Mosby struck back with vengeance. On October 11, guerrillas ambushed and killed Lt. Col. Cornelius Tolles, Sheridan’s chief quartermaster, and Dr. Emil Ohlenschlager, Sheridan’s medical inspector.

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Federal retaliation swiftly came on October 13, when Union colonel William Powell ordered the execution of Ranger A.C. ‘Ag’ Willis. A small tree was forced over double, and a noose was put over young Willis’s head. Then methodically attached to the tree, the tree was released. Willis’s body shot up into the sky; he was dead before he returned to earth. Near the end of October, Mosby received word of the earlier executions of his men and decided to retaliate in kind, hoping to ensure proper treatment for any of his men captured in the future. He informed Lee that Custer hanged six of his men and ‘It is my purpose to hang an equal number of Custer’s men whenever I capture them.’ Lee approved the action and so reported to Confederate Secretary of War James A. Seddon, who responded that he ‘cordially approved’ the orders. A brutal military policy was now receiving ‘cordial’ civilian approval.

Mosby told his men to sort through prisoners until they gathered 27 of Custer’s men. Facing the captives, Mosby mentioned, ‘There is but one man I would rather see than you and that is your commander.’ When some of the prisoners declared they had nothing to do with the Front Royal executions, Mosby replied, ‘I can’t identify the particular men that put the ropes around the necks of my Rangers, but I have a little account to settle with General Custer anyway.

‘Twenty-seven pieces of paper were placed into a hat. Seven of the pieces had numbers scrawled on them, the rest were blank. Those who drew a blank would be sent to Richmond or Libby prison, while a scrap of paper bearing a number meant death. Each prisoner was forced to reach into the hat and draw out his own fate. Any man unfortunate enough to pull out a number was walked over to the side under special guard. One Ranger grotesquely greeted them by saying, ‘We’ll give you a chance to stretch hemp.’

Some soldiers begged for their lives or stared into space. Others lay their heads on the nearest shoulder and cried. One man muttered prayers until it was his turn to draw. With trembling hand, he grabbed a piece from the hat, forced himself to gaze at it, then exclaimed in relief, ‘By God! I knew it would be so.’ Another man near him, who had drawn a number, quietly asked a friend to ‘Tell my mother I died like a man.’

Mosby learned that one of the condemed was a youthful drummer boy and ordered him spared. That meant a second death lottery for the 20 remaining prisoners to determine the last victim. Following a tortuous repeat drawing, the seventh doomed man was added to the group.

A detail of Rangers took the condemned men down the Winchester Turnpike to Berryville, as close to Custer’s camp as possible. In the confusion of the dark rainy night, prisoner George Soule of the 5th Michigan Cavalry managed to escape after punching a guard. Three of Custer’s men were hanged along the side of the turnpike, but it took so long that the Rangers became uneasy. In the words of Union Sergeant Charles Marvin, who also escaped, the Rangers decided ‘to shoot the balance of us, as ‘this hanging is too damned slow work.” The remaining three Union soldiers were systematically lined up near their lifeless cohorts, where a revolver was pointed at each from point blank range and fired. Happily for Marvin, the gun aimed at him misfired, and in the momentary confusion he knocked over his guard and disappeared into the woods. The other two, although grievously wounded also survived.

Before leaving, Mosby’s men attached a sign to one of the bodies reading, ‘These men have been hung in retaliation for an equal number of Colonel Mosby’s men hung by order of General Custer, at Front Royal. Measure for measure.’

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