Mosby's Rangers
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
No single battalion was more feared during the Civil War than the 43rd Battalion of Virginia Cavalry. As one contemporary said, “They had…all the glamour of Robin Hood…all the courage and bravery of the ancient crusaders.” Better known as Mosby’s Rangers, they were an elite guerrilla unit that operated with stunning success in northern Virginia and Maryland from 1863 to the last days of the war.
In this vivid account of the famous command of John Singleton Mosby, Jeffry D. Wert explores the personality of this iron-willed commander and brilliant tactician and gives us colorful profiles of the officers who served under him. Drawing on contemporary documents, including letters and diaries, this is the most complete and vivid account to date of the fighting unit that was so hated by General Ulysses S. Grant that he ordered any captured Ranger to be summarily executed without trial.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 1863, John Singleton Mosby and his band of irregulars, recruited in Union-occupied northern Virginia, began raiding Yankee outposts, wagon trains, troop detachments, headquarters and railroad lines. Their most celebrated exploit: capturing a Union general behind enemy lines without firing a shot. After each sortie, the Confederate guerrillas would hide in ``safe houses'' provided by the citizens of two northern Virginia counties. Mosby was captured once (and exchanged) and wounded several times, but continued to plan and personally lead guerrilla raids throughout the final two years of the war. Wert ( From Winchester to Cedar Creek ) has written the first comprehensive study of Mosby's Rangers and offers new material about its organization, membership and tactics, plus biographical information about Mosby himself. He reveals that the partisan band rarely exceeded 200, that a large percentage of them were teenagers, that the civilians who sheltered them paid a high price in Yankee retribution. Well-researched, objectively written, this is a first-class history. Photos. First serial to Civil War Times Illustrated; History Book Club main selection.
