Evening star., 1898-10-24
MOSBY'S CAVALRY
Reunion of the Surviving Members
at Manassas, Va.
BAND ONCE KNOWN as GIERRILLAS
Terms of Its Surrender as Pro-
posed by Gen. Hancock
THE SPEECHES EXPECTED

MANASSAS, Va, October "A. 1SiS.-The
| reunion Of the surviving members of Mos
| by's cavalry. which is to take place in this
/ historic town tomorrow, is expected 10
| bring together large number OF former
| confederates, many of them being known
during the civil war as guerrillas
1t was believed by some people north OF
| the Potomac that Mosby's men fought un-
| der the BLACK nag. and neither asked nor
expected quarter, and certain il is that
| there were commanders on the federal side
| who, In the event of the capture Of any OF
the men Of that command. regarded him in
! the light of fugitive from justice and not
| as a prisoner of war.
1t is not denied at this late day that dur
| ing the four years in which the predatory
| band operated in the northern counties II
| Virginia and in the vicinity of Washington
| many dark deeds Of violence were perp--
trdtCd and that the blame generally lei! 1i
MoSby and his men. but ii Is claimed that
| most Of this work was performed 10y out
laws, who belonged 10 no command. and
VINO operated on their own account.
IL Is anticipated that the Speeches which
| viii be made tomorrow VIII seek to show
| that neither the officers or men who fought
under Mosby, nor the leader himself wcr.
| as black in character as they Were painted
| IN some quarters.
Designated Outlaw.
1t is not generally known that at the
close OF the war John $. Mosby was de-
clared 10y the United States government To
| be an outlaw During April. 1865. Rich
| mond had fallen. Lee had surrendered and
| the disheartened remnant of confederate
regulars. commanded 10y General Josenb /,
Johnston, were surrounded as by a circle of
| flre. and were helpless and hopeless under
| the guns OF General sherman.
Shadowed by such gloomy auspices. Mos
by continued 10 annoy the Union forces IN
| the valley by every conceivable method his
lertlle genius could suggest. Whll,. th,,
reNerbefatlons OF artillery at Winchester
| resounded along the mountains ana valleys
OF the Piedmont country IL honor of IN.
success OF the federal arms and As a
solemn requiem OF the dead confg,leracy.
hospE raldinE parties were busy catching
suffers, frightening quartermastcrs and
capturing prisoners and supplies win a coo.
indlfference TO the DEGREES OF fate.
An eye witness TO an incident ii, -crlIal
| lows:
ON the 18th of April, 1865. a beautiful
spring day, one of the most reularkabis
ofuclal papers ever written iry one military
| o!ncer to another was received by Colauel
| Mosby from General Hancock. This extra
ordinary eplstle was addressed to Colonel
j. ). Mosby, {. ). A and demanded the
surrender of the partisan battalion ON
terms similar to those accepted by General
Lee from General Grant and AN infer ,n
parole all stragglers tIum the ArnN Of
Northern Virginia, but excluded from t.aL
benefit the guerrilla chief Mosby'
Sudden Transition.
Il have Eever seen more sudden change
than his features expressed when he scam
ned the purpcrt OF General Hancocks let
ter. With compressed lip and distended
nostrils he seemed the very embodiment ot
fierce determination. 1t is difficult to con-
ceive OF a more painful situation than that
which Confror ted Mosby.
Many plans and schemes were discussed
Icy the officers and men. \ pruDositiau
was made TO keep the command intact and
cut Its way through all obstacles into Mex
leo. Many expressed the opinion that
Mexico could be easily eaCned. Wild. eK-
travagant and irrational as this suggestion
may now appear, under the luminous glare
of rect mt history il met with almost uuan.-
nous approval of the officers ana men.
Conference Proposed.
'Mosby knew well the unseltish devotion
of his followers and how ready and willing
they were to sacrifice their lives in his de-
fense, and he decided to communicate with
General Hancock, whose headquarters wery
at Winchester. Mosby accordingly sent
General Hancock a communication requests
ing him to appoint officer of equal rank
with Mosby TO arrange with the latter for
the surrender of his forces. MoSby stated
that he had received no information OF
Lees surrender from his own superior Of
ficers, and asked for AN armstice uf a few
days until he could communicate with his
own authorities or obtain sufficient iutelli-
Cence to determine his future action.
Il was one Of the Il rty seleo ted to carry
the communication under a nag Of truce to
General Hancock, and which required a
long and Wretched liue, lasting an night
ard far into the next day. After a little
delay, which, however, MAS not urcventa-
be, We were taken into General Haucccks
presence. l have a distinct and vivid
mental vision of General Hancock as he
HnnrDa phHi and pr b. b,.r
was a self-posscssion, ease and beuignant
dignity about him that 4 viii never forget.
L have never met a man Tor whom / have
IA higher respect than 1 have even at this
date for General Hancock. l had never
before felt at all ashamed Of my old gray
uniform, but l could not help il when this
true soldier held my hand and looked kind
ly and squarely in my face and said in Il
firm and earnest voice:
L symDathize with you in what you
believe to be a great misfortune You
have fought bravely and have nothing TO
be ashamed of. You have, like gallant
soldiers left your cause to the God of bat
ties. and the arbitrament of the sword has
decided against you. Let US cnce more
kneel down at the same altar and be like
brothers at the same household
During the conference ii was developed
that Mosby had replied to General Ham
cocks communication just in the nick of
time, for the general said he had with great
reluctance given an order only a few hours
previously for the sending of 1O.0U men
into the counties of Loudoun and Fauquier
as the last terrible resort, for the purpose
of destroying every house that continued
to give shelter to Mosby and his men. He
manifested much sympathy for the people
of the south, but insisted that the confed-
crate cause was hopeless; that any effort
to continue the war on the part of Mosby
and his followers was savage stubbornness
and irresponsible madness; that since he
had demanded the surrender of our forces
We had annoyed his outposts I'm a most
outrageous manner; that We continued to
kill his pickets and capture his quarter
masters. commissaries and medical stores
every night. He assured us that the order
for the dispatch of troops would be i'm
mediately countermanded.
General Hancock granted an armistico
of few days, at the conclusion of which
Mosby assembled his 500 partisans togeth-
er and disbanded them, preferring to take
that step to agreeing to surrender to the
United States authorities.
Doubtless in the addresses to be deliv-
cred tomorrow the story of Mosby's re-
lease from the terms Of surrender as or
iginally proposed will be rehearsed. Ger
tain IL is he was no. made the especial tar