Guerrillas Near Washington DC

It strikes me as being more than a little ironic that little is said outside of historical circles about how in 1863-1865 Lt. Col. John S. Mosby's 43rd Battalion of Partisan Rangers kept what are now the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC in a state of turmoil. The following is an example of what was happening in the backyard of our capital city.


Loudoun Co., October 19, 1863

GENERAL: I did not receive your letter of instructions until late last Tuesday night, on my return from an expedition below.

I collected as many men as I could at so short notice, and on Thursday, 15th, came down into Fairfax, where I have been operating ever since in the enemy's rear.

I have captured over 100 horses and mules, several wagons loaded with valuable stores, and between 75 and 100 prisoners, arms, equipments, etc. Among the prisoners were 5 captains and 1 lieutenant.

I had a sharp skirmish yesterday with double my number of cavalry near Annandale, in which I routed them, capturing the captain commanding, 6 or 7 men and horses. I have so far sustained no loss. It has been my object to detain the troops that are occupying Fairfax, by annoying their communications and preventing them from operating in front. Yesterday two divisions left Centreville and went into camp at Fox's Mill. There are three regiments of cavalry at Vienna. I contemplate attacking a cavalry camp at Falls Church to-morrow night.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,
JNO. S. MOSBY, Major

[Endorsement]

HDQRS, CAVALRY CORPS, ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, October 26, 1863

Respectfully forwarded.

Major Mosby and command continue to do splendid service.

J.E.B. STUART, Major-General


Source: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 29, Part 1, pp 492-493

CHAFFIN'S BLUFF, August 16, 1864.

Colonel Mosby reports that he attacked the enemy's supply train near Berryville on the 13th; captured and destroyed 75 loaded wagons and secured over 200 prisoners, including several officers, between 500 and 600 horses and mules, upward of 200 beef-cattle, and many valuable stores. Considerable number of the enemy killed and wounded. His loss 2 killed and 3 wounded.

R. E. LEE,
General.

Honorable J. A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War.

CHAFFIN'S BLUFF, October 9, 1864.

Colonel Mosby reports that a body of about a thousand of the enemy advanced up the Manassas road on the 4th [with] trains of cars loaded with railroad material and occupied Salem and Rectortown. He attacked them at Salem, defeating them, capturing fifty prisoners, all their baggage, camp equipage, stores, &c., and killed and wounded a considerable number. His loss, two wounded. Enemy is entrenched at Rectortown with two long trains of cars. The railroad is torn up and bridges burned in their rear and all communications cut.

R. E. LEE.

Honorable JAMES A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War.

CHAFFIN'S BLUFF, October 16, 1864.

On the 14th instant Colonel Mosby struck the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Duffield's; destroyed U. S. military train consisting of locomotive and ten cars, securing twenty prisoners and fifteen horses. Among the prisoners are two paymasters with $168,000 in Government funds.

R. E. LEE.

Honorable JAMES A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War.


Source: Official Records, Series 1, Volume 43, Part 1, page 633

WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington, October 14, 1864.

General STEVENSON,

Harper's Ferry:

It is reported from Martinsburg that the railroad has been torn up and a paymaster and his funds captured. When and where did this occur, and have any measures been taken for recapture? Immediate answer.

EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.

HARPER'S FERRY, W. VA.,
October 14, 1864.

General Seward reported by telegraph this morning that the express train going west was captured at point two miles east of Kearneysville by a party of rebel raiders 100 strong. The passengers were robbed and train burned. Major Moore, paymaster, with his funds, was captured. As soon as they destroyed the train, he reports that they moved off in the direction of Winchester. i immediately sent toward Charlestown, to endeavor to intercept them, all the cavalry at this post-about 100, poorly mounted-and have but little hopes of their coming up with enemy. General Seward also dispatched two detachments in pursuit. I have not heard from any of them up to this hour. Trains have been sent to point of attack to repair damages, the track being partially destroyed. Will advise you of all particulars as soon as received.

Respectfully,

JOHN D. STEVENSON,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.

Source: Official Records, Series 1, Volume 43, Part 2, p. 368

PROVOST-MARSHAL'S OFFICE,
Fairfax Court-House, Va., March 9, 1863-3.30 a. m.

Captain Mosby, with his command, entered this town this morning at 2 a. m. They captured my patrols, horses, &c. They took Brigadier-General Stougton and horses, and all his men detached from his brigade. They took every horse that could be found, public and private, and the commanding officer of the post, Colonel Johnstone, of the Fifth New York Cavalry, made his escape from them in a nude state by accident. They searched for me in every direction, but being on the Vienna road, visiting outposts, I made my escape.

L. L. O'CONNOR,
Lieutenant, Provost-Marshal.

P. S.-All our available cavalry forces are in pursuit of them.

Major L. HUNT,
Asst. Adjt. General, General Heintzelman's Headquarters.

*****

HEADQUARTERS SECOND BRIGADE, CASEY'S DIVISION,
Fairfax Station, Va., March 9, 1863.

CAPTAIN: I have the honor to report that this morning about 3 a. m. a squadron of Stuart's cavalry entered this place. As far as I can learn, they captured all our guards and vedettes along the road, and surrounded these headquarters, where they captured Brigadier General E. H. Stoughton, as well as some of his servants. Five mounted orderlies, detailed here, were captured, together with horses, both public and private. The reports is they came into our lines with the countersign, so that no obstruction was offered to their entrance. The officer commanding the party first went to the telegraph office, and captured th operator, and afterward the general. One of his aides was also captured, but escaped. They left about 4 o'clock, taking all prisoners with them.

Lieutenant-Colonel Johnstone, commanding Cavalry Brigade, is in pursuit, but no report of his success in coming up with the enemy has yet been received.

I have the honor to be, captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

WM. H. HILL,
Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General.

Captain R. N. SCOTT,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

*****

CULPEPER, VA., March 10, 1863.

Captain Mosby has just returned from a scout, having captured Brigadier-General Stroughton, 1 captain, and 30 privates. He entered Fairfax Court-House and took them from their beds-General Stroughton, and the adjutant-general to Percy Wyndham, who was sleeping in Wyndham's bed. Wyndham, is in Washington.

FITZ. LEE,
Brigadier-General.

General S. COOPER.

Source: Official Records, Series 1, Volume 25, Part 1, pp 43-44

NOVEMBER 11, 1864.

Major General P. H. SHERIDAN,
Commanding U. S. Forces in the Valley:

GENERAL: Some time in the month of September, during my absence from my command, six of my men who had been captured by your forces were hung and shot in the streets of Front Royal, by the order and in the immediate presence of Brigadier-General Custer. Since then another, captured by a Colonel Powell on a plundering expedition into Rappahannock, was also hung. A label affixed to the coast of one of the murdered men declared that "this would be the fate of Mosby and all his men." Since the murder of my men not less that 700 prisoners, including many officers of high rank, captured from your army by this command, have been forwarded to Richmond, but the execution of my purpose of retaliation was deferred in order, as far as possible, to confine its operation to them den of Custer and Powell. Accordingly on the 6th instant seven of your men were, by my order, executed on the Valley pike, your highway of travel. Hereafter any prisoners falling into my hands will be treated with the kindness due to their condition, unless some new act of barbarity shall compel me reluctantly to adopt a course of policy repulsive to humanity.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JNO. S. MOSBY,
Lieutenant-Colonel.

Source: Official Records, Series 1, Volume 43, Part 2, p 920

HEADQUARTERS CAVALRY BRIGADE,
Vienna, Va., April 23, 1864.

CAPTAIN: I have the honor to report all quiet in this vicinity. The pickets near Hunter's Mills were attacked about 4 a. m. to-day by a dismounted party, with a loss of 9 horses and 3 men captured and 1 man wounded. No resistance was made by the pickets, only three shots being fired. A party started out about reveille this morning, as soon as the news of the attack reached camp, and after finding the trail started after the party in rapid pursuit, came in sight of them about 10 miles of Aldie, and chased them up the pike through the town, the rebels scattering in all directions.

Lieutenant W. H. Hunter, of Company A, Mosby's battalion, was taken prisoner during the chase and brought to this camp. Two horses were retaken and one shot. One man was wounded slightly. The party consisted of 50 men, under the command of Mosby himself. They came down to the vicinity of the picket and crossed the creek mounted, where a portion of them dismounted and advanced on foot to the attack.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

C. R. LOWELL, JR.,
Colonel Second Massachusetts Cavalry, Commanding Cav. Brigade

Captain W. A. LA MOTTE,
Assistant Adjutant-General.

Source: Official Records, Series 1, Volume 33, p. 308

HARPER'S FERRY, VA., December 29, 1864.

Honorable E. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:

I have satisfactory evidence that Mosby was actually shot near Middleburg, Londoun County, as reported. He is not dead, but severely, if not mortally, wounded. His death was reported with a view to direct attention from him whilst wounded. He was shot by a Federal scout.

JNO. D. STEVENSON,
Brigadier-General.

HARPER'S FERRY, December 29, 1864.

Major-General SHERIDAN:

I have very satisfactory evidence that Mosby was actually shot in a house near Middleburg. He is not dead, but severely or mortally wounded. He was lying in Middleburg and is either there yet or at the house of a man by the name of Joe or Jim Blackwell, about five miles from Piedmont, to which my informant thinks he has been removed. The story of his death is not true, but given out to prevent his capture while wounded. He stays at Middleburg at the house of a man by the name of Rogers.

Respectfully,
JNO. D. STEVENSON,
Brigadier-General.

HEADQUARTERS MIDDLE MILITARY DIVISION, December 29, 1864.

General STEVENSON:

Mosby was shot by a party from General Augur's command at Rector's Cross-Roads. There were two or three men in the party; they fired at Mosby and some of his men through the windows, wounding Mosby in the abdomen. He was then moved to the house of Widow Glasscock. Torbert tried to catch him there, but he had been taken away in an ambulance. Torbert searched the house of Rogers, at Middleburg, but he was not there. Mosby's wound is mortal. He and his party were eating supper when the attack was made on the house by General Augur's men.

P. H. SHERIDAN,
Major-General.

[Unrelated correspondence omitted.]

WINCHESTER, VA., December 30, 1864. (Received 8 p. m.)

Major-General AUGUR;

Your telegram of 26th reached me to-day. A small scouting party from the force you sent wounded Mosby at Rector's Cross-roads. The wound was in the side, the ball passing around the abdomen; it was a severe wound, but not mortal. General Torbert tried to catch him, but did not succeed; thinks he was taken off to Richmond. I sent to-day Devin's brigade, of Merritt's division, to the vicinity of Lovettsville to take post; it is 2,000 strong.

P. H. SHERIDAN,
Major-General.

HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF WASHINGTON, 22ND ARMY CORPS, December 30, 1864.

Major-General SHERIDAN,
Commanding Middle Military Division:

Richmond papers of the 27th report Mosby's death as having occurred at Charlottesville. I have had the box for Mrs. Mary sent to Captain Parsons.

C. C. AUGUR,
Major-General, Commanding.


Source: Official Records, Series 1, Volume 43, Part 2, pp. 838-840

The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies was published by the U.S. War Department and is in the public domain. The Official Records can be read by clicking here.

HDQRS. BATT. P. H. B. CAVALRY, MARYLAND VOLS.,
Loudoun Heights, Va., January 10, 1864.

SIR: I have the honor of addressing you for the purpose of reporting the facts of an attempt by Major Mosby's battalion of guerrilla cavalry to surprise and capture my camp, between the hours of 3 and 4 a. m. of this day.

They studiously avoided my pickets; divided themselves into small bodies, which were speedily consolidated in sight of my camp. They then made an impetuous charge with a yell on the right of the same. In consequence of the suddenness of the same this company could offer but a feeble resistance. In the mean time Company A, the second in the line, was speedily rallied by its commanding officer, Captain Vernon, who contested their farther advance in such a sanguinary manner that [they] formed a rallying point for the balance of the command, who were now thoroughly aroused of the danger that threatened them, and one and all, from the officer to the private, entered into the contest with such a determined zest as led to the utter rout and discomfiture of the enemy, and the signal failure of their base attempt.

They experienced a loss of 1 captain, 2 lieutenants, and 2 privates killed, and 2 privates mortally wounded, and 1 prisoner. It was also very evident that they removed a large portion of their wounded with them in their precipitate flight, as a detachment of the command, subsequently sent in pursuit, found evidence of blood all along their line of retreat. I experienced a loss of 4 enlisted men killed and 16 wounded. Captain Vernon experienced a serious wound in the head, but it is the opinion of Batt. Surg. W. R. Way that it will not prove fatal. I am deeply indebted to the officers and men of my command for the daring displayed, by them on this occasion, and earnestly commend them to the division commander for his favorable consideration.

I have the honor to remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HENRY A. COLE,
Major, Commanding.

Captain, WILLIAM M. BOONE,
Assistant Adjutant-General.

ADDENDA.

WASHINGTON, D. C., January 20, 1864.

Brigadier General B. F. KELLEY,
Cumberland, Md.:

GENERAL: I have just received from your headquarters Major Henry A. Cole's report of the repulse of Mosby's attack upon his camp at Loudoun Heights on the 10th instant. Major Cole and his command, the battalion of Potomac Home Brigade Cavalry, Maryland Volunteers, deserve high praise for their gallantry in repelling this rebel assault.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

H. W. HALLECK,
General-in-Chief.


Source: Official Records, Series 1, Volume 33, pp. 17-18. The reports above can be read online by clicking here. Mosby’s report of the same engagement can be viewed by opening the link and clicking back two pages.

Mosby shows just how useless partisans can be. All he did was kill and murder ... he had no lasting impact on Union strategy ... a minor pain in the ass to be sure, but like he was going to do anything to win the war. All Mosby did was contribute to the bitterness and sorrow that came with and after the war. Then he got in his feud with Custer and ...

What effect Mosby's operations had on the ultimate outcome of the war is debatable. One writer, Virgil C. Jones, suggested in the 1940s that his operations may have lengthened the duration of the war by up to six months; other writers are more circumspect. It should be pointed out that Mosby operated not as an independent freebooter, but as an element of the Army of Northern Virginia, as the routing of much of the correspondence quoted above shows. Mosby had served in JEB Stuart's first command in the Confederate army, the 1st Virginia Cavalry, and he had the trust and confidence of Gen. Stuart.

The word "partisan" in the name of Mosby's command, 43rd Battalion, Partisan Rangers (Virginia) is sometimes misunderstood: it referred not just to guerrillas or detached forces, but to the Confederate States Partisan Ranger Act of 1862. That law allowed the enlisting of cavalry and infantry units into the regular army, with the added provision that they would be remunerated for arms and munitions they captured and turned over to the government. That pecuniary incentive was regarded by some as being less than honorable; Lee in fact admonished Mosby in 1863 for paying too much attention to capturing wagons and sutlers' stores. The resentment over the partisan organizations in Confederate service is shown in the correspondence below, which in many respects resembles the reservations about Special Forces in the conventional U.S. Army from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Quote:

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HEADQUARTERS VALLEY DISTRICT,
January 11, 1864.

General R. E. LEE:
GENERAL: During the time that I have been in the valley I have had ample opportunity of judging of the efficiency and usefulness of the many irregular bodies of troops which occupy this country and known as partisans, &c., and am prompted by no other feeling than a desire to serve my country to inform you that they are a nuisance and an evil to the service. Without discipline, order, or organization, they roam broadcast over the country, a band of thieves, stealing, pillaging, plundering, and doing every manner of mischief and crime. They are a terror to the citizens and an injury to the cause. They never fight; can't be made to fight. Their leaders are generally brave, but few of the men are good soldiers, and have engaged in this business for the sake of gain. The effect upon the service is bad, and I think, if possible, it should be corrected. It is bad because:

First. It keeps men out of the service whose bayonet or saber should be counted on the field of battle when the life or death of our country is the issue.

Second. They cause great dissatisfaction in the ranks from the fact that these irregular troops are allowed so much latitude, so many privileges. They sleep in houses and turn out in the cold only when it is announced by their chief that they are to go upon a plundering expedition.

Third. It renders other troops dissatisfied; hence encourages desertion.
It is almost impossible for one to manage the different companies of my brigade that are from Loundon, Fauquier, Fairtax, &c., the region occupied by Mosby. They see these men living at their ease and enjoying the comforts of home, allowed to possess all that they capture, and their duties mere pastime pleasures compared with their own arduous ones; and it is a natural consequence in the nature of man that he should become dissatisfied under these circumstances. Patriotism fails in a long and tedious war like this to sustain the ponderous burdens which bear heavily and cruelly upon the heart and soul of man. Men are actuated by selfish motives, and those who were first to volunteer in the beginning are now the most eager in the search for a "soft place." This is melancholy, but it is nevertheless true, and it can only be, in my opinion, remedied by placing all men on the same footing who are of the same rank. If it is necessary for troops to operate within the lines of the enemy, then require the commanding officer to keep them in an organized condition, to rendezvous within our lines, and move upon the enemy when opportunity is offered.

Major Mosby is of inestimable service to the Yankee army in keeping their men from straggling. He is a gallant officer, and is one that I have great respect for; yet the interest I feel in my own command and the good of the service coerces me to bring this matter before you, in order that this partisan system, which I think is a bad one, may be corrected. Major-General Early can give useful information concerning the evils of these organizations. If he cannot, Major General Fitz Lee certainly can, from his experience with them in the valley within the last few weeks.

I am, general, most respectfully, your obedient servant,
THOMAS L. ROSSER,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.

[First indorsement.]

HEADQUARTERS CAVALRY CORPS,
January 18, 1864.

Respectfully forwarded.

Major Mosby's command is the only efficient band of rangers I know of, and he usually operates with only one-fourth of his nominal strength. Such organizations, as a rule, are detrimental to the best interests of the army at large.

J. E. B. STUART,
Major-General.

[Second indorsement.]

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
January 22, 1864.

Respectfully forwarded, for the information of the War Department.
As far as my knowledge and experience extends, there is much truth in the statement of General Rosser. I recommend that the law authorizing these partisan corps be abolished. The evils resulting from their organization more than counterbalance the good they accomplish.

R. E. LEE,
General.

[Third indorsement.]

JANUARY 30, 1864.
Respectfully referred to Honorable Mr. Miles, chairman of Military Committee.
Please examine and return the papers to the Department.

J. A. CAMPBELL,
Assistant Secretary of War.

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My main purpose in starting this thread was not to sing the praises of John S. Mosby, but to point out that there is a well-documented history of unconventional warfare that took place just outside the defenses of Washington DC in 1863-1865. The story includes some of the best-known names in American military history, including Lee, Stuart, Sheridan, and Custer.

Source: Official Records, Series 1, Volume 33, pp. 1081-1082, available online by clicking here.

The 'spot report' letters from the border wars, VA/MD west to OH/KY & etc always remind me of Ambrose Bierce's story JUPITER DOKE, BRIGADIER GENERAL.
http://www.online-literature.com/bierce/2007/

Wert, Jeffry D., Mosby's Rangers, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1990, 384 pp.

Jones, Virgil Carrington, Gray Ghosts and Rebel Raiders, EPM Publications, McLean, 1956, 1984 (by arrangement with Henry Holt and Co.), 431 pp. (An objective account from the Southern point of view.)

Conspiracy theories, anyone?

Tidwell, William A., with Hall, James O. and Gaddy, David W., Come Retribution: The Confederate Secret Service and the Assassination of Lincoln, University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, London, 1988, 510 pp.

Attachment 1338
John S. Mosby, back row, second from left.

In a message above in this thread I cited the book Come Retribution: The Confederate Secret Service and the Assassination of Lincoln. One of the authors of the book, retired NSA man David W. Gaddy, was in the news the other day for breaking a previously undecrypted Confederate signal message from 1863 that had quietly reposed in the collection of the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond since the 1890s. The message was to Gen. Pemberton in Vicksburg and stated that there would be no relief for the Confederate garrison there. The AP story begins as follows, and the link is available by clicking here:

Quote:

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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A glass vial stopped with a cork during the Civil War has been opened, revealing a coded message to the desperate Confederate commander in Vicksburg on the day the Mississippi city fell to Union forces 147 years ago.

The dispatch offered no hope to doomed Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton: Reinforcements are not on the way.

The encrypted, 6-line message was dated July 4, 1863, the date of Pemberton's surrender to Union forces led by Ulysses S. Grant, ending the Siege of Vicksburg in what historians say was a turning point midway into the Civil War.

The message is from a Confederate commander on the west side of the Mississippi River across from Pemberton.

"He's saying, 'I can't help you. I have no troops, I have no supplies, I have no way to get over there,' " Museum of the Confederacy collections manager Catherine M. Wright said of the author of the dispiriting message. "It was just another punctuation mark to just how desperate and dire everything was."

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Dave is an acquaintance of mine. During Vietnam as a DoD civilian he ran a signal interception station in the Khe Sahn vicinity for a few months. His book Come Retribution explores the way John Wilkes Booth's conspiracy used known Confederate safe houses, rat lines, signal ciphers, and military support for the assassination of Lincoln. Although no smoking gun connecting Booth to the Confederate government is provided, the coincidences are far too many for the theory to be dismissed out of hand.

Pete, you ever watch a TV show called Decoded? This week was about hidden CSA Treasure,just finished watching it, Last week was about Booth. He was never caught and killed it was a CSA Captain turned traitor who looks exactly like Booth( an impostor):eek: that was killed outside the farm house that night. Anyway it is a pretty cool show.

Link to the TV series Decoded at the History Channel

http://www.history.com/shows/brad-meltzers-decoded

In my previous message in this thread in the first paragraph, third line down, I meant to say "previously undecrypted," not "previously unencrypted." (Mod's Note correction made).

My friend Dave who broke the Confederate message from 1863 was taken aback some years ago when on an open internet forum I said that during the 1980s I had dated the daughter of the Arlington Hall Station Japanese language linguist who in 1945 translated the Japanese diplomatic intercept after the A-bombs had been dropped which said the Japanese would be asking the U.S. for peace terms. The story had some nice Harry Truman anecdotes about him being a regular guy to the little people.

To my friend it was a breach of security that went against all of his professional instincts. The linguist in question went on to be an Agency analyst who had something to do with the intel behind the Son Tay raid. His daughter told me when the Directorate of Operations considered him for field work he couldn't pass the department store test in which you're supposed to buy new clothes to disguise yourself and escape from the tails following you around.

HEADQUARTERS MIDDLE MILITARY DIVISION, November 27, 1864.

Brevet Major General WESLEY MERRITT,
Commanding First Cavalry Division:

GENERAL: You are hereby directed to proceed to-morrow morning at 7 o'clock, with the two brigades of your division now in camp, to the east side of the Blue Ridge, via Ashby's Gap, and operate against the guerrillas in the district of country bounded on the south by the line of the Manassas Gap Railroad as far east as White Plains, on the east by the Bull Run range, on the west by the Shenandoah River, and on the north by the Potomac. This section has been the hot-bed of lawless bands, who have from time to time depredated upon small parties on the line of army communications, on safeguards left at houses, and on troops. Their real object is plunder and highway robbery. To clear the country of these parties that are bringing destruction upon the innocent, as well as their guilty supporters, by their cowardly acts, you will consume and destroy all forage and subsistence, burn all barns and mills and their contents, and drive of all stock in the region the boundaries of which are above described. This order must be literally executed, bearing in mind, however, that no dwellings are to be burned, and that no personal violence be offered the citizens. The ultimate results of the guerilla system of warfare is the total destruction of all private rights in the country occupied by such parties. This destruction may as well commence at once, and the responsibility of it must rest upon the authorities at Richmond, who have acknowledged the legitimacy of guerrilla bands. The injury done this army by them is very slight. The injury they have inflicted upon the people, and upon the rebel army, may be counted by millions. The Reserve Brigade of your division will move to Snickersville on the 29th. Snickersville should be your point of concentration and the point from which you should operate in destroying toward the Potomac. Four days' subsistence will be taken by the command. Forage can be gathered from the country through which you pass. You will return to your present camp at Snickersville on the fifth day.

By command of Major General P. H. Sheridan:

JAMES W. FORSYTH,
Lieutenant-Colonel and Chief of Staff.

Source: Official Records, Series 1, Volume 43, Part 1, pp 55-56, available online here.

Quote:

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It was 150 years ago on this date that then-Col. Thomas J. Jackson sprung his trap, capturing at least 56 locomotives and nearly 400 rail cars of the B&O Railroad between Cherry Run and Harpers Ferry.

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The Journal of Martinsburg, WV today (May, 23, 2011) has this story about Stonewall Jackson's train raid.