The Civil War was ugly by 1864. It had been an ugly, destructive war long before then, but the conflict took a decidedly dark turn in the war's fourth year.
Few places witnessed this than the Shenandoah Valley and John Mosby's Confederacy that summer and fall. A tit-for-tat of brutal acts waged back and forth between Mosby's Rangers and Philip Sheridan's Federal army, particularly the Yankee cavalry. On August 13, 1864, Mosby's men struck the wagon train of Sheridan's horsemen outside Berryville. The raid netted over 500 horses and mules, 200 cattle, and 200 prisoners.
Six days later, after a strike against a picket post left one of George Custer's cavalrymen dead, Custer ratcheted up the stakes of the game. He ordered his troopers to burn four nearby homes to send a message to the locals that aiding the Rangers would no longer be tolerated. They burned two; Mosby's men caught up to them in the process of torching the third. "No quarter! No quarter!" yelled Captain William Chapman as they charged the home-burners. Fifteen of Custer's men were killed or mortally wounded in the close-quarters melee. Bad blood festered between the two sides.
They met again on September 23 outside Front Royal. Mosby's men pounced on what they thought was a vulnerable Federal ambulance train. They failed to detect a large Federal cavalry force accompanying the train. It was too late. The Confederates pitched into the train before quickly deciding to withdraw. Federals became incensed when one of their men, Lieutenant Charles McMaster claimed to have been shot while in the act of surrendering. The Yankees, under orders likely from General Alfred Torbert, executed the six Rangers they managed to capture in the fight. Less than a month later, one more Ranger became the victim of a Federal noose.
Mosby was not present during these executions, but he was surely aware of them. He sought to put an end to this back-and-forth brutality. After seeking permission from his superiors and contemplating the legality of his proposed action (Mosby was a prewar lawyer), Mosby proposed to hang seven of Custer's men (he believed for the rest of his life that Custer was at fault). Custer's prisoners in Mosby's possession drew straws to see who the unlucky seven would be. Then, Mosby's men led them to Berryville to be hanged. Ultimately, three were hanged, two were shot, and two escaped. That was enough for Mosby. He informed Sheridan of his reasoning for ordering these retaliatory actions. "Hereafter, any prisoners falling into my hands will be treated with the kindness due to their condition, unless some new act of barbarity shall compel me, reluctantly to adopt a line of policy repugnant to humanity."
Sheridan responded (though no modern eye has seen the reply), but the senseless retaliation stopped. The killing did not. Both sides continued to face one another in many skirmishes until the war's close in 1865.
By Kevin Pawlak
CITATION Kevin Pawlak. “John Mosby’s Retaliatory War.” Emerging Civil War. February 22, 2024. https://emergingcivilwar.com/.../john-mosbys-retaliatory.../. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
PHOTOGRAPHS 1. The Monument to Mosby’s Men is in Prospect Hill Cemetery on the southwest side of Front Royal, Virginia It was erected in 1899 by the survivors of Mosby’s command as a memorial to the seven rangers executed by Union Cavalry in Front Royal in September of 1864. The monument is flanked by two 30-pounder Parrott Rifles. 2. John Singleton Mosby. Wikipedia 3. Philip Henry Sheridan. Britannica 4. George Armstrong Custer. Library of Congress
NOTE Kevin Pawlak is a Historic Site Manager for the Prince William County Historic Preservation Division and works as a licensed Battlefield Guide at Antietam.
