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America’s Civil War: John Mosby and George Custer Clash in the Shenandoah ValleyAmerica's Civil War | 2 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post
Mosby dispatched Scout John Russell to deliver a letter to Sheridan. The letter explained the executions were in retaliation for Custer’s and Powell’s acts and in the future, ‘any prisoners falling into my hands will be treated with the kindness due to their condition, unless some new act of barbarity shall compel me, reluctantly, to adopt a line of policy repugnant to humanity.’ Sheridan issued orders to leave Mosby’s men alone if they did not harass Union troops, and further hangings were avoided. Subscribe Today
Union devastation of the Shenandoah continued until Thanksgiving. Future combat shifted southward, out of the Valley, giving the battered Shenandoah time to replenish itself. But scars remained. A year later an English traveler compared the blackened Valley to a huge English moor. Years later a female resident, looking back at those days, wrote they were ‘indelibly photographed in my memory. I have often wished I could blot it out, for it clouded my childhood.’
For years, the fall of 1864 was known by Valley residents simply as ‘the Burning.’ The Civil War ultimately had departed the Valley, but it left behind permanent marks, physically on the land, and mentally on Shenandoah residents. As one Michigan trooper conceded, it was a ‘hard war.’ This article was written by John F. Wukovits and originally appeared in the March 2001 issue of America’s Civil War.
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            Tags: 19th Century, America's Civil War, American Civil War, Historical Conflicts
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2 Comments to “America’s Civil War: John Mosby and George Custer Clash in the Shenandoah Valley”
The author is incorrect in stating that Sheridan told his soldiers to leave Mosby’s men alone IF THEY DID NOT HARASS UNION TROOPS. That is plain nonsense. Mosby continued to “harass Union troops” with great success until he disbanded his command in April, 1865 after Appomattox.
Sheridan stopped any further such actions because he knew that Mosby caught far more of his men than he caught of Mosby’s and that the morale of his men – concerned about being captured anyway by Mosby – would suffer badly if they thought that their fate would be the rope or a bullet. Mosby was ready to fight under the black flag if that had been Sheridan’s desire but there can be no doubt that Mosby would have gotten the better of that battle and Sheridan knew it.
Interestingly enough, Sheridan sent a letter back to Mosby via Russell, the young scout Mosby had sent through the lines. Mosby’s letter to Sheridan is known among other reasons because he sent it to the newspapers so that his position was made as widely known as possible. However, Sheridan’s letter to Mosby has never been uncovered and published – at least to my knowledge. It is interesting to think what Sheridan said and why John Mosby never revealed it.
By Valerie Protopapas on Jul 16, 2009 at 6:35 pm