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THE PLAINS — The clash of sabers and the yells of mounted cavalry will once again penetrate the serene rolling hills of Northern Virginia where Confederate Col. John S. Mosby carried out his historic and famous raids on Union supply lines.
A re-enactment commemorating Mosby’s raids will be held at Great Meadow, The Plains, on Nov. 7 and 8. More than 600 re-activated Civil War troops, including cavalry, infantry and artillery, will re-create the historic raids of Mosby’s Rangers from 1861-1865.
In September of 1864, Union General Phillip Sheridan assigned General George Crook the task of eliminating Mosby.
Crook immediately assigned 100 troops to a special task force armed with the new 7-shot repeater Spencer Rifle. The unit became known as Blazer’s Scouts for its unit commander, Capt. Richard Blazer.
Blazer started tracking Mosby in the Shenandoah Valley and fqllowed the Rangers into Loudoun County and then into Upperville.
Proceeding towards Berryville, Mosby ran into the 6th New York Cavalry where, with Confederate infantry support, the Rangers routed the Federals.
Following the battle, Mosby allowed his men to rest in the warm summer sun. Suddenly, after a forced march, Blazer’s Scouts attacked the Confederates without warning.
Although the Union task force inflicted many casualties on the Rangers, Mosby escaped and regrouped
his men to continue their hit-and-run tactics.
Soon after the Blazer engagement, Mosby, with Rangers Guy Broadwater and Tom Love, scouted the Fairfax County territory. The trio was attacked by the 13th New York Cavalry where Mosby was struck by an Union bullet.
Mosby was treated for his wound at The Plains but the bullet was never removed — he carried it for the rest of his life.
Mosby operated throughout Northern Virginia and officially signed the charter papers creating Company A of the 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion at Rector’s Cross Roads between Upperville and Middleburg.
After the war, Mosby became an attorney and eventually befriended then President Ulysses S. Grant. Mosby was awarded the position of consular to Hong Kong and later died in Washington, D.C., at the age of 83.
“Everyone feared Mosby,” said Frank Stone, whose father was a personal friend of Mosby. Stone said his father, who was a pharmacist on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., became acquainted with Mosby when the Confederate Colonel returned to the nation’s capital after being ambassador to Hong Kong. Stone, who is 50 years younger than his father, now resides in Basye, Va.
“Wagon trains, union soldiers
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