the works at Centreville, so close that the sentinel hailed the party, swam Cub Run, struck southward, and at sunrise was safe beyond pursuit.

II.

The skill and boldness exhibited in the conception and exe-. cution of this raid conferred upon Mosby just fame as a partisan officer, and the regular organization of his command commenced. He was made captain, then major, then lieutenant-colonel, and colonel, as his force and his operations increased.

From the solitary scout, or humble partisan, operating with a small squad, he had now grown to be an officer of rank and distinction, entrusted with important duties, and eventually with the guardianship of the whole extent of country north of the Rappahannock and east of the Blue Ridge. The people of the region speak of it, with a laugh, as "Mosby's Confederacy," and the name will probably adhere to it, in the popular mind, for many years to come. Let us pass to these latter days when "Colonel" Mosby gave the Federal forces so much trouble, and aroused so much indignation in Custer, Sheridan, and others, whose men he captured, and whose convoys he so frequently cut off and destroyed. The question of most interest is-Was Colonel Mosby a partisan officer, engaged in a perfectly legitimate war"fare, or was he a mere robber? The present writer regards any imputations upon the character of this officer, or upon the nature of the warfare which he carried on, as absurd. If the Confederate States army generally was a mere unlawful combination, and not entitled to be regarded as "belligerent," the case is made out; but there was no officer in that army who occupied a more formally official position than Mosby, or whose operations more perfectly conformed to the rules of civilized warfare. Virginia was invaded by the Federal forces, and large portions of her territory were occupied and laid under contribution. Especially was the country north of the Rappahannock thus exposed. It was a species of border-land which belonged to the party which could hold it; and to protect it from the inroads of

the Federal forces, Mosby instituted a regular system of partisan warfare. His headquarters were generally near Upperville, just east of the ridge, and his scouts speedily brought him intelligence of any advance of the Federal cavalry. As soon as he was informed of their approach, he went to meet them, hovered near them, took his moment, and attacked them, his superior skill and knowledge of the country almost uniformly routing the force opposed to him. Another important part of his duty was to cut off and capture or destroy the trains of his adversaries. These things were exceedingly annoying, and made the Federal commanders whose movements were thus crippled quite furious against the author of their embarrassments-but no person with the least knowledge of military affairs will stigmatize the destruction of wagon trains as the work of a brigand. In the same manner the railroads supplying the Federal forces with commissary and other stores were destroyed wherever it could be done. Detached parties out foraging were, if possible, captured. Camps, picket posts, vedette stations, were surprised, when practicable, and prisoners seized upon. To harass, annoy, injure, and in every manner cripple or embarrass the opposing force, was the object of Colonel Mosby, as it has been of partisan officers in all the wars of history. The violent animosity felt toward him was attributable solely to the great skill, vigour, and success of his operations. The present writer has a tolerably full acquaintance with the military record of Colonel Mosby and his command, and he states, in all sincerity, that he can find in it nothing whatever that is "irregular" or unworthy of an officer and a gentleman. Mosby carried on a legitimate partisan warfare under a regular commission from the President of the Confederate States, and was in command of a regularly organized body of cavalry. He announced clearly his intention of disputing military possession of the country north of the Rappahannock, of harassing, retarding, or crippling any force invading Virginia, and of inflicting as much injury as possible upon his opponents. One single act of seeming cruelty is charged against him, the hanging of seven of Custer's men- but this was in retaliation for seven of his own which had been executed by that officer. This

retaliation was in accordance with the rules of warfare in every country, and his superiors disavowed the course of General Custer, and directed such proceedings to cease.

We have expended too much space upon this point. Colonel Mosby can afford to wait to have justice done him. He was respected by Jackson, Stuart, and Lee, and the world will not willingly believe him to have been a bandit.

III.

What was the appearance and character of the actual individual? What manner of personages were "Mosby and his men," as they really lived, and moved, and had their being in the forests and on the hills of Fauquier, in Virginia, in the years 1863 and 1864? If the reader will accompany me, I will conduct him to this beautiful region swept by the mountain winds, and will introduce him-remember, the date is 1864-to a plain and unassuming personage clad in gray, with three stars upon his coat-collar, and two pistols in his belt.

He is slender, gaunt, and active in figure; his feet are small, and cased in cavalry boots, with brass spurs; and the revolvers in his belt are worn with an air of "business" which is unmistakable. The face of this person is tanned, beardless, youthfullooking, and pleasant. He has white and regular teeth, which his habitual smile reveals. His piercing eyes flash out from beneath his brown hat, with its golden cord, and he reins in his horse with the ease of a practised rider. A plain soldier, low and slight of stature, ready to talk, to laugh, to ride, to oblige you in any way--such was Mosby, in outward appearance. Nature had given no sign but the restless, roving, flashing eye, that there was much worth considering beneath. The eye did not convey a false expression. The commonplace exterior of the partisan concealed one of the most active, daring, and penetrating minds of an epoch fruitful in such. Mosby was born to be a partisan leader, and as such was probably greater than any other who took part in the late war. He had by nature all the qualities which make the accomplished ranger; nothing could

daunt him; his activity of mind and body-call it, if you choose, restless, eternal love of movement-was something wonderful; and that untiring energy which is the secret of half the great successes of history, drove him incessantly to plan, to scheme, to conceive, and to execute. He could not rest when there was anything to do, and scouted for his amusement, charging pickets solus by way of sport. On dark and rainy nights, when other men aim at being comfortably housed, Mosby liked to be moving with a detachment of his men to surprise and attack some Federal camp, or to "run in" some picket, and occasion consternation, if not inflict injury.

The peculiar feature of his command was that the men occupied no stated camp, and, in fact, were never kept together except on an expedition. They were scattered throughout the country, especially among the small farm-houses in the spurs of the Blue Ridge; and here they lived the merriest lives imaginable. They were subjected to none of the hardships and privations of regular soldiers. Their horses were in comfortable stables, or ranged freely over excellent pastures; the men lived with the families, slept in beds, and had nothing to do with "rations" of hard bread and bacon. Milk, butter, and all the household luxuries of peace were at their command; and not until their chief summoned them did they buckle on their arms and get to horse. While they were thus living on the fat of the land, Mosby was perhaps scouting off on his private account, somewhere down toward Manassas, Alexandria, or Leesburg. If his excursions revealed an opening for successful operations, he sent off a well mounted courier, who travelled rapidly to the first nest of rangers; thence a fresh courier carried the summons elsewhere; and in a few hours twenty, thirty, or fifty men, excellently mounted, made their appearance at the prescribed rendezvous. The man who disregarded or evaded the second summons to a raid was summarily dealt with; he received a note for delivery to General Stuart, and on reaching the cavalry headquarters was directed to return to the company in the regular service from which he had been transferred. This seldom happened, however. The men were all anxious to go upon raids,

to share the rich spoils, and were prompt at the rendezvous. Once assembled, the rangers fell into column, Mosby said "Come on," and the party set forward upon the appointed task-to surprise some camp, capture an army train, or ambush some detached party of Federal cavalry out on a foraging expedition.

Such a life is attractive to the imagination, and the men came to have a passion for it. But it is a dangerous service. It may with propriety be regarded as a trial of wits between the opposing commanders. The great praise of Mosby was, that his superior skill, activity, and good judgment gave him almost uninterrupted success, and invariably saved him from capture. An attack upon Colonel Cole, of the Maryland cavalry, near Loudon Heights, in the winter of 1863-64, was his only serious failure; and that appears to have resulted from a disobedience of his orders. He had here some valuable officers and men killed. He was several times wounded, but never taken. On the last occasion, in 1864, he was shot through the window of a house in Fauquier, but managed to stagger into a darkened room, tear off his stars, the badges of his rank, and counterfeit a person mortally wounded. His assailants left him dying, as they supposed, without discovering his identity; and when they did discover it and hurried back, he had been removed beyond reach of peril. After his wounds he always reappeared paler and thinner, but more active and untiring than ever. They only seemed to exasperate him, and make him more dangerous to trains, scouting parties, and detached camps than before.

The great secret of his success was undoubtedly his unbounded energy and enterprise. General Stuart came finally to repose unlimited confidence in his resources, and relied implicitly upon him. The writer recalls an instance of this in June, 1863. General Stuart was then near Middleburg, watching the United States army-then about to move toward Pennsylvania-but could get no accurate information from his scouts. Silent, puzzled, and doubtful, the General walked up and down, knitting his brows and reflecting, when the lithe figure of Mosby appeared, and Stuart uttered an exclamation of relief and satis