The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1894-08-22
A DARING EXPLOIT.
How Mosby Captured :. Union General ut
Fairfax Courthouse.
Richmond Dispatch.

10 those VINO knUH HOtHIuS y WV
hardships of war, there ever hangd
over battlefield mist of romance,
shrouding its most hideous details in
the poetry Of fiction. And even those
who have felt the shock of charging
men, and heard the cannon S roar
that seemed to shake the very founda-
tion of earth, in after years look back
with certain tenderness upon those
"days that are no more e"-even though
those days were passed in the cramp-
ed bed Of dirty prison hospital, or
on the 1Gngj hot marches Of midsum-
mer. But bravery commands our ad'
miration, and the deeds of the men
who fought in the Civil War often ri
val the dauntless courage of Charlie
mango and arc as exciting as the ex-
ploits of Richard on the sunny plains
of Palestine.
Perhaps one of the most unique ad-
ventures Of the war was the capture of
General Stoughton by Mosby, and the
affair reads more like the raids Of Rob
in Hood than an event in the prosaic
times of the present.
In the spring of 1863 General
Stoughton was cncamped at Fairfax
Courthouse with q large body Of men,
and the doughty warrior had deter.
mined to put stop to the depreda-
tions of Mosby, who kept the Federal
troops in Northern Virginia in con-
tinual state of terror by his numerous
and sudden raids. All this part Of
Virginia was known as "Mosby's 8
Confcderacy." Here the ranger chief
gave the enemy some unpleasant sur
prises in the shape of raids on sleep
ing encampments, the capture of their
wagons and the destruction of their
railroads, used in supplying them With
men and food. Stoughton had grown
weary of the fruitless efforts Of others
to capture the swift-movihg rebel, and
he was decided that he would bag
Mosby or lose every man he had in the
attempt.
One night, early in March, Slough
ton had little supper at his head
ouarters-a neat little supper that
sent the gallant General to bed in an
excellent humor, and made him quick
ly forget that wars alarms were ever
likely to disturb the slumbers of a
votary of the laughing, vine-crowned
god. It was cold night, and the
rain that had set in early in the day
continued to come down in ceaseless
pour that made the world one dreary,
watery waste. The Union men never
dreamed that any one would venture
out after setting the usual sentinels to
plod through the mud at their posts
about town.
By II o'clock the little village was
silent and the Federal camp wrapped
in slumber, but down the road near
the famous field of Chantilly party
of men on horseback were stealing
through the woods. No one spoke a
word, and the only sound in the dark.
ness was the splashing of the horses
hoofs in the soft mud and the sweep
of the pelting rain through the toss
ing trees. And as they stole along in
in the night, wrapped in heavy
cloaks, and with their hats pulled low
over their brows, they looked like
some band of conspirators creeping on
their way to assassinate some sleeping
foe.
On nearing the town one Of them
cut the wire that ran to the station
near by, and thus the Union troops
were severed from all communication
with their friends at a distance. 1t
was midnight when the cavalcade en-,
tered the village, and as they tramped
down the muddy road no one saw
them or heard a sound from the foes
thus daring to ride into the very face
of the slumbering enemy. There was
no light in the town streets, and only
now and then q faint CLEAN from a
half shut window would tremble for a
moment on the smoking sides Of the
rangers horses, or be reflected back
from the pistols in their belts.
On reaching the center Of the vii
lage Mosby halted his men, and di-
viding them into two detachments,
sent one to quietly secure the horses,
while with six men he took his way to
the headquarters of the Commanding
General. This house was an old-fash-
ioned Southern mansion, about 100
yards from the road, and set back in a
pretty grove of trees. The rangers
quietly opened the gate, and, trotting
up to the house, dismounted and ran
up on the porch. With fierce jerk
Mosby rang the bell
A window in room above flew up
and sleepy voice demanded who was
below.
"a courier with dispatches for
General Stoughton," replied Mosby,
as he motioned to the men not to
move.
The window fell, the officer ran
down, and in a moment the door stood
"You are my prisoner" whispered
Mosby to the astonished Federal
who, being unarmed, dared not make
any resistance. Then, leaving one
man to guard the captive, the ranger
dashed upstairs and strobe into the
room where the General lay sleeping.
With rough shake Mosby aroused
him. -,
"What in the devil is the matter p
inquired Stoughton, as he sprang up
in bed.
"Stuart's S cavalry is in possession OF
the town." Mosby quietly replied.
"Stuart in town." Stoughton e1-
claimed in astonishment, still mlstak-
ing the men about, his bed for his own
troops: why, I thoughtyou had cap
tured Mosby."
"Oh, no; you have not captured
Mosby," coolly remarked the Chief,
"but Mosby has captured you; you
had best get up quietly and come with
me.
Finding himself prisoner in the
hands of the very man to whose cap
| ture he was sworn, and believing that
Stuart's troops had the town the
Union General made no attempt te
resist, but dressed quietly. In few
minutes he and Mosby descended the
steps, and, mounting horses that stood
..t,:Jo 4lo,, coon ioinod the