Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-11-17
A TALK WITH MosRY.
what the Ex-Cenfederate Cavalry
officer Thinks of Matters and
Things I'm General--Jeffers0n Da-
yis--Shertdan--Ben BufIer---The
Union CavaIFy--Facss About the


as Col. John 8. Mosby, the dashing Con-
federate cavalry ehieftain, was in town,
and stopping at the Continental Hotel,
one of the reporters of the Post, yester-
day called upon him for the purpose of
learning his views on some points of
general public interest. We found the
ex-Rebel leader reclining upon lounge,
and, upon our introducing 0urself, he
greeted us warmly and pleasantly.
HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE.
The Colonel is a man five feet eleven
inches in stature, slim built, but of an
apparently iron-like frame; has a clear,
gray, searching eye, a broad, forehead,
smOoth-shaven face, and iron-gray hair
He was dressed in a neat-fitting suit of
black, and altogether bore. a gentleman
like appearance The Colonel is but
thirty-fve years of age, and is the picture
of health. No insurance agent, we think,
would run any immediate risk in issuing
a policy upon his earthly life.
HIS HISTORY BEFORE THE WAR.
Col. Mosby is q native of WarrentOn,
Fauquier county, Va, and previous to
the breaking out of therebellion practiced
law in that county. Beyond engaging in
field sports, he never handled sword or
musket. Having the precedent of Marion
before him, he felt that If body of bold,
fearless cavalrymen could be gathered to-
gether, an immense amount of annoyance
could be given to the Union force at
comparatively little risk For this pur-
pose his troop was organized.
WHAT HE ACHIEVED.
81 calculate" said the Colonel, ''that
with my average force of about 800 men
and it never exceeded that neutral
lied the operation of at least Is, 600 men
ON the Federal side; and the reason for
this is plain. The Federal generals were
compelled to guard the whole line of the
Potomac and the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad / therefore had before me an
mbroken line of some hundred miles in
extent, and could set my finger on any
particular point, dash down upon it before
my intentions were even dreamed Of, ac-
cOmplish my purpose, and ride away"
HIS MODE OF FIGHTING.
"a majority of the Northern press and
the major portion of the Federal troops
complained during the war that l would
uOl CbLlC Jul III NliC utlu anu lHlb u ldI
battle. OF course l wouldn't; neither did
Napoleon. The only difference between
Generals Grant and Lee, and the men of
their respective commands was, that they
were gifted with minds conceptive of
strategy, and that was just what / resOrted
to. If a man does not fight fair because
he does not always fight in open field reg
ular pitched battles, then say Napoleon
never fought fairly
TIE REPORTED ATROCITIES.
Colonel, was there any foundation for
mited by your menu"
''Well, of course, excuses are practised
in all armies but that any man or officer
in the Confederate States army counter
anced any acts of violence, rapine, or cru
city to prisoners, either in the camp or
field, deny; there is not a word of truth
i'm il.
sUFFERINGs OF THE FORCES OF LEE.
''Mark me, said the Colonel, Il do not
wish to defend the actions of those in
charge at AndersOnville, Belle Isle, Sails
bury, or Libby; whether the charges
made against them are true or false | do
not know, not having been at any of those
places; but do know this, that nothing
could have exceeded the sufferings of our
men whilst lying inactive during the win
tiers of 19634-5. Why, sir, our men lived
those winters through with nothing for
food but parched corn, and, of course,
such being the case, our prisoners could
not reasonably expect Injuries.
HIS OWN COMMAND.
"During the war the Northern press
complained bitterly of the acts of the
men of my own immediate command, but
III deny any man to cite any one authen-
ticated instance in which prisoner cap
tured by me or my men was ill-treated.
There are hundreds of men in Philadel-
phia to-day that | had prisoners, and |
have met a great many of them since
have been here, and the first word they
spoke to me was to thank me for the kind
manner in which treated them"
WORD ABOUT GENERAL LEE.
"Gen. Lee" said the Colonel, els,
l believe, acknowledged by all men TO
have been a Christian soldier. Well,
was under his immediate command and
reported all my actions to him, and during
tie MuDlt WAL utNCI ICCttNtu Uul OIt
reproof, and that was once, when badly
wounded, l hObbled up to his tent on
crutches, when he greeted me with
Colonel, / have but one fault to find
with you, and that is, y0u aoH get
tc0unded. "
HIS OPINION OF THE CAVALRY FORCES.
Which army had the best cavalry?"
we then asked.
"The South had the best until broken
down by loss of horses and want of forage.
l say this because the Southern people
had more aptitude for this branch of ser
vice than the Northern people The Fed
eral cavalry improved during the last year
of the war, and ours deprecated, because
our resources gave out. We could not
obtain good horses, and cavalrymen have
no confidence unless they are well
mounted
OF GEN. GRANT.
''Grant had, of course, more successes
in the field m the latter part of the war,
but Grant only came in to reap the bene
fits of McClellan's previous efforts. Al
the same time | do not wish to disparage
Gen. Grant, for he has many abilities; but
if Grant had commanded during the first
year of the war, we would have gained
our independence Grants policy of at
lacking would have been a blessing to us,
for we lost more by inactiOn than we
would have lost in battle. After the first
Manassas, the army took a sort of dry
rot, and we lost more men by camp dis
cases than we would have by fighting
JEFF DAVIS
"What is your individual opinion of
Jeff Davis"
81 think history will record him as
one of the greatest men of the time.
Every lost cause, you know, must have a
scape- goat, and Mr.. Davis has been
chosen as such. He must take all the
blame without any of the credit | do
not know any man in the Confederate
States that could have conducted the war
with the success that he did. "
THE FEELING OF THE SOUTH.
care there any bitter feelings cher
ished?"
''NO, sir; none except those engendered
since the war by the manner in which we
have been treated. The class of men to
whom the conduct of affairs has been
entrusted by the United States govern
ment are obnoxious. The whole admin
istratiOn of affairs in Virginia is in the
hands of a set of bounty jumpers and
iail-birds, and their only qualification is
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