Book: Mosby's Rangers, by Jeffrey D. Wert

Mosby's Rangers: From the High Tide of the Confederaby to the Last Days At Apppomattox - the Story of the Mot Famous Command of the Civil War and its Legendary Leader, John S. Mosby, by Jeffrey D. Wert
Simon and Schuster, 1990
295 pages, plus 16 pages of sepia photos, appendix (names of Mosby's Rangers), Notes, Bibliography and Index,
Library: 973.7 WER

Description
No single battalion was more feared during the Civil War than the 43rd Battalion of Virginia Cavalry. Better known as Mosby's Rangers, they were an elite guerilla unit that operated with stunning success in northern Virginia and Maryland from 1863 to the last days of the war. Seldom numbering more than a few dozen men on an operation, the Rangers struck supply wagons and railroads, harassed and pinned down Union troops that sometimes vastly outnumbered them, and on one memorable occasion even kidnapped a Union general from his own characters. They obtained valuable intelligence for General Robert E. Lee and the Confederacy; General Ulyusses S. Grant so hated them that he ordered the immediate execution without trial of any captured Ranger. A Union partisan unit dispatched to combat them under the command of General Richard Blazer was later known as Blazer's Scouts.

The success of the Rangers reflected the iron discipline of their remarkable commander, John Singleton Mosby, a ferocious warrior and brilliant tactician whose achievements earned him the praise of Generals J.E.B. Stuart and Robert E. Lee.

In this vivid account of Mosby's famous command and of the officers who served under him, Jeffry D. Wert draws on contemporary documents, including letters and diaries, to describe the Rangers' daring raids and exploits. He gives us colorful profiles of the more famous Rangers and explains their organization and methods of operation. As testament to their effectiveness, a section of northern Virginia became known as Mosby's Confederacy, where civilians sheltered the Rangers.

Even in the final year of the war, as the Confederacy collapsed, Mosby's Rangers eluded capture by such formidable Union generals as Philip Sheridan and George Custer. They disbanded withut surrendering at the end of the war Mosby and his men have been celebrated in legend and film, Mosby's Rangers is their most authoritative biography to date.

Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Prologue
1. The Man and the Mission
2. A Wily Foe
3. From Miskel's to Grapewood
4. Mosby's Rangers
5. Wagon Hunting
6. Autumn
7. Life in Mosby's Confederacy
8. Blood on the Snow
9. The Cost of War
10. Springtime of Change
11. Into the Valley
12. Bloody September
13. War on Railroads
14. Reprisa'
15. Days of Flames, Days of Darkness
16. Toward SAlem
Epilogue
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Photos
--Brig. Gen Edwin D. Stoughton (captured by Mosby's Rangers)
--President Lincoln
--Mosby's Rangers, posed photo: Walter Gosden, Harry T. Sinnott, Otho L. Butler, Isaac A. GEntry, Robert B. Parrott, Thomas Throop, Jown W. Munson, John S. Mosby, Newell, Charles H. Quarles, Lee Howison, W. Ben Palmer, John W. Puryear, Thomas Booker, A. G. Babcock, Norman V. Randolph, Frank H. Rahn
--Mosby's Rangers, posed photo: J. Monroe Heiskell, Henry Slater, Daniel Murray Mason, Lt Charles E. Grogan, Joshua Riggs, Greshsam Hough, Claiborne Robinson, John S. Mosby, Harris C. Blanchard, D. Giraud White, J. Henley Smith, Alexander G. Carey
Lt. Franklin Williams
Lt. George H. Whitescarver
Lt. Joseph H. Nelson
Capt Walter E. Frankland
Billy Smith
Capt Adolphus "Dolly" E. Richards
Capt Samuel F. Chapman
Lt John S. Russell
Capt Richard P Montjoy
William H. Chapman
Lt Gen Ulysses S Grant
Col Caspar Crowninshield, USA
Union calvary: Bvt Maj. Gen Wesley Merritt, Bvt Maj Gen George Custer, Maj Gen Philip Sheridan, Bvt Brig GEn James W. Forsyth, Brvt Brig GEn Thomas C Devin
Union sutler's hut, Brandy Station, VA
"Glen Welby", home of Richard Carter (1930s photo)
"Clover Hill" home of W. Morgan
Outbuilding on "Heartland", home of Joseph Blackwell
Lt Gen Jubal Early
Capt Richard Blazer
Col John S Mosby, Richmond 1865 posed photo
John S Mosby, CSA, 1865 (clean-shaven)
postwar photo of Fountain Beattie
Mosby's Rangers Reunion, 1895, posed photo: Thomas Lake, James E. Pickett, J.M. Miller, Vincent Kerns, Joseph Bryan, Robert M. Harrover, J. Y. Yates, Frank Johnson, Charles H. Dear, Philip B. Eastham, James W. Bell, Cornelius J. Coiner, GW Anderson, JN Hoffleblower, Charles Biedler, George Slater, Robert W. Eastham, Brock Dear, Henry Brock, WG Pearson, Robert F Heflin, James E. Legg, James A Silman, Enoch Kirkpatrick, John W Hammond, PH Reardon