McNeill ' s Rangers McNeill ' s Rangers was an independent Confederate military force commissioned under the Partisan Ranger Act ( 1862 ) by the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War . The 210 man battalion - size unit was formed from Company E of the 18th Virginia Cavalry and the First Virginia Partisan Rangers ( 62nd Virginia Mounted Infantry ) . After the repeal of the Act on February 17 , 1864 , McNeill ' s Rangers was one of two partisan forces allowed to continue operation , the other being 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry ( Mosby ' s Raiders ) . Both of these guerrilla forces operated in the western counties of Virginia and West Virginia . The Rangers were known to exercise military discipline when conducting raids . However , many Union generals considered McNeill and his men " bushwhackers , " not entitled to protection when captured , as was the case with other prisoners of war . McNeill ' s frequent raids on Piedmont , West Virginia , and the towns of Cumberland , Maryland , were aimed at disrupting the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad service . It is estimated that over 25 , 000 troops were diverted by Federal commanders to guard the B & O against McNeill ' s force . Piedmont , a small town at the foot of the Allegheny Mountains , was a frequent target due to its important machine shops and vast stores of railroad supplies . The main line of the Baltimore and Ohio passed through a narrow valley at Piedmont . At the time , Piedmont was the temporary seat of Hampshire County , Romney having been given up as the county seat because of repeated Confederate raids . After earlier raids were unsuccessful , McNeill finally succeeded in severing the railroad and burning the machine shops at Piedmont . The President of the B & O , John W . Garrett , reported to Secretary of War Edwin M . Stanton that " the extensive machine and carpenter shops of Piedmont have been burned . The engine and cars of the east - bound main train and two - tonnage trains have also been destroyed . Five other engines damaged . . . . The heat of the fire at the wreck of the trains at Bloomington had been too intense to permit much work , but during the night we expect to have the entire road again clear and train running regularly . " Captain McNeill ' s official report to James A . Seddon , the Confederate Secretary of War , reads : " . . . We burned some seven large buildings filled with the finest machinery , engines , and railroad cars ; burned nine railroad engines , some seventy - five or eighty burthern cars , two trains of cars heavily laden with commissary stores , and sent six engines with full head of steam toward New Creek . Captured the mail and mail train and 104 prisoners on the train . . . . " The blows of McNeill ' s Rangers grew heavier as the Civil War progressed . Brigadier General Benjamin F . Kelley , the Federal commander in the area , was especially irritated at the tempo of their raids and the havoc created by each one . On May 22 , 1864 , in a special communique to Colonel Higgins at Green Spring , Kelley ordered : " As soon as practicable send Captain Hart with 125 or 150 men on a scout up the east side of the river , to Moorefield and vicinity , after McNeill . " Kelley continued : " It is not necessary for me to give Captain Hart any minute instructions . He is well acquainted in that vicinity . I will simply say I want McNeill killed , captured , or driven out of this valley . " His 150 men were not enough , and McNeill escaped . On February 22 , 1865 , Jesse McNeill and 65 Rangers travelled 60 miles behind enemy lines to Cumberland , Maryland . Without being detected , they captured both Union Major General George Crook and Brig . Gen . Benjamin Kelley from their beds . They evaded pursuing Federal cavalry and delivered the captured generals to Lieutenant General Jubal A . Early who forwarded the prisoners to Richmond . In the last year of the War , McNeill ' s Rangers commander Major Harry Gilmore used " The Willows " near Moorefield , West Virginia as his command . The Rangers used nearby Mill Island and McNeil family - owned Willow Wall as hospitals .