The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-11-20
fsrcd little inconvenience, (no violence

fercd q little inconvenience, mo violence
was offered them,) and If they chose to SUBJ
1cct themselves TO the hazard Of riding on
military railroad they had nobody to blame
but themselves; otherwise, Sheridan might
have guarded all his trains by putting few
females on board. He might as well have
put women In front Of his line Of battle to
keep us from shooting ut the men. ! was
myself present when this train was captured,
and there is no incident of my military life
to which / refer with more pride and plea
sure. If it was right for Sheridan to cap
ture railroad trains, why shouldn't do it !
Sherman justified the burning Of the city oil
Atlanta. and, in reply to Hoods complaint,
said that "war meant cruelty" Is there
more wrong in burning train of cars, and
subiectng Il few passengers to Temporary
inconvenience, than in the destruction of Il
whole city, and turning whole population
out Of doors?
Second Charge.-He says at the same
time Colonel Tolles, General Sheridan's
quartermaster, was shot by this same out
law at Cedar creek" etc. Now, a small de-
tachmcnt of my command met Colonel
Tolles with small detachment of cavalry
near Newtown, on the Valley turnpike.
Tolles and his party retreated, and were
pursued by my men. Toles, while running,
was shot in the back. All right !; he took
the chances of escape in preference to sur
render. | suppose if Colonel Tolles could
have had the opportunity he would have
shot me. That Is what men 90 to war for,
and l can't see how there is any greater
crime in killing Colonel Tolles in the rear
OF Sheridan than in his front.
Third Potnt.-" This outlaw hanged five
stragglers at Berryville." In September,
1864, General Custer captured and hanged
pf M hn CT # nt
Royal, Va. Immediately on hearing of this.
having lot Of thirty prisoners on hand, 1
made them draw lots for seven 70 be
hanged, as measure of retaliation to pro-
tect my men. These men were hanged on
the Valley pike, along which Sherldan's
troops travelled every day, as a warning OF
what they might expect if any more Of my
men were hanged. At the same time
wrote letter to General Sheridan (Which
was published in the newspapers of the
time, and can be found in the memoir OF
my command by Scott), ayowngmy respon-
sibility for the act. and stating my reasons
for It. Sheridan acknowledged the justice
Of the deed, by ordering my men to be
treated with the humanties of war. | have
never been called in question for this act,
although L assumed all the responsibility
for it.
The Union Soldier pretends that these
"exploitS of the chivalric Mosby have never
been given to the world.' If he will only
consult the memoir of my command, by
Scott, he will see that the death Of Colonel
Tolles, the capture of the train, and Incl.
dents connected with it, and the hanging OF
the prisoners, are all spoken of. They were
all legitimate acts of war. / think it high
time for people who glory in "Sherman's
march from the mountains to the sea- in
which he made desert of the country that
lay in his track--who received with huzzas
Shcridan's triumphant dispatch "that he
had burned three thousand barns and mills,
and made the Valley of Virginia so desolate
that crow could not fly over it without
carving his rations TO cease objectine
that anybody did not observe the rules Of
mitigated war. Verytruly,
JOHN s. MosBY.
Mnrrpnt0n NoYemhpr s.