MOSBY, tritiz'bi, John Singleton, American lawyer and soldier: b. Edgemont, Powhatan County, Va., 6 Dec. 1833; d. Washington, 30 May 1916. He was graduated at the University of Virginia (1852), admitted to the bar (1855) and was practising law at Bristol, Va., when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted as private in the Confederate army and was later promoted adjutant of the 1st Virginia Cavalry. In two months' time, however, he was reduced to the ranks. Mosby, undaunted, then offered his services as scout to Gen. James E. B. Stuart, and in that capacity guided Stuart's cavalry in a desperate raid on McClellan's army on the Chickahorniny in June 1862. In 1863, after en during a short captivity, he went to Richmond and recruited an independent body of fighters which soon became famous under the name of Mosby's Partisan Rangers. This small cavalry command, of which he was colonel, became a terror to the Union troops and did much damage in cutting off means of communication and destroying supply trains, capturing outposts. etc. They adopted a guerrilla style of warfare and operated through Virginia and Maryland. Sub sequently his force was pressed into the regular Confederate army as the 43d battalion of Vir ginia cavalry, and served till the cessation of hostilities. His men were dispersed and con cealed when not engaged in raiding, and he had in force a perfect system of reassembling them at the shortest notice. At Chantilly (16 March 1863) he defeated a much larger force than his own. Probably his most brilliant exploit was the capture of Brigadier-General Stoughton, United States army, at Fairfax Courthouse, in the same month. To accomplish this he made a
raid inside the Federal lines. At Danesville (1 April 1863) he successfully defended himself against a force sent especially to capture him. He harassed the rear of Grant's army, in its advance on Fredericksburg, to such an extent that Grant was forced to send a special detail to protect his communications and supplies. One of Mosby's most important raids resulted in the capture of Sheridan 's entire supply train, which he surprised near Berryville.
Mosby was commissioned captain in March 1863, major two weeks later and colonel some time after that. His regiment was disbanded 21 April 1865, and he again took up the practice of law, settling at Warrenton, Va.
Mosby became a Republican after the War and supported General Grant for the presidency. it is said he originated the phrase •the solid South." He was United States consul to Hong kong 1878-85, afterward practised law in San Francisco, Cal., and was assistant in the De partment of Justice at Washington 1904-10. He delivered a lecture in Boston, on Stuart's Cavalry, in December 1886, which was after ward published in hook form and entitled
Reminiscences' (1:.:7). He also wrote
Dawn of the Real South' (1901). Consult Crawford, 'Mosby and His Men' (1867) ; Scott, J., (Partizan Life with Mosby' (1867) ; Williamson,