Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1896-11-19
Moshy,S Rangers.

uuub ltcCA III SAAASu6V
Mosby's Rangers.
Under the title Of "Mosby's Rang
ers." James J. Williamson, of Com
pany A, Mosby's command, has writ
ten a history Of the movements, bat
tie and adventures of Mosby's men.
1t makes a story Of many incidents by
field and flood, Of midnight foray, OF
wild adventures in the border land be-
tween %contending armies. of midnight
marches, Of sudden surprises by Div
ouac. Of early and late calls to boots
and saddles" Of anything and every
thing in the strange life led by Mosby
and his men.
Perhaps the greatest exploit in Mos
by's career vas the capture OF Gen.
Stoughton, of the Federal Army and
Mosby's story Of how this was done Is
told in full in this book. Says Mosby:
The commander Of the Union caval-
ry ut that time was Col. Percy Wynd-
ham. an English adventurer, who, 1t
was said, had served with Garibaldi.
He had been greatly exasperated by
my midnight forays on his outposts and
mortified at his own unsuccessful at
tempts at reprisal. In consequence he
had sem me many insulting messages.
I thought l would put a stop to his
talk by gobbling him up in bed and
sending him off to Richmond. l also
knew that Gen. Stoughton's headquar-
tiers were there. To a man uninitiated
into the mysteries Of war our situa-
ton, environed ON all sides by hostile
troops, would have appeared desper-
ate. To me 1t did not seem at oil SO, as
my experience enabled me to measure
the danger. With the exception Of a
few drowsy sentinels all the troops in
the town We're asleep. Nothing of the
kind had ever been attempted before
during the war, and no preparations
lad been made to guard against it.
Once inside the enemy's lines every
thing was discovered a. easy as fall
ing off a log. There was not the slight
est show of resistance. AS the night
was pitch dark, it vas impossible to
tell from our appearance to which side
we belonged, although all Of us were
dressed Ia Confederate .ray.
Ames was sent with a party to Wynd-
hams headquarters. Two Of his stan
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.
My men Unidentified themselves to
some extent for the loss by appropri-
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. 4 man stood before me
with nothing on but his shirt and
drawers. l 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 a light was struck
we saw lying on the bed before us the
man Of war. He was buried in deem
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 mo- awakened by
the noise we made in entering the
room, l 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
So I just pulled up his Shirt and gave
him a spank. Its effect was electric.
President Lincoln said Of 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 d,,-
plicate this adventure. 1t was one
Of those things q man can do only once
In q lifetime"
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