Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 27.djvu/289

 '/'In' M, niiiiui ni to Mosby's Men. 281

been easily executed. It would have been the most severe and cruel blow of all its paralyzing effect could only be fully realized by those of us whose loved ones were still sheltered by the old homesteads in Loudoun and Fauquier.

But General Grant was essentially a soldier and a great leader. Like General Forrest, of the South, he knew that " war meant fight- ing, and fighting meant killing." He was anxious to end the strug- gle as soon as possible. He had undertaken to capture Richmond and realized the magnitude of the enterprise. He was urging Sher- idan to finish up the Valley campaign, so that his troops could be transferred to aid in reducing the Confederate capital. He realized what an obstruction Mosby's men were to the execution of his plans. Under the immediate leadership of their gallant commander, they had destroyed Sheridan's line of communication and compelled him to fall back from his advanced position. The Manassas Gap Railroad could neither be repaired or operated so long as we held our posi- tion in Loudoun and Fauquier counties. So the orders went forth for the extermination of "Mosby's gang." Our men were to be hung, our country devastated by fire, and our families imprisoned. That General Grant was mis-informed as to the character of our command there can be no doubt. He so states in his published memoirs. General Sheridan had characterized us by the most de- basing terms in the military vocabulary. He was fond of referring to us as "guerrillas," and the like. When we killed two of his stafl officers in a fair cavalry fight on the Valley Turnpike in open day, in reporting to General Grant, he said: " Guerrillas are annoying me very much. I know of no way to exterminate them except to burn out the whole country and let the people go North or South." General Grant only received his information of Mosby's command .through others, and no doubt principally through General Sheridan during this period. But after the war he had the opportunity of knowing personally our honored commander, and became his staunch friend. He had already discovered that the command so often reported to him as "guerrillas" was in fact a part of the regu- larly organized Confederate army, receiving orders from and in many instances reporting directly to General Lee himself. In the hour ol victory, General Grant proved himself as magnanimous to Mosby and his men as he was to Lee and his veterans. No sentiment that I uttered in my speech at Front Royal seemed to meet with more approval than that there was no surviving member of Mosby's com- mand who would not gladly place a wreath upon Grant's tomb.