A YANKEE MEETS MOSBY…

[Subdeacon Joe]

 

It was not long before I was ushered into the presence of John S. Mosby, Lieutenant- Colonel, C. S. A. He stood a little apart from his men, by the side of a splendid gray horse, with his right hand grasping the bridle-rein and resting on the pommel of his saddle. He was a slight, medium-sized man, sharp of feature, quick of sight, lithe of limb, with a bronzed face of the color and tension of whip -cord. His hair, beard, and mustache were light brown in color. His large, well-shaped head showed a high forehead, deep-set gray eyes, a straight Grecian nose, a firm mouth, and large ears. His whole expression told of energy, hard service, and a love of whiskey. He wore top boots, and a civilian's overcoat, black, lined with red, and beneath it the complete gray uniform of a Confederate Lieutenant-Colonel, with its two stars on the side of the standing collar, and the whole surmounted by the inevitable slouched hat of the whole Southern race. His men were about half in blue and half in butternut.

Mosby, after taking my horse and quietly examining my papers, presently looked up with a peculiar gleam of satisfaction on his face. "Ah, Captain B____! Inspector-General _______ of _______’s Cavalry! Good-morning, Captain! Glad to see you, sir! Indeed, there is but one I would prefer to see this morning to yourself, and that is your commander. Were you present, sir, the other day at the hanging of eight of my men as guerillas at Front Royal?"

I answered him firmly, "I was present, sir; and, like you, have only to regret that it was not the commander instead of his unfortunate men." This answer seemed to please Mosby, for he apparently expected a denial. He assumed a grim smile, and directed Lieutenant Whiting to search me.

My gold hunting-watch and chain, several rings, a set of shirt-studs and sleeve-buttons, a Masonic pin, some coins, and about three hundred dollars in greenbacks, with some letters and pictures of the dear ones at home, and a small pocket Bible, were taken. My cavalry-boots, worth about fifteen dollars, were apprised at six hundred and fifty in Confederate money; my watch at three thousand dollars, and the other articles in about the same proportion, including my poor servant "Wash," who was put in and raffled for at two thousand dollars, so that my entire outfit made quite a respectable prize.

"Wash" was very indignant that he should be thought worth only two thousand dollars, Confederate money, and informed them that he considered himself unappreciated, and that, among other accomplishments, he could make the best milk-punch of any man in the Confederacy.

When all this was concluded, Mosby took me a little one side and returned to me the pocket Bible, the letters and pictures, and the Masonic pin, saying quietly as he did so, alluding to the latter with a significant sign: "You may as well keep this. It may be of use to you somewhere."

I thanked him warmly for his kindness as I took his offered hand, and really began to think Mosby almost a gentleman and a soldier, although he had just robbed me in the most approved manner of modern highwaymen.

Travis [><]

Source: Strange stories of the civil war by Robert Shackleton, John Habberton, William J. Henderson, L. E. Chittenden, Capt. Howard Patterson, U.S.N., Gen. G. A. Forsyth, U.S.A., and others, 1907.

 

[Trailrider #896]

Becoming a Republican who supported Grant for President. From 1878 to 1885 he was U.S. consul to Hong Kong, and later served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.  

[Okiepan]

Partisan Rangers (43rd Bttln Virginia Cavalry)

[bgavin]

Interesting, as Mosby was not a Mason.

[Alpo]

What I found interesting was that that Yankee Captain had a slave.

[Subdeacon Joe]

What struck me most was how well it is written. 

[Subdeacon Joe]

3 minutes ago, Alpo said:

What I found interesting was that that Yankee Captain had a slave.

 

Servant.  Likely an escaped slave being paid 5 or 6 bucks a month to do his cooking, laundry, and other such. 

 

I  like that he took umbrage at how little he was sold for rather than at being sold in the first place.

[Alpo]

He called him a "servant".

 

Yet when they put him on the block, the captain did not bow up all offended and say, "You can't sell him. He's a FREEMAN!!!!!"

 

And Wash did not complain that they couldn't sell him because he was free. He just complained about the little amount he was sold for.

 

Slave.

[Subdeacon Joe]

3 minutes ago, Alpo said:

He called him a "servant".

 

Yet when they put him on the block, the captain did not bow up all offended and say, "You can't sell him. He's a FREEMAN!!!!!"

 

And Wash did not complain that they couldn't sell him because he was free. He just complained about the little amount he was sold for.

 

Slave.

 

Yep. Servant.  Paid.  Free.  As I said, likely an escaped slave, so he knew what would happen if he were to be captured.  It wasn't uncommon for federal officers to have free men of color as servants during the War of 1861.  

[Blackwater 53393]

It is important to remember that the slaves in and from states in the Union were NOT freed by the Emancipation Proclamation and that it wasn’t made until 1863!!

[Subdeacon Joe]

7 hours ago, Blackwater 53393 said:

It is important to remember that the slaves in and from states in the Union were NOT freed by the Emancipation Proclamation and that it wasn’t made until 1863!!

 

Nor in areas that were under federal control, such as New Orleans, Norfolk, the counties that would become known as West Virginia.

Also, when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued several federal regiments had mass desertions.  The 128th Illinois Volunteer Infantry had 700 desertions, another IL regiment had a somewhat smaller mass desertion, as did one regiment from Iowa.  

[Alpo]

57 minutes ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

Also, when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued several federal regiments had mass desertions.  The 128th Illinois Volunteer Infantry had 700 desertions, another IL regiment had a somewhat smaller mass desertion, as did one regiment from Iowa.  

I don't see how one relates to the other.

 

If the 128th had been a Southern conscripted slave Army, and Lincoln said all Southern slaves are now free, then I could see 'em deserting. "We free now. Screw this Army crap."

 

But they were a Yankee army. I don't get it.

[Ozark Huckleberry]

4 hours ago, Alpo said:

I don't see how one relates to the other.

 

If the 128th had been a Southern conscripted slave Army, and Lincoln said all Southern slaves are now free, then I could see 'em deserting. "We free now. Screw this Army crap."

 

But they were a Yankee army. I don't get it.

Because prior to the Emancipation Proclamation, most Union soldiers, considered the war to be about ending ending secession, not slavery. Many Northerners were not in favor of ending slavery, out of fear that freedmen would flood the labor market in the North, driving down wages and taking the jobs that many soldiers planned to return to after the war.

 

The Emancipation Proclamation, which was largely a strategic measure aimed at undermining the South's ability to fight a war by reducing its agricultural and industrial labor force, through slave desertions, turned the war into the noble cause of ending slavery. LOTS of Union soldiers felt that was NOT what they had signed up for.

 

Unrest over the emancipation issue was pretty widespread in the North, especially in major industrial cities. The New York draft riots in July 1863 were a culmination of anger over emancipation fanned into open rioting by the decision to draft soldiers to fight for a cause they resented.