Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-08-01
ONE OF M0SBY'S DEEDS
Train Wrecked and Two Fed
eraI Paymasters Captured.
Melted BAND $4,000
Operations in the Shenandoah VAL
ley in 1864.
TACTICS OF THE RANGERS
"reminiscences Related at a Recent
Meeting of the Washington
History Club.

in defense of it. If the world believes
otherwise, just let some nation knocl
the chip of our shoulder
/ AS to the greenback raid October 10
1861. continued Mr.. Lake, "a detach
ment of Mosby's men, of which I was q
member. crossed the Shenandoah river
at Castlemans Ferry about dark ant
moved off in the direction of Bunker Hill
on the turnpike between Martinsburg and
Winchester. Occasionally one of oul
fellows would lose his hat by having il
Knocked off by a tree limb. Our party
consisted of between sixty and sixty-fivt
men. At sunup October IL the command
was halted in a piece of woods close
to the pike. 1t was splendid place
from which to view and command the
road there being considerable hill
Col. A1osby and a few of the men were
on. the hill with field glass. We haG
not been there long before a patrol OF
twelve or fifteen Federal cavalrymen was
seen approaching.
Federal Cavalry Routed.
1.-THE colonel instructed me to order
Lieut.. Grogan to take ten or twelve men
and go out on the pike below, and to
order Lieut.. Harry Hatcher to take ar
equal number of men and come out be-
hind the Federals after they had passed
by. Hatcher requested ME to go along
with his party, and / did SO. Just be-
fore we struck the pike we heard
Grogans men firing. and soon the Fed
erals came laundering back, just in time
for us to meet them.
so the Federal cavalry had nothing to
do but surrender or scatter over the fields
which few did, but they were soon cap
tured. We had just got together again
when another party of hOrsemen were
seen coming along the road from the di-
rection of Winchester. There were about
sixteen of them and they wore gray uni
forms. That Federal command was known
as Jesse Scouts. They wore the gray to
deceive the ConfederateS. They were
finely mounted and were about as fear
less set of fellows as we ever struck.
They were evidently picked men. Col.
Mosby sent me with the same orders to
the same officers.
Lieut.. Hatcher again asked me to go
with him. 1 entered protest and said
there we're other men who had not been
out on chase. Besides. my horse was
tired. had a very fast black mare.
oh, come on and go with u.s., he said.
and so went. But before we struck the
pike this time the Jesses were rushed
back ON us, so we had running fight.
The ground beside the pike was very
rough, having been made so by the pas
sage of the army when the ground was
muddy. One fellow got out in front of
me on the rough ground and it was not
long before his horse fell and right over
him and his horse / went. Then there
was the worst sort of mix-up. My horse
turned a complete somersault and l saw
myriad stars in the daytime for the first
time I'm my life. l thought surely / had
received mortal injuries. When | got up
asked one of our fellows if the cars had
run over any one else. l mounted the
horse of the fellow I had fallen over and
rode back to Col. Mosby and his party
my face all bleeding.
Your face looks like the Chinese al
phabet remarked a non-sympathetic Nir-
L., h.
colonel.
Zone of our fellows recovered my mare
and captured two prisoners after chasing
them about couple OF miles. We had
some fifteen or sixteen captured horses
and a bunch of prisoners. That night we
rode off in the direction of the Baltimore
and Ohio railroad and struck it at point
a mile or so west of Duff1elds depot.
There was a deep cut just west OF Shen-
andoah Junction which was an ideal place
to throw a train from the track with the
least injury to the passengers.
Plans to Wreck Train.
ut was a clear, starlit night and the air
was chilly. The command was halted in
a woods close by. Col. Mosby and four
of us rode across a small field to the cut.
The colonel asked if there was any one
in the party who knew how to tear up
the track. There was no response. He
commanded me to ride back and get three
or four men who knew how to take up the
rails. / secured some expert track de-
stroyers. The track was a double one
and Col Mosby ordered that both tracks
be torn up.
only short time before the rangers
had destroyed only one track and a
train came laundering past on the track
that had not been touched. The aston
shed rangers looked after it as if unde-
termined to mount their horses and pur-
sue the flying train or to sit down and
say 'cuss' words.
Under the direction of Col. Mosby the
troopers pried up the rails of the west
bound track and pushed a lot Of fence
rails under it, with the heavy ends rest
ing on the eastbound track. We raised
the track to an agile of about forty-five
degrees. We then raised the other side
and placed a big rock under it.
THE work was soon accomplished and
the men were ordered to leave their horses
in the woods under guard and take
position on foot along the railroad. While
we were lying around in groups trying to
keep warm, for 1t was a cold, frosty, wet
night, the guard who had been left with
the horses came galloping toward us
shouting:
The Yankees are coming!'
Every trooper of us made quickly for
our animals and when we got there ex-
pected to receive a rain of bullets We
listened but could not hear a sound The
guard had been frightened by a SOW and
her pigs running Through Inc Dry autumn
leaves. Thoroughly disgusted we went
back to the railroad, after Col Mosby
had used some language toward the
guard that ,cannot be found in Sunday
school books. AS punishment the colonel
threatened to send the fellow back to the
army. which was dreaded by all the
rangers.
Col. Mosby. who was never known to
sit down or stand still when in expect
ancy of fight. being a wiry nervous
man, walked up and down in front of his
men cracking jokes with them. Suddenly
there came the sound of a locomotive
whistle and the distant sound of an ap-
preaching train. The troopers sprang to
their feet at his command. and Lieut..
Hatcher was ordered to take one man
and so down the track hundred yards,
with instructions to fire If there was a
guard on the train. If there was no
guard, he was not to fire.
The Train Wrecked.
Lieut. Grogan was directed TO form
the rest of the troopers on the bank OPP
posite the instructions on the track.
went with Hatcher down the track. We
had just taken our positions when we saw
the headlight of the locomotive. Then
the train came laundering past us. This
was between and O'Clock in the morn
in. October IA. 1864.