The Washington times., 1915-02-08
Nearing Seventy.Eighth Year,
Guerrilla Leader Cares Not
Who Reads His Book.
PAST MEMORIES TO REMAIN
Hated by North and South, He
Is Now Regarded as One Of
Nations Grand Old Men.

| II have never yet surrendered, sir
and I won't start now
Col. John Singleton Mosby did moi
| refer to the historical fact that he did
not surrender after the civil war. lie
referred TO the report that he was wal
| about to make a literary surrender
| that he had abandoned work on his
proposed Memoirs Of the war in Vir.
ginia."
| Though he is approaching his seventy.
eighth year. the famous guerrilla lead.
| er has been working days and far into
the nights upon his personal rccoilec-
tions OF the war. which are said by
| those whos have been permitted q
glimpse Of the manuscripts. to contain
high lights on unwritten history, and
many picturesque sidelights on the war
Friends have been urging him to slack
! en- his pace. and have been putting
forth the argument that the news OF
| the present war overshadows any past
| struggles, and that this 10 not a propi-
tious time for "reminiscences OF a war.
| past and gone.
Information of Value.
But Colonel Mosby has been telling
these advisers that he cares not who
| reads his book. that 1t will contain in
formation Of value on many hazy points
and will clear up some of the conten.
tions about the Virginia campaign.
IF you think the present war has
blotted out past memories" said the
| colonel, you should have read the let.
ter written bv'George II. Putnam. In
the London Times. in which ne asserted
that The 'snipinR' practiced in the pres.
! ent war was much like that Of my mer
| in the civil war"
| Colonel Mosby chuckled as he read an
extract from the ''Thunderer' and then
he read extracts from his reply through
! the same channel printed only two
| weeks ago. Mr.. Putnam had referred
| to Colonel Mosby's men as crippled old
farmers and said they didn't fight in
| uniform.
we always fought with pistols in a
mounted charge" reads Colonel Mos.
| by's reply. land I am sure that my an
taeonists would not admit that they
had ever met defeat from band OF
| 'cripples
"A German officer. Baron Won Mas
| SOW. was also in my comma nd until he
was disa bled by a wound and returned
home A few years ago he wrote me
man Artillery Corps. II you were to
ask Massow II he was ever a sniper he
would answer from the mouth OF q
| krupp gun
HcIerenCo 10 tne CIlppICO Ol0 IdT1H-
| ers'' that made up his hand. Colonel
Mosby said. reminded him OF a passage
| in Sheridan's memoirs Of the war.
Greatest In History.
"A few years ago I met General
Grants son. he went on In reminiscent
| vein. I'VE were talking about the war
| and these memoirs were mentioned.
told him II those memoirs were accurate
| I was proven to be tho greatest general
| in history, not even excepting Caesar,
| Hannibal. or General Grant himself.
For those memoirs stated that
though Sheridan had an army OF $40
| men effective for service. and Early bd
15.O0O. that when these generals mct
sheridan's force was no larger thar
| Early's because Of the detachments out
OF action which had to guard attack.
and skirmishes from behind.
MY three hundred men were abso
lutely the only ones behind Sheridan
and on his own statement1it took 7a.OO'
OF those to take care Of my 800 men
| while the other Is. .00O went out to battle
with Early's troops
believed. are likely TO raise as mucl
contention as his other adventure into
the literary fields, "stuart's Cavalry II
the Gettysburg Campaign" That vol
umc. about which veterans OF botf
North and South have been contendinf
since its appearance. was a vfndicatior
of Stuart's generalship at Gettysburg
and held that General Lees report o.
that engagement was 30 inaccurate that
Stuart had been put In a false light.
"No man has a more rational admira