Sheridan was disturbed that his scouts had not provided him with better intelligence. Even though the scouts redeemed themselves by the precise information that they gave Sheridan as his army moved back to its winter line near Kernstown, he informally appointed Major Henry H. Young to his staff to serve as chief of scouts and answer directly to him.

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Sheridan became concerned by a rise in Confederate partisan activity, most notably by Mosby’s Rangers, led by John S. Mosby, who wiped out their primary Union antagonists, Blazer’s Independent Scouts, on November 18. Captain John Mobberly’s Confederate band was also causing trouble, and Major Harry Gilmor, Lieutenant Jesse McNeill, Captain George Stump and Charles Seibert were leading their irregular bands in West Virginia.

Major Young, Sergeant Joseph McCabe of the 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry and 40 scouts, guided by a local black man named Bob, surprised Seibert’s bushwhackers near Capon Springs on October 30. A series of running fights during the next few days resulted in the capture of Seibert and 17 of his followers.

Sheridan was so impressed with Young and McCabe’s venture that he had them reorganize the scouts. After the war, McCabe recalled: ‘I was ordered to take charge over the old men and organize as many men as I wanted. I picked out good men from different companies until I had about 60 men.’ Some scouts were left with the Cavalry Corps headquarters to work with that unit while others were assigned to different regiments, brigades and divisions. Confederate uniforms and suitable papers were part of the scouts’ day-to-day gear. Throughout the harsh winter of 1864-65, General Sheridan noted, ‘Not only did they bring me almost everyday intelligence from within Early’s lines but they also operated efficiently against the guerrillas infesting West Virginia.’

Some problems, however, developed among the scouts. When McCabe took a short furlough, Major Young assembled his largest detachment yet, 50 men including 15 scouts, to capture the Rebel picket line strung out from Edinburg, on the Valley Pike, seven miles to the west along Stony Creek to Columbia Furnace.

Without McCabe to assist him, Young made some mistakes–most of the troopers were inexperienced soldiers, and the expedition was launched in bitter cold weather on January 21, 1865. At sunup the next morning, Captain George Granstaff of the 12th Virginia Cavalry watched as Major Young and a few of his men brought forth a soldier’s corpse under a flag of truce, claiming they were bringing the body to a family in New Market. Granstaff accepted the body, gave Young a meal and then watched him leave. Shortly after, the scouts burst upon the line and captured 42 men, but Granstaff and many of his troopers managed to escape.

Young then led his force five miles north to Woodstock, where he unaccountably sat himself down to a leisurely breakfast. Meanwhile, a Woodstock resident saw Granstaff’s band, about 200 strong, approaching the village. The resident alerted scout Archibald Rowand Jr., but Rowand could not budge Young from his meal until shots and Rebel yells were ringing in the air.

Young’s men mounted and tried to flee, but outside the town the Union column was stampeded and a melee ensued. Young’s horse was shot out from under him, and the Rebels swarmed toward the dismounted major.

Scouts Rowand, Henry ‘Pony’ Chrisman and James Campbell rushed back to help. Campbell hoisted Young up behind him, and the four rode all the way to Fisher’s Hill before the Confederate pursuit halted. In a letter home, the shaken Rowand wrote: ‘We lost all of our prisoners. Eight scouts are gone, one known to be killed, three wounded, two mortally, and four captured, only one of the captured being dressed in full gray. Have heard he was shot after being taken.’ One of the captured, John Riley, broke free at Fisher’s Hill. In the 1890s, Rowand helped see that Campbell was awarded a Medal of Honor for saving Young.

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