Someone on the forum asked about Mosby's Raiders a week or so ago... &Thomas Pendrake , I think. Anyhow, I was watching a documentary today and the name came up again. (Mosby's, not Thomas Pendrake's!) The controversial Mosby captured Union General Stoughton as Stoughton was sleeping... walked right into his room by getting past Union lines without being caught. (Fairfax Courthouse.) No one will ever know what really happened, but there are two versions. One is that Mosby awoke the general and asked if he ever heard of Mosby. General Stoughton said yes and asked if they'd caught him. Mosby (if this rumor is true) answered "No, but he caught you." The other version of the rumor... well, not very flattering. That one says that Mosby slapped Stoughton on the rump to wake him. How embarrassing!
Although both are probably apochryphal, the former sounds more like what I know of Mosby. Mosby, like many Southern military leaders, is one of the reasons the U.S. military became so great. When I was in the Army, the Army claimed all Southern victories as part of the heritage of the Army. So the Army won (and lost) all battles of that war. That is an accurate view of the war. We both won and lost it. Wikipedia currently combines the two stories, the slap followed by the dialogue.
Well the man certainly got things done... and what others wouldn't have given for that stealth and ability to get things done behind enemy lines, I'm sure. Quintessential "bad boy" image. Did you know (sorry, I love learning, so I had to research this dude!) that he was bullied when he was a kid? He was smaller than other kids and didn't have the best health. He fought back, though... and even went too far at one point. One of his bullies was named George Turpin. George made a bad error and threatened to kill Mosby. Mosby short Turpin in the throat when Turpin tried to attack him. Not guilty of malicious shooting, but he was jailed for "unlawful shooting." Hmmm... not sure what that means. But anyhow he was fined $500 and sentenced to one year. I read some letters to his wife, Pauline recently... gotta love Civil War letters!
