In the South his dashing exploits made him one of the great heroes of the "Lost Cause." In the North he was painted as the blackest of redoubtable scoundrels, a fact only to be explained as due to the exasperation caused by a successful enemy against whom all measures were worthless and ineffective. So great became the fame of Mosby's partisan exploits that soldiers of fortune came even from Europe to share his adventures.

Mosby's successful disruption of supply lines and attrition of Union couriers caused General Grant to tell Sheridan, "When any of Mosby's men are caught, hang them without trial." On September 22, 1864, Union forces that Mosby believed (not necessarily correctly) to be commanded by, and acting with the knowledge of, Union Brig. Gen. George A. Custer, executed six of Mosby's men in Front Royal, Virginia; a seventh was executed on a subsequent occasion. William Thomas Overby was one of the men selected for execution on the hill in Front Royal. His captors offered to spare him if he would reveal Mosby's location, but he refused. According to reports at the time, his last words were, "Mosby will hang ten of you for every one of us." After his death, a Union soldier pinned a piece of paper on his shirt that read: "Such is the fate of all of Mosby's gang."

After informing General Robert E. Lee and Confederate Secretary of War James A. Seddon of his intention to respond in kind, Mosby ordered seven Union prisoners, chosen by lot, to be executed in retaliation on November 6, 1864, at Rectortown, Virginia. The soldiers charged with carrying out the orders hanged three men; they shot two more in the head and left them for dead (remarkably, both survived); the other two condemned men managed to escape, presumably with the assistance of their would-be executioners. On November 11, 1864, Mosby wrote to Sheridan as the commander of Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley, requesting that both sides resume treating prisoners with humanity. He pointed out that he and his men had captured (and returned) far more of Sheridan's men than they had lost. The Union side complied. With both camps treating prisoners as "prisoners of war" for the duration, there were no more executions.

This book offers the rare opportunity to read about one of the real heroes of the Confederacy in his own words. Col. Mosby was the commander of the Virginia 43rd Cavalry Battalion / 1st Virginia Cavalry.

We also have 6 other titles on Col. Mosby and his men.