Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 27.djvu/287

 Tin' Muniment to Mosby's Men. 279

collected. I think they should be taken and kept at Fort McHenry, or some seciuv plur, as hostages for the good conduct of Mosby .nul his men. When any of Mosby 's men are caught, hang them

without trial.

"U. S. GRANT,

1 'Lieutenant- General. ' '

This order was received by General Sheridan at 6:30 A. M. on the 1 7th. Up to that time Sheridan never claimed to have executed any prisoners captured from our command; but it is a significant fact that on the night of the same day he received Grant's order, he replied in the following message:

"August i7th, 1864, 9 P. M.

" Lt.-Gen. U. S. Grant, Com. Gen. Armies of the U. S.

" Mosby has annoyed me and captured a few wagons. We hung one and shot six of his men yesterday.

" P. H. SHERIDAN,

" Major- General."

This reported execution of our men was purely visionary. It never existed except in the imagination, and it was never heard of except in this dispatch. If he executed any prisoners at that time they were not members of Mosby's command. But the correspondence shows that he was answering General Grant's message containing the order for the hanging of our men; and we can only conjecture his motive for reporting that he had already commenced the hanging. On the next day, August i8th, he received additional instructions from Gen- eral Grant as follows:

" If you can possibly spare a division of cavalry send them through Loudoun county to destroy and carry off the crops, animals, wagons, and all men under fifty years of age capable of bearing arms. In this way you will get many of Mosby's men."

And we find still another letter under date of November 9, 1664, as follows:

" Major-General Sheridan:

" Do you not think it advisable to notify all citizens living east of the Blue Ridge to move north of the Potomac all their stock, grain and provisions of every description ? There is no doubt about the necessity of clearing out the country, so that it will not support Mosby's gang, and the question is whether it is not better that the