page_title: John D. Read
section_title: The raid on Falls Church
hierarchical_section_title: John D. Read / The raid on Falls Church
caption_attribution_description: English: Col. John S. Mosby, C.S.A. Image is cropped from High resolution Tiff file and significant restoration was performed to remove scratches and speckling.
context_page_description: John D Read, also referred to as John Reed or John Reid, was an American abolitionist and lay preacher in Falls Church, Virginia in the years prior to and during the American Civil War. Read was taken prisoner by Confederate partisans from Mosby's Rangers during a surprise raid on the town on October 18, 1864 and executed later that day near Vienna, Virginia.
context_section_description: The forces of Colonel John Singleton Mosby's 43rd Battalion, Virginia Cavalry conducted an extensive guerrilla campaign behind Union lines in Northern Virginia from 1863 to 1865. In 1864, towns and Union outposts in Fairfax and Loudon Counties were frequent targets of surprise attacks from mounted cavalry from Mosby's Rangers seeking to capture Federal horses, supplies, and prisoners.
  On the early morning of October 18, 1864, Captain Richard Montjoy led a contingent of at least 75 men from Company D of Mosby's command on a nocturnal raid into Falls Church.  The attack was initially successful, capturing several Union prisoners and a number of horses. However, the element of surprise was lost when members of the Home Guard blew a hunting horn as a warning to alert nearby Federal troops.
caption: Colonel John S. Mosby, CSA
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