Mosby did not wait long to greet the invaders. In the early morning mist of August 13, while a large Federal wagon train rested near Berryville, Va., a group of men approached out of the fog and started to set up two small cannon. None of the Northern guards paid much attention, figuring they must be friendly troops. Suddenly, the cannon blasted Federal wagons, decapitating a mule with one of the first shells and setting fire to a number of wagons. Mules still hitched to burning wagons ran in terror, dragging behind them roaring infernos.

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In an instant, gray-clad cavalry swooped in, yelling and shooting as they charged. It was over in a matter of minutes, with Mosby's victorious men capturing over 200 prisoners, 700 horses and mules, 200 cattle, and 100 supply wagons. In this manner, was Mosby serving notice that Federal troops had best be on guard in his personal territory.

Grant quickly responded to this stinging defeat by ordering Sheridan to send troops 'through Loudoun County, to destroy and carry off the crops, animals, Negroes, and all men under fifty years of age capable of bearing arms. In this way, you will get many of Mosby's men.' He also ordered Sheridan to hunt down the families of Mosby's men. 'I think they should be taken and kept at Fort McHenry, or some other secure place, as hostages for the good conduct of Mosby's men.' Grant then ominously added 'When any of Mosby's men are caught, hang them without trial.'

Three days later, Grant's orders were carried out when seven prisoners, thought to be Mosby's Rangers, were executed . Although Mosby denied they were his men, he was already making plans to retaliate.

Sheridan had been in the Shenandoah for less than two weeks, and already the Valley was witnessing a more vulgar form of warfare than it had ever seen.

Mosby heard reports that Custer, in particular, was pursuing his orders with a special vengeance, he blamed Custer personally for the seven executions. Mosby's men began calling Custer 'Attila the Hun,' and bitter feelings between Custer's men and Mosby's Confederate outfit quickly rose to a high pitch. In one action on August 18, Custer learned that a light at a local farmhouse had served as a signal for guerrillas; so Custer ordered it and all of the surrounding homes destroyed. As his men were setting fire to the elegant residences, a group of Mosby's men led by J. G. L. William Chapman charged from an overlooking ridge, splashed through the Shenandoah River, and smacked into Custer's outfit. Chapman exhorted his men to 'Wipe them from the face of the earth! No quarter! No quarter! Take no prisoners!'

Custer's squad was taken totally by surprise and fled in panic. A local woman watched as the Northern troops 'hid behind the burning ruins, they crouched in the corners of fences, they begged for life, but their day of grace was past.' One unfortunate young Northern soldier was taken prisoner and Chapman's men demanded he be executed for what his comrades had done. The young prisoner impressed his captors with the courage with which he faced death. One Ranger, John Scott, wrote, 'It was a solemn spectacle to see this brave young soldier kneel in the solitude of the mountain and pour forth a fervent prayer to the Great Father to pardon his sins…. The young man then rose slowly to his feet and tearing open his shirt, with unquailing eye received the fatal shot.'

Mosby's own report of the incident to Lee's headquarters mentioned that his men were so enraged at seeing Valley homes go up in smoke that 'no quarter was shown, and about 25 of them [Custer's men] were shot to death for their villainy. About 30 horses were brought off, but no prisoners.' Horses were taken, but prisoners were shown no mercy. Warfare in the beautiful Shenandoah was begetting its own form of ugliness. As a chaplain in the 1st Rhode Island Cavalry bluntly uttered, 'The time had fully come to peel this land.'

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