John Singleton Mosby

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John Singleton Mosby , 1833-1916, Confederate partisan leader in the American Civil War, b. Edgemont, Va. He was practicing law in Bristol, Va., when the Civil War broke out. Mosby served brilliantly in the cavalry under J. E. B. Stuart until Jan., 1863, when he began his partisan operations in N Virginia—soon called "Mosby's Confederacy." Moving swiftly and secretly, Mosby's men (who never numbered more than 200) continually routed Union cavalry, destroyed communications, appropriated supplies, and were, in general, a great nuisance to the Army of the Potomac. Perhaps Mosby's most famous exploit was the capture of a Union general, caught asleep in his bed, at Fairfax Courthouse in Mar., 1863. Protected by the people of the region, Mosby's partisan rangers eluded the strong forces sent to capture them and were active until Robert E. Lee surrendered. Mosby secured his parole only through the intercession of Ulysses S. Grant, of whom he became a great admirer. He joined the Republican party and later held various minor government positions. He wrote Mosby's War Reminiscences and Stuart's Cavalry Campaigns (1887) and Stuart's Cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign (1908).

Bibliography: See C. W. Russell, ed., The Memoirs of Colonel John S. Mosby (1917, repr. 1969); biographies by V. C. Jones (1944), J. Daniels (1959), K. Seipel (1983), and J. A. Ramage (1999).

Mosby, John Singleton (1833–1916) Confederate partisan officer, born in Powhatan County, Virginia. Mosby led a cavalry unit in guerrilla operations behind Union lines in northern Virginia. Mosby and his rangers provided Robert E. Lee with valuable intelligence information, seized hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of federal material, and captured thousands of enemy troops. Unlike many partisans, however, Mosby did not engage in ruthless attacks on civilians. Mosby never surrendered; he disbanded his battalion twelve days after Lee's surrender at Appomattox (1865). After the war Mosby became friends with Ulysses S. Grant, joined the Republican party (for which he was much criticized in the South), and served in a variety of government posts.