Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-07-10
Civil War Stories
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cdIlS uUSl VlVlQIy the SURFING L1neS
Of the war, when these same men were
not the peaceful citizens Of to-day, but
| the much-feared bold spirits that spent
their days and nights in harassiag the
| boys that Uncle Sam sent out to cap
ture them. The band known as the
| Mosby Rangers was in fact the Forty
third Virginia Battalion, regularly
| organized troop, in which the officers
were commissioned and under the per
| soaal supervision Of Mosby, who was
subordinate to General Lee, just as
| were the other officers of the Confed-
| crate army. These rangers, however,
/ were gathered for species of warfare
which, being exercised in an independ-
! ent way, was the means Of harassing
| the enemy and Of keeping the large
armies Of the Union constantly on the
| alert. AS a line is only as strong as
| its weakest point it sometimes took
several thousand Federal troops to
guard road or communications, when
they were in truth menaced by only
few hundred The rangers, who were
composed of the young men of the
State, received no compensation from
the Confederate government for their
services, other than the spoils of war
| taken by their own efforts from the
enemy. Many Of the soldiers were but
boys, some scarcely out Of school, but
the flower of the South could be found
| in their ranks, while for daring and
absolute fearlessness they had no equal.
That part of Virginia which is in
Guided il Fauquier and Fairfax coun-
ties became known as Mosby's Confed-
eracy, and in a short time was practi-
| cally under the control Of his men.
Ceaseless were the skirmishes which
took place, the thrilling adventures and
hair-breadth escapes they encountered,
| but none perhaps are as remarkable as
the affair in which they went boldly
| into the center Of a Union camp and
took out from it's midst a slumbering
general, escaping with their prey under
the very frown of the guns i'll the Fed
eral forts.
This adventure occurred in March,
1868, just after the battle of Chan
! cellorsville, and about the time that
Lee had begun to marshal his forces
for an intended invasion of the North.
Brigadier General Stoughton and
large force were encamped at the little
village of Fairfax, which is the county
seat Of the vicinity, and numbers a few
| hundred inhabitants. The men of the
| force were quartered about the place,
| while the general had his headquarters,
with his staff, at the brick house which
| is now used as the rectory for the Epis-
copal clergyman of the town. This res
| idence is a large one, standing in the
midst of lot Of goodly size, just about
| 100 yards from the main road and the
front room in the second story was
occupied by the commanding general.
| The night selected by the rangers
was a cold, drilling one, and they set
out on their journey from their start
| ing point, which was several miles out
side the enemy's lines about the town,
| at gear midnight. The lines of the
| Federals extended il every direction
about the country, some of the Union
forces being at Centerville, a tiny ham-
| let six miles from FairfaXs In order
| to escape the pckets the rangers made
| detour, and striking off from the
main road on which they were travel
ing managed to approach the town in
| such a way that the Federals could but
suppose the troop was part of their
own force The road was anything
| but a pleasant one to ride, for the
mud was as deep as only Virginia mud
can be, but the men piodded on, mufled
| up in their cloaks, till they saw in the
| misty distance a few lights family
cleaning through the trees.
The soldiers belonging to Stoughton's
force were souIdly sleeping, artillery,
| cavalry and infantry being quartered
about in the citizens houses. The gem
| eral was in the center of the town, and
| had retired late, having extensively
| celebrated at a supper at which there
was a liberal supply of champagne.
Mosby, with twenty men, rode slowly
into the town about two hours before
dawn, and trotting up to the Court
some going to get supplies that were
procurable, as we'll as the horses of the
enemy, while Mosby and two or three
of his men rode down to the headquar-
tiers of the general.
No sound, was to be heard in the
foggy darkness but the slight splash
of the horses in the muddy road, and
even had any of the enemy been awake
they would never have dreamed for a
moment that the guerillas, as they
were called, were calmly riding about
in the midst of their camp, having
eluded by stratagem the pickets posted
along the line. Mosby and his men
rode up to the generals house and dis
mounted, the leader boldly knocking
at the door The house was shrouded
in darkness and silence, but presently
head was poked out Of an upper win
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