Seeing the Civil War

Tag: 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion (Mosby’s Rangers)

Wikipedia says: The 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion, also known as Mosby’s Rangers, Mosby’s Raiders, or Mosby’s Men, was a battalion of partisan cavalry in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Noted for their lightning strike raids on Union targets and their ability to consistently elude pursuit, the Rangers disrupted Union communications and supply lines.

The 43rd Battalion was formed on June 10, 1863 at Rector’s Cross Roads, near Rectortown, Virginia, when John S. Mosby formed Company A of the battalion. He was acting under the authority of General Robert E. Lee, who had granted him permission to raise a company in January 1863 under the Partisan Ranger Act of 1862 in which the Confederate Congress authorized the formation of such units. By the summer of 1864, Mosby’s battalion had grown to six cavalry companies and one artillery company, comprising about 400 men. After February 1864, the Confederate Congress revoked the authority of all partisan units, except for two, one of which was the 43rd Battalion, the other being McNeill’s Rangers. The battalion never formally surrendered, but was disbanded on April 21, 1865, after Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House to Ulysses S. Grant but not before it had attempted to negotiate surrender with Major General Winfield S. Hancock in Millwood, Virginia.

Unit organization and muster

Company A – Organized June 10, 1863, at Rector’s Cross Roads, Rectortown, Virginia

Company B – Organized October 1, 1863, at Scuffleburg, Virginia, just south of Paris

Company C – Organized December 7, 1863, at Rectortown, Virginia

Company D – Organized March 28, 1864, at Paris, Virginia

Artillery Company – Organized July 4, 1864, at Paris, Virginia

Company E – Organized July 18, 1864, at Upperville, Virginia

Company F – Organized September 13, 1864, at Piedmont Station near Delaplane, Virginia

Company G – A reorganization of the Artillery Company, November 28, 1864, at Salem in Fauquier County, Virginia

Company H – Organized April 5, 1865, in Loudoun County, Virginia

43rd Battalion unit history

1863

The Chantilly Raids – January 5–6, 1863

The Chantilly Church Raid – January 26, 1863

The Herndon Raid – February 2, 1863

The Thompson’s Corner Raid – February 26, 1863

The Fight at Aldie – March 2, 1863

The Fairfax Court House Raid – March 8–9, 1863

The Miskell’s Farm Fight – April 1, 1863

The Warrenton Junction Raid – May 3, 1863

The First Catlett Station Raid – May 19, 1863

The Second Catlett Station Raid – May 30, 1863

The Raid on Seneca Mills – June 11, 1863

The First Calico Raid – June 19, 1863

The Raid on Mercersburg – June 28, 1863

The Fight at Gooding’s Tavern – August 24, 1863

The Cavalry Camp Raids – September/October, 1863

The Wagon Raids – October/November, 1863

1864

The Battle of Loudoun Heights – January 1864

The B&O Raid on Duffield Station – January, 1864

The Fight at Blackleys Grove – February 20, 1864

The Battle of 2nd Dranesville – February 21, 1864

The Second Calico Raid – July 3, 1864

The Action at Mount Zion Church – July 6, 1864

The Berryville Wagon Raid – August 13, 1864

The Raid on Merritt’s Cavalry Division – September, 1864

The Manassas Gap Railroad Raid – Oct 3–7, 1864

The Greenback Raid – October 14, 1864

The Valley Pike Raid – October 25, 1864

The Rout of Blazer’s Command – November 17, 1864

The total tally for the 43rd Battalion by October 1864 was 1,600 horses and mules, 230 beef cattle, 85 wagons and ambulances, and 1,200 captured, killed or wounded, including Union Brig. Gen. Edwin H. Stoughton who was captured in bed.

1865

The B&O Raid on Duffield Station II – January, 1865

The Fight at Mount Carmel Church – February 19, 1865

The Skirmish at Munson’s Hill – March 12, 1865

The Harmony Skirmish – March 21, 1865

The B&O Derailment Raid – March, 1865

On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the 43rd Battalion’s parent command, the Army of Northern Virginia. Immediately Colonel Mosby attempted negotiations with the Union commander in Winchester, Virginia, to arrange for the surrender of the 43rd Battalion, but could not come to terms. Instead of surrendering, Mosby’s command simply disbanded.

On April 21, twelve days after Lee’s surrender, Mosby gathered his battalion at Salem in Fauquier County, Virginia, and read this farewell address to his men:

Soldiers: I have summoned you together for the last time. The vision we have cherished for a free and independent country has vanished and that country is now the spoil of a conqueror. I disband your organization in preference to surrendering it to our enemies. I am no longer your commander. After an association of more than two eventful years I part from you with a just pride in the fame of your achievements and grateful recollections of your generous kindness to myself. And now at this moment of bidding you a final adieu accept the assurance of my unchanging confidence and regard. Farewell.

— Col. John S. Mosby, CSA, Commander, 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry

With no formal surrender, however, Union Major General Winfield S. Hancock offered a reward of $2,000 for Mosby’s capture, later raised to $5,000. On June 17, Mosby surrendered to Major General John Gregg in Lynchburg, Virginia.