Last updated: December 21, 2024
Person
John Singleton Mosby
Library of Congress
Quick Facts
Significance:
Confederate Cavalry Commander
Place of Birth:
Powhatan County, Virginia
Date of Birth:
December 6, 1833
Place of Death:
Washington, DC
Date of Death:
May 30, 1916
Place of Burial:
Warrenton, Virginia
Cemetery Name:
Warrenton Cemetery
John Singleton Mosby was a lawyer turned Confederate partisan raider during the American Civil War. In 1863, Mosby was placed in command of the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry. His "rangers" raided Federal supply lines in Northern Virginia, an area nicknamed Mosby's Confederacy. After the war Mosby joined the Republican Party, befriended his former enemy Ulysses S. Grant, and maintained that slavery was the central cause of the Civil War.
Early Life
Jon Singleton Mosby was born in 1833. The Mosbys were a wealthy family of English origin. His ancestors help colonize coastal Virginia in the early 1600s. At 19 years old, Mosby was expelled from the University of Virginia and jailed after shooting a classmate. He was pardoned in 1853. Afterwards, Mosby studied law and established his own practice. In 1857 he married Pauline Clark and moved to Southwestern Virginia near the Cumberland Gap.
Civil War
Mosby initially spoke out against secession and was opposed to slavery. Yet he still enlisted in the Virginia Volunteers, a unit of horse-mounted infantry soldiers. Despite the politics of the struggle Mosby felt it was his patriotic duty fight for his country, stating, "the south was my country." This moral dilemma would reappear in his memoirs and letters after the war.
By 1862 Mosby was riding with Confederate cavalry forces commanded by James Ewell Brown (JEB) Stuart, where he gained a reputation for being skilled at espionage and intelligence gathering. He was briefly detained by the Federal army and held as a prisoner in Washington, DC.
Mosby's Rangers
In 1863 Mosby was given independent command of the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry, a band of partisan rangers who operated outside of regular army norms. The rangers blended into the civilian population of Northern Virginia, had no camp duties, successfully raided Federal supply lines, and shared the spoils of their victories. This included cash, rations, and weapons. Their success proved controversial within the Confederate Government as many army regulars thought it encouraged desertion from the frontlines. During the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign, Federal cavalry executed seven of the rangers in Front Royal, revealing the extent of frustration with Mosby's command. In retaliation, Mosby executed several captured Federal soldiers. After written notes between Mosby and Federal General Philip Sheridan the executions ceased.
On April 21, 1865, two weeks after Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, Mosby disbanded his now famous unit. While the rangers were paroled, Mosby's status was initially uncertain. Federal commanders labeled him a guerilla chief whose conduct made him was exempt from parole. An arrest order and bounty was placed on his head. Only when these were rescinded did Mosby surrender, becoming one of the last Confederate leaders to do so.
Post Civil War
Mosby returned to civilian life and worked as a lawyer in Warrenton, Virginia. In the 1870s a most unusual friendship began between Mosby and Ulysses S. Grant. Mosby became active in politics, joined the Republican Party, and served as Grant's campaign manager during the 1872 presidential election. This infuriated southern citizens who now viewed Mosby as traitor. He received death threats, was the subject of vandalism, and the target of an assassination attempt. In 1876 Mosby moved to Washington, DC. In 1878 President Rutherford B. Hayes, a former Federal officer who fought against Mosby in the Shenandoah Valley, appointed him as the United States Consul to Hong Kong. He worked in government positions with the Department of Interior and Department of Justice.
Mosby pushed back against the Lost Cause, a myth that argues the cause Confederacy was heroic and not centered on slavery. In 1894 Mosby made his point clear, writing, "I've always understood that we went to war on account of the thing we quarreled with the North about. I've never heard of any other cause than slavery."