The above letter is in General Wallace's own handwriting. I prize it more than any commission or brevet commission that I have.
I needed just such an extended privilege as General Wallace asked for, and in March following I obtained it.
Colonel John S. Mosby's Guerillas were the most annoying and expensive antagonists we had. He operated along the line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad west of Washington, and also with a detachment between the Potomac and Rappahannock. My probings extended into the territory covered by him. I made a study of his tactics and was preparing to counteract him. His men were at home in the district; it was, in fact, their home. They were, or many of them were, farmers, who might be innocently tilling the soil as our scouting parties passed, but who, at Colonel Mosby's whistle, if the chance was propitious, would jump on horse and surprise us before long. Small bodies of troops were taken unawares. They never offered a front to large bodies; they would swoop down on a defenceless train, or destroy railroad bridges.
Mosby was a valuable asset to the Confederacy, worth many times Harry Gilmor's Raiders.
I think, without doubt, it took twenty or thirty thousand of our men to guard against his intermittent incursions.
Mosby was an educated man. An impression was abroad then that he was a barbarian; he was not. He was loyally doing for the South what I would have done for the North. I captured his foraging order, on one occasion and it opened my eyes for it was evidence of as civilized methods of war as was ever manifested. In this order he provided for payment for private property which he took.
I planned to organize a body of men to compete with Mosby, and I asked for a command to operate independently of district lines, or military commanders.
I had been locating Mosby's men (their homes), from all sorts of sources of information, preparing to capture them in detail. I was planning to take them at their disadvantage, when they were at the plough, and not when they were in the saddle. Here is part of my list so tabulated:
"Members of Mosby."
- Wm. Robinson,
- Wend Robinson,
- John Robinson—Three miles above Front Royal, on the Culpepper Pike. Father is a farmer.
- Geo. Reger—Black Rock below the Pike, with his brother, John Reger.
- Jack Downing—½ mile from Geo. Reger's on Black Rock, in a fine brick house.
- William Wright—Four miles below Front Royal, on the Linden Road, with his Grandmother, Luanda Wright.
- James Fold—Below Flint Hill, six or seven miles from Front Royal near the Pike. Father is a farmer.
- James Hawes—On Culpepper Pike, seven miles from Front Royal, is a laborer, lives in Mr. Gibson's house.
- Bresley Esom—Seven miles from Front Royal, one mile from Culpepper Pike.
- George Esom—Same place as Bresley.
- John Clark—Nine miles from Front Royal, to right of Culpepper Pike, on the mountain. Father is a farmer.
- John Maddox—Four miles from Front Royal on Hominy Road, is a farmer.
- George Leech—Three miles from Front Royal, on the Culpepper Pike. Shoemaker shop.
- James Bolton—Eight or nine miles from Front Royal, on Culpepper Pike, left hand side. Father is a blacksmith.
- James Anderson—Resides with Bolton.
- William Blackwell—Formerly on Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.