Beschreibung:

CIVIL WAR]. MOSBY, John Singleton (1833-1916). Autograph letter signed ("Jno. S. Mosby") to Pauline Mosby (his wife), Culpepper, Va. 1 April 1862. 2 page, 4to, matted and framed, with verso showing and recto reproduced in facsimile in a separate panel . "WE ARE PERFECTLY CONFIDENT OF BEING ABLE TO WHIP THE YANKEES WHENEVER WE FIGHT THEM." A dramatic and extensive personal letter from Mosby to his wife, detailing his early battlefield exploits. "We have been having stirring times with the Yankees & the old 1st has played a brilliant role." He proudly recounts the commendations he received from his commanding officer, Col. William "Grumble" Jones for ambushing a massive Union force. "The appearance of the enemy when they crossed Cedar Run was the most magnificent sight I ever beheld. They marched through a large open field of several hundred acres and their columns extended as far back for several miles as the eye could reach." But when the advance cavalry guard crossed Cedar Run, "with their sabers drawn in all the pride & circumstance of glorious war," Mosby and a dozen or so other men "delivered a volley with our carbines which sent them back across the deep stream in the wildest confusion. One fellow was thrown into the water over his head-he scrambling out ran off & left his horse. Another horse fell, rose & fell again bringing his rider with him under the water. We ceased firing, threw up our caps & indulging the most boisterous laughter. They did not stop running when they reached the opposite bank but fled back to the rear of the infantry & artillery." Jones, Mosby continues, also cited him for a daring reconnaissance ride when "I passed around, got to the rear of the enemy, discovered that they were only making a feint movement on the R. Road while they were really moving in another direction. I rode nearly all night to give the information which resulted in Genl. Stuart ordering our regt. in pursuit & the capture of about 30 prisoners, 16 horses, arms, etc." General Stuart himself wrote a report to General Johnston praising Mosby's valor. "I wd. not mention these things about myself," Mosby says with unconvincing modesty, "but for the fact that I know it is gratifying to those at home to know that 'in the world's great field of battle' I have not been altogether undistinguished. Our men," he says, "are in the finest spirits & eager for a fight....We are perfectly confident of being able to whip the Yankees whenever we fight them." To say that he was "not undistinguished" was to put it mildly. The daring exploits he recounts here were just the beginning of Mosby's remarkable career. A few months after this he guided Stuart in the famous Ride Around McClellan, winning his own command of Mosby's Rangers in 1863. By the end of the war there was no other Confederate officer, save Lee himself, that the bluecoats were more eager to capture. This letter brilliantly illustrates the qualities that made him such a formidable foe. He relished combat. He always made the bold and daring stroke, and nearly every time out he did indeed "whip the Yankees."