RANGER MOSBY (ORIGINAL LETTER AND ENVELOPE, TIPPED-IN, EACH SIGNED BY JOHN MOSBY)

Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1944. Second Printing. Hardcover. Very Good. Brown cloth, octavo. Text clean, cover is very good, very marginal nudging to corners. Stated second printing. 347 pages. Notes, appendix. Frontis plate of Mosby. 17 pages of illustrations, endpaper maps. A handwritten letter, signed by Mosby, dated Washington, December 1914, tipped-in to half-title recto. Also tipped-in, on verso of publisher's frontis portrait of Mosby, a photo plate of Mosby in uniform sitting in a wooden chair, and signed "Very Truly Yours, John Mosby. (Because the only other copy of this particular photo located bore a printed title of "Mosby in 1866", the PHOTO signature is being treated as autopen. Since the photo is pasted, without printed title, to the extant page, this description will not treat it as authentic. The partial envelope which is addressed by Mosby, with return address in top left corner reading "From John Mosby, Washington", and addressed by him to Mrs. Wilma Lee Read...Morristown East Tenessee, postmarked Dec. 18, 1914. Washington D.C. is pasted down on the recto of the tile page. A bookplate on the copyright page states "From the Books of Wilma Lee Carter , whom we might assume was the daughter of Mrs. Read. The letter, in ink, begins with he salutation "My dear Cousin" and is in reference to a letter Mrs. Read sent Mosby inquiring about a common relative, to which he replies that he doesn't have any information and doesn't know about the relative she has inquired about, then then refers her to a certain book (VIRGINIA COUSINS by Goode) for possible answers, and then mentions that he has corresponded with a man in Missouri(?) named John Speed Mosby. The letter is eleven lines and signed "Very Truly, John Mosby" A commonly-found, but well researched account of "The Gray Ghost", with fabulous Mosby material tipped-in! John Singleton Mosby was a legendary battalion commander from Virginia who in contradistinction to a traditional military commander, seemed more guerilla/ninja than traditional soldier. He was renowned for his ability to effect daring, inconceivably dangerous strikes into Union-held camps with lightning speed, and then disappear. Mosby was acting under authority of General Robert E. Lee who in 1863 had granted him permission to set up the company (under the Partisan Ranger Act of 1862). By 1864, Mosby's Rangers (also Mosby's Men, or Mosby's Command) had expanded to around 400 men, consisting of six cavalry companies and one artillery company. Their ability to annoy and distract, and to repeatedly cause signficant expense to the Union side, who committed vast resources in an attempt to outwit Mosby's Men, made them a force to be reckoned with. On another occasion at the Union-held Fairfax County Courthouse, Mosby captured Brigadier General Edwin H. Stoughton. Having found Stoughton asleep in bed, he awakened the General with a slap to the rear, and asked 'Do you know Mosby, General?' The General replied 'Yes! Have you got the rascal?' 'No," said Mosby. "He's got you!'". (Wikipedia)

One of their most celebrated raids was the derailing of a train and taking a $170,000 payroll from the paymasters of Sheridan's army. Each of the 80 raiders received $2100 share, though Mosby himself took nothing....(Munson, REMINISCENCES OF A MOSBY GUERRILLA) ...Mosby's correct estimate of men, his absolute freedom from jealousy and selfishness, his unerring judgment at critical moments, his devotion to his men, his eternal vigilance, his unobtrusive bravery and his exalted sense of personal honor, all combined to create in the mind and hearts of those who served him a sort of hero worship. Long before I ever set eyes on him I looked forward to the day when I would be able to take my hat off in his presence, and offer to follow him. As a Command we had no knowledge of the first principles of cavalry drill, and could not have formed in a straight line had there ever been any need for our doing so. We did not know the bugle-calls, and very rarely had roll-call. Our dress was not uniform in make or color; we did not address our officers, except Mosby, by their titles; in fact, we did not practice anything usually required of a soldier; and yet withal there was not another body of men in the army under better or more willing control of their leader. Two things were impressed upon us well, however; to obey orders, and to fight..." (Munson).