping to learn about Mosby's men. Any books, websites or insight into this area of the ACW would be greatly appreciated as I'd like to understand from a historical point of view what my ancestor went through, plus its a fascinating topic. Thanks!

Wow, interesting family history you have there. Wish I could help you with a recommendation, but the only Mosby book I ever read was Jeffrey Wert's book on Mosby's Rangers, which I definitely do NOT recommend (particularly for your Unionist ancestor, as it's dripping with Lost Cause drivel :eek:).
 
Yes, @Allie it's poor Fielder Hooper and yes, he did take the oath, three times he claims. I'm sure that didn't make him popular with his pro-Confederate neighbors. Thanks, I'll look into Google books, as free is always a good thing :thumbsup:

Oh, wow, I didn't realize Mosby wasn't always liked by his own supporters! What I find most ironic, my great grandfather idolized Mosby, clearly the stories of his own great-grandfather being harassed and threatened didn't trickle down the family tree. Go figure!

Eek! Mosby was into prohibition? No wonder he made enemies among his own :tongue:
I don't think he was necessarily a Prohibitionist except in the context of the war - his reasoning was that they needed grain for food, not booze, and that alcohol and soldiers were a bad mix.

He was definitely a love-him-or-hate-him kind of guy. His men maintained a network of houses of supporters who fed and sheltered them, and bragged that they lived comfortably. He's probably my favorite Civil War personality. Did you know that he played soldier with Patton when he was an old man and Patton was a child?

The other thing about his men is that most of them were teenagers - he liked them young, crazy, and fearless, but had strict rules about behavior. I actually have a cousin who served with him briefly, and was kicked out for failing to meet his standards!
 
Yes, @Allie it's poor Fielder Hooper and yes, he did take the oath, three times he claims. I'm sure that didn't make him popular with his pro-Confederate neighbors. Thanks, I'll look into Google books, as free is always a good thing :thumbsup:

Oh, wow, I didn't realize Mosby wasn't always liked by his own supporters! What I find most ironic, my great grandfather idolized Mosby, clearly the stories of his own great-grandfather being harassed and threatened didn't trickle down the family tree. Go figure!

Eek! Mosby was into prohibition? No wonder he made enemies among his own :tongue:

Following the war, Mosby became a Republican, and staunch supporter of U.S. Grant. May have even served in the Grant Administration. That didn't endear him at all to former Confederates.
 
Hi Anna,

I have a very similar interest but for different reasons. My G-G-G-Grandfather re-enlisted during the CW into a NY Cavalry unit. I don't have much evidence he was involved in much action, but he does mention being in the area of or hearing about "Moseby" a few times in his personal diary (http://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/30thInf/30thInf_Diary_Morrison.pdf).
Here are some that may be tangentially interesting in your search as they are Union gossip essentially though I did find a note from a Troy newspaper about the 3 prisoners from 11/10/1864:

1864:
Oct. 14th, Friday. Weather warm and pleasant. News of a raid by "Moseby" on the train between "Harpers Ferry" and "Martinsburg." He destroyed the train and robbed the passengers, amongst the lot a pay master having 65,000 dollars with him. Good lift by "Moseby."

Nov. 10th, Thursday. Up before daylight without breakfast and to the road again. We rode through [the] finest country I ever seen until about noon, when word came that Moseby was only four miles ahead of us on the road. Our eight effective companies started after him, leaving us to take it easy. They did not find him, but he found them, as 136 he [21] took three of Co.H prisoners.

Dec. 26th, Monday. Was turned out at 3 A.M. and it raining heavily. I was completely soaked through, as the water had run under me as well as coming through from the top. Before we got our fires going, "boots and saddles" sounded - whew -there was some awful swearing thereat. Ten minutes later, "lead out" and off we went through the driving, chilling [43] rain. Passed through "Warrenton," which looked dull and cheerless enough, but it contains some of the best private houses which I have seen in this state. We had the advance. As Gene Torbert rode through, he was fired at out of the window. Nobody hurt. Passed through "Salem." Heard here that "Moseby" had been killed a few days before by some of the 13th N.Y. Cav. (don't believe it).


And finally in 1865 he actually encountered him in person though there isn't much detail:

April 18th, Tuesday. Came off picket at 3.30 A.M. As orders had come to saddle up, three days' grain was served out. Then we were told to take only one and finally none 157 at all, as we were only going out with Gen'l Champman to have an interview with Moseby at "Millwood." Got off about [68] 8 A.M., preceded by our band, which struck up some lively airs, as we rode through "Berryville." We halted about half a mile this side of "Millwood," when the general and his body guard rode into the town. After waiting several hours and accomplishing nothing, we started for camp, but were shortly overtaken by Moseby and his staff. He then had another conversation with Chapman and rode off. We got back to camp about 8 P.M.
 
I don't think he was necessarily a Prohibitionist except in the context of the war - his reasoning was that they needed grain for food, not booze, and that alcohol and soldiers were a bad mix.

He was definitely a love-him-or-hate-him kind of guy. His men maintained a network of houses of supporters who fed and sheltered them, and bragged that they lived comfortably. He's probably my favorite Civil War personality. Did you know that he played soldier with Patton when he was an old man and Patton was a child?

The other thing about his men is that most of them were teenagers - he liked them young, crazy, and fearless, but had strict rules about behavior. I actually have a cousin who served with him briefly, and was kicked out for failing to meet his standards!

Makes sense as you need grain for bread or corn meal and drunk and/or hungover soldiers aren't very useful, especially for the type of war he was conducting. You know I always enjoyed the stories my dad told me about Mosby from his grandfather, one of which was the Patton story! What I do know about him always made me like him from a military standpoint, he was cunning among other things. I'm surprised to see he's got this whole other side to him.

Wow, interesting family history you have there. Wish I could help you with a recommendation, but the only Mosby book I ever read was Jeffrey Wert's book on Mosby's Rangers, which I definitely do NOT recommend (particularly for your Unionist ancestor, as it's dripping with Lost Cause drivel :eek:).

LOL! I was actually looking at that book on Amazon! Yeah, I think I'll skip or save the Lost Cause version for last, thanks! :happy:
 
Following the war, Mosby became a Republican, and staunch supporter of U.S. Grant. May have even served in the Grant Administration. That didn't endear him at all to former Confederates.

Thanks, I think he was a US ambassador to Hong Kong at some point, so maybe it was for Grant.

Hi Anna,

I have a very similar interest but for different reasons. My G-G-G-Grandfather re-enlisted during the CW into a NY Cavalry unit. I don't have much evidence he was involved in much action, but he does mention being in the area of or hearing about "Moseby" a few times in his personal diary (http://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/30thInf/30thInf_Diary_Morrison.pdf).
Here are some that may be tangentially interesting in your search as they are Union gossip essentially though I did find a note from a Troy newspaper about the 3 prisoners from 11/10/1864:

Thanks SO much @caller for sharing the entries from your ancestor's diary! :smile: What an amazing account despite the fact he wasn't engaged in much action. I appreciate seeing the Union gossip and this could point to why my ancestor hightailed it the Union lines since Mosby's men were roaming around the area. Again, thanks for sharing!
 
Because of my eyesight fading I cannot read like I once did but libervox has some great talking books one is Mosby's memoirs I really did enjoy it you can find it on YouTube.
 
I'm currently reading about Nathan Bedford Forest, John H Morgan, Turner Ashby and John Mosby. According to the book that I am reading there is reason to believe that the raids of these four men caused more material and psychological damage, killed and captured more Federals and pinned down a greater number of troops than regular cavalry. I understand that Lee wanted control over the partisans and that Mosby went over his head to maintain his independence from the regular force. I was wondering if Mosby's motivation to remain separate was due in no small part to the added benefits of the 'Partisan Ranger Act', did this act remain in place until the end of the war?
 
Yes, @Allie it's poor Fielder Hooper and yes, he did take the oath, three times he claims. I'm sure that didn't make him popular with his pro-Confederate neighbors. Thanks, I'll look into Google books, as free is always a good thing :thumbsup:

Oh, wow, I didn't realize Mosby wasn't always liked by his own supporters! What I find most ironic, my great grandfather idolized Mosby, clearly the stories of his own great-grandfather being harassed and threatened didn't trickle down the family tree. Go figure!

Eek! Mosby was into prohibition? No wonder he made enemies among his own :tongue:
Mosby and his men also benefited from the Partisan Ranger Act which allowed Mosby and his men to retain whatever loot they might capture from the enemy. Was your relative a wealthy man?
 
Mosby and his men also benefited from the Partisan Ranger Act which allowed Mosby and his men to retain whatever loot they might capture from the enemy. Was your relative a wealthy man?

No, sadly my ancestor was not wealthy, but he was accused of being a Union man and as such was harassed by Mosby's men for supposedly passing information to the Union Army. He feared for his life and left his home for Alexandria where he stayed until the war was over.
 
Yes, @Allie it's poor Fielder Hooper and yes, he did take the oath, three times he claims. I'm sure that didn't make him popular with his pro-Confederate neighbors. Thanks, I'll look into Google books, as free is always a good thing :thumbsup:

Oh, wow, I didn't realize Mosby wasn't always liked by his own supporters! What I find most ironic, my great grandfather idolized Mosby, clearly the stories of his own great-grandfather being harassed and threatened didn't trickle down the family tree. Go figure!

:tongue:
Uh,well,Mosby let his great- grandfather live,right?
 
Your relative made the right choice leaving his home. From what I have read, Mosby was a bit of a nasty character, informants didn't usually survive their meetings with Mosby and his men.
 
Stuart wrote that most of Mosby's men were a worthless rabble, and that none knew it better than Mosby himself. He made an exception for Mosby personally and about ten other guys.

Unfortunately these were the kind of men Mosby had to rely upon.
This might be part of the answer to your ancestor's experience. Civil wars degrade into something very personal. The partisans who terrorized civilians might have done so on their own initiative without any military purpose in mind.
 
Uh,well,Mosby let his great- grandfather live,right?

Yes, he did :wink: But he was an older gentleman at the time at almost 70, which I gather in that era was considered old considering average lifespans and such. Seemed mean spirited to harass someone older in my opinion, but if he in fact was passing along information to the Union I could understand the harassment he received, even though I don't approve of it.
 
This might be part of the answer to your ancestor's experience. Civil wars degrade into something very personal. The partisans who terrorized civilians might have done so on their own initiative without any military purpose in mind.

I agree and having learned some more about Mosby and his men, it seems they operated without much approval from higher levels of command. It's easy to see how when a small group is left to their own devices during a war things can easily get out of hand.
 
This might be part of the answer to your ancestor's experience. Civil wars degrade into something very personal. The partisans who terrorized civilians might have done so on their own initiative without any military purpose in mind.
I believe every move Mosby made creating whatever was before him, had something to do with the war. Doing things to civilians was a demorallizer to the North and also made the North to send troops away from the battlefields chasing after him. Just my take.
 
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