Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1896-11-12
Mo.hx,s Rangers.

Under the title of "MosDy Nuns
orc. lanes T. Williamson, OF Com
pany A, Mosbys command, mas W.. ~
ten q history of the movements 20
flo and adventures of MosDys inen'
II makes a story of many incidents Wy
field and flood, Of midnight Ioray'
wild adventures in the border ianu ~
tween contending armies, OF niun,en'
marches of sudden surprises by DIV
ouac. of early and late calls to 'pools
and saddles" Of anything ana every
thing in the strange life leu ny Mo'o'
and his men.
Perhaps the greatest exploit in MOS
bv's career was the capture OF zen.
Stoughton. of the Federal Army ana
Mosby's story Of how this was dohe -
told in full in this book. Says Mospy
The commander of the Union caval-
nv at that time was Col. Percy Wynu-
ham. an English adventurer, VINO, II
was said. had served with GarlDaldl.
He had been greatly exasperated py
my midnight forays on his outposts anu
mortified at his own unsuccessful at
tempts at reprisal. In consequence he
had sent me many insulting messages
1 thought I would put stop 10 MS
talk by gobbling him up in bed ana
sending him off to Richmond. l also
knew that Gen. Stoughton's headquar-
tiers were there TO man uninitiated
into the mysteries Of war our sltua-
ton. environed on all sides by hostile
troops, would have appeared desper-
ate. To me it did not seem at all so, as
nv experience enabled me to measure
the danger. With the exception OF
few drowsy sentinels all the troops IN
the town were asleep. Nothing Of the
kind had ever been attempted before
during the war, and no preparations
lad been made to guard against 1t.
Once inside the enemy's lines every
thing was discovered as easy as fall
ing off log. There was not the slight
est show Of resistance. AS the night
was pitch dark, it was impossible to
tell from our appearance to which side
we belonged, although all Of us were
dressed in Confederate gray.
Ames was sent with party to Wynd-
hams headquarters. Two Of his staff
were found there asleep, but the bird
we were trying to catch had flown
-Wyndham had gone down to Wash
ington that evening by the railroad.
Ny men Unidentified themselves to
some extent for the loss by appropri-
ating his fine wardrobe and several
splendid horses that they found in
the stables.
The unexpected capture of Gen.
Stoughton is thus recorded:
A head bobbed out from an upper
window and inquired who was there
My answer was, Fifth New York
Cavalry with a dispatch for Gen.
Stoughton." Footsteps were soon
heard tripping down stairs and the
door opened. A man stood before me
with nothing on but his shirt and
drawers. I Immediately seized hold
Of his shirt-collar, and whispered in
his ear who was, and ordered him to
lead me to the Generals room. We
went straight upstairs where Slough
ton was, leaving Welt Hatcher and
George Whitescarver behind to guard
the horses. When light was struck
we saw lying on the bed before us the
man OIL WdE. ne WAS buried III QoeD
sleep, and seemed to be dreaming in
all the fancied security Of the Turk on
the night when Marco Bozzaris with
his band burst on his camp from the
forest shades.
AS the General was not awakened by
the noise we made in entering the
room, | walked up to the bed and pull
ed off the covering. But even this
did not arouse him. He was turned
over on his side snoring like one of the
seven sleepers. With such environ
ments l could not afford to await his
convenience or to stand on ceremony.
SO just pulled up his shirt and gave
him spank. Its effect was electric.
President Lincoln said cf this can
ture that he did not mind the loss of a
General, but he hated to lose the horses
which went along with the officers.
Mosby says: II was never able to du-
plicate this adventure. 1t was one
Of those things a man can do only once
in a lifetime"