America’s Civil War: John Mosby and George Custer Clash in the Shenandoah Valley

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The peaceful stream and lush, rich soil of the fertile Shenandoah Valley in western Virginia had long been considered a paradise by its fortunate residents. Stretching Southwest from Harper’s Ferry in northern Virginia, nestled between the protective Allegheny Mountains on the west and the rolling Blue Ridge Mountains to the east, the Shenandoah was replete with prosperous farms, bountiful grain fields and fattened livestock.

Known fondly as ‘the Valley’ by its occupants, many of whom were peaceable Dunkers and Quakers who had migrated from Pennsylvania to share in the Valley’s prosperity. The first two years of the Civil War left the Shenandoah relatively untouched. With the exception of confederate Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson’s stirring 1862 Valley campaign, most of the fighting occurred to the east, on the other side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Fighting in the Valley had been comparatively more civilized; Union generals forbade the wanton destruction of property, and Southern civilians could successfully demand payment in gold for damages done to fence rails and farmland.

That changed dramatically in 1864 when a pair of brash, bold fighters squared off in the Shenandoah–Northern Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer and Confederate Partisan Ranger John Singleton Mosby. After them, the Valley would never be the same.

Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio, on December 5, 1839, to Emmanuel H. and Maria Ward Custer. Although his father was a farmer and blacksmith, soldiering had been in the family since Custer’s great-grandfather, a Hessian officer, served with Burgoyne at Saratoga. Custer yearned to be a soldier as well, and after an unimpressive stint at West Point during which he displayed a fondness for pranks, he graduated at the bottom of his class on June 24, 1861.

Custer arrived at the Civil War battle lines in time to participate in the first clash at Bull Run in July 1861, and over the next two years his audacity in action brought him increasing renown. But early 1864, he had achieved the rank of brigadier general–the youngest general in the Union Army–and been favorably noticed by his commander-in-chief, President Abraham Lincoln. At an official reception, Lincoln met Custer’s wife, Elizabeth, and exclaimed, ‘So this is the young woman whose husband goes into a charge with a whoop and a shout.’

Tall, thin and agile, Custer dominated those around him with his blue eyes, long golden hair and distinctive scarlet necktie. Although he hated to be bested by a foe and could be abrupt and impetuous in the heat of battle, his friends knew him to be personable and warm.

His opponent in the Valley was a gifted military leader in his own right, one whose perfection of guerrilla-style warfare would sorely test Custer. John Singleton Mosby was born December 6, 1833, in Edgemont, Va. An excellent student, Mosby joined the Virginia bar in 1855 after being dismissed from the University of Virginia for shooting and wounding a fellow student.

With the start of hostilities, Mosby enlisted in the cavalry and, like Custer, took part in the Bull Run campaign. After being attached to Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s staff, Mosby organized independent ranger operations in Virginia in early 1863, beginning with a unit of nine men. Mosby adapted quickly to this irregular form of warfare. After a skirmish, Mosby’s men returned to their own homes rather than to camp, agreeing to meet again at a future date and place. Each man acquired his own horse, arms and uniforms, but was entitled to share in whatever public or personal property was captured. Mosby was soon the only organized military force in northern Virginia, and so firmly ruled the area that it became known as ‘Mosby’s Confederacy.’

Medium in height with sharp features, Mosby generally wore a full, light beard which accented his deep gray eyes, bronzed face and yellow-brown hair. Studious and quiet by nature, he was about to be pitted against a man who was impetuous and loud. Opposites would meet on the common ground of the Shenandoah Valley.

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Tags: 19th Century, America's Civil War, American Civil War, Historical Conflicts

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