March 17, 1863. |
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| John S. Moseby |
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was publicly commended by General Stuart, and he was promoted to major of cavalry.1
A few days after Moseby's bold exploit, the first purely cavalry battle of the war occurred, not far from Kelly's Ford, on the Rappahannock, between National troops, under General W. W. Averill, and Confederates under General Fitzhugh Lee.
Averill was sent out to cut off Stuart and Lee, who, it was reported, were with a, strong party enforcing the draft in Fauquier County.2 In the face of brisk opposition from a small cavalry picket, Averill crossed the Rappahannock and was pushing on toward Culpep per Court-House
when, about a mile from the ford, he, encountered the forces of Lee. A desperate battle ensued, which continued
until late in the evening, when Averill withdrew, and recrossed the river, followed by the Confederates to the water's edge.
Averill lost about seventy-five men, and his antagonist about one hundred.
Early in April, notwithstanding the roads were yet heavy, Hooker determined
1 Moseby was a graduate of the University of Virginia, and a lawyer of some local repute. He had been one of Lee's most useful scouts for some time, and had proved himself to be a daring,dashing leader, who, inspired his few followers with his own spirit. From the leader of a scouting party of a few men, he rose to the position of commander of a minimum regiment of adventurers, who, one of them said, Moseby himself declared, “could only be held together by the hope of plunder.” See Partisan Life with Moseby, by John Scott. One of his most trusted and representative men seems to have been a Sergeant Ames, of the Fifth New York Cavalry, who deserted, Moseby's biographer, Marshall Crawford, says, “because he could not fight for the eternal negro.” Moseby “took Ames to his bosom,” and whenever any thing particularly revolting was to be done, the deserter appears to have been employed. His fitness for service with the guerrilla chief may be inferred from the fact, exultingly set forth in a history of Moseby's exploits by one of his followers (Major Scott), that when, on one occasion, the command encountered Ames's old regiment (Fifth New York), one of the latter recognized him. in the hurly-burly, and pleasantly called out, “How are you, Sergeant Ames?” “Well!” was the sergeant's. reply, when, with his pistol, he shot his old friend dead. Moseby's military career, as described by his ardent friends, was more that of a highwayman, protected by the sanction of a pretended Government, under orders to harrass, pillage, and capture the enemy, than that of a soldier. Lee publicly commended him for his “activity and skill” in “killing, wounding, and capturing” during a brief period, “about 1,200 of the enemy, taking 1,600 horses and mules, 230 beef cattle, and 85 wagons and ambulances,” with the loss of little more than twenty of his own men.
According to a statement to the author, by Colonel H. S. Gansevort, whose command was Moseby's most. dreaded enemy in the region of Upper Virginia, east of the Blue Ridge, during the years 1863 and 1864, a large number of Moseby's men were volunteers from the regular Confederate cavalry, whose love of adventure and, lust for plunder made them so much attached to their leader, that a threat to send one of them back to his regiment was sufficient to insure the good behavior of the recusant. The estimation in which Moseby was held; by the Government is shown by the expressions of the Assistant Secretary of War, in the following account. of an exploit in October, 1864:--2 On the 28th of February, General Stuart asked Governor Letcher's leave to “collect together the militia of portions of Fairfax and Loudon (preparatory to the draft), which lay beyond the outposts.” --Autograph. Letter of General Stuart. Permission was given.
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