{"id":207514,"date":"2021-11-05T16:14:19","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T14:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/50-charley-dear\/"},"modified":"2021-11-05T16:14:19","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T14:14:19","slug":"50-charley-dear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/50-charley-dear\/","title":{"rendered":"50. Charley Dear"},"content":{"rendered":"

50. Charley Dear<\/strong>
\n\"Big
\nImage by Jim Surkamp<\/a><\/i>
\nMosby\u2019s Greenback Raid Jefferson County, WV Oct. 14, 1864 with Steve French
\nBy Jim Surkamp on November 18, 2018 in Civilian, Confederate, Jefferson County, Union, Wartime<\/p>\n

Made possible with the generous, community-minded support of American Public University System (apus.edu). The researched content of civilwarscholars.com is intended to encourage open-minded discussion with new eyes the past events upon which our lives today are standing in the hope of finding new useful insights for today. The varying content however does not in any way reflect the 21st century priorities and policies of the University and serve just to underscore the profound heritage of our community.<\/p>\n

1. DAILY EXAMINER, Richmond, Virginia, October 18, 1864
\n2. Book Cover Rebel Chronicles.jpeg<\/p>\n

2a. Quincy’s Siding.jpeg<\/p>\n

3. Montage Mt. Pleasant Google Maps.jpeg<\/p>\n

FRENCH:
\nHi, I\u2019m Steve French. We\u2019re here at the site of one of the most famous passenger train robberies in, not only Civil War history, but also in American history. This is the site of (John Singleton) Mosby\u2019s famous Greenback Raid, which occurred in the early morning hours of October 14th 1864,<\/p>\n

4. Charles_Aglionby .jpeg<\/p>\n

About one mile west of present-day Bardane, West Virginia (called Brown\u2019s Shop then), and just beyond Quincy\u2019s Siding which is positively identified in all the B&O reports of this incident.<\/p>\n

5. Gathering Autumn Leaves by Jervis McEntee.jpeg<\/p>\n

October 14 \u2013 The Express Train, West, was thrown off the track at Quincy\u2019s Siding, and the entire train, consisting of one express, one baggage, five passenger, and one sleeping car, was burnt. The Express train, East, was warned of the danger, and returned to Martinsburg. Cars were sent promptly, and the passengers from the destroyed train taken forward.<\/p>\n

EARLIER THAT DAY ON THE NEARBY AGLIONBY FARM:<\/p>\n

6. Planting corn The Iowa Agriculturalist .jpeg<\/p>\n

7. Winslow Homer the pumpkin patch 1877.jpeg<\/p>\n

8. D. S. Rentch 1821-1918 Shepherdstown Register April 18,1918.jpeg<\/p>\n

At the close of the day at his nearby farm on October 13th, 1864, Charles Algionby recorded how that pleasant but windy day that the men deed in the corn rows on two fields, his (Homer) sons carted pumpkins out of the field, leaving the green ones for the hogs; they loaded up<\/p>\n

9. striped linsey i.pinimg.com.jpeg<\/p>\n

10. MacRae flannel bnbtart.com.jpeg<\/p>\n

Mr. Rentch\u2019s wagon with wool, striped linsey and flannel for his store in Shepherdstown.<\/p>\n

THE GREENBACK RAID WITH STEVE FRENCH AND JOHN S. MOSBY:<\/p>\n

11. Montage Map by L. Jacobi B&O line.jpeg<\/p>\n

FRENCH:
\nLate on the night of October 13th, the B&O Express West left Baltimore bound for Wheeling, West Virginia. There were about 200 passengers on board, which included 27 soldiers going back to their post in Martinsburg and Cumberland and also about sixty German immigrants headed West.<\/p>\n

12. \u201cBrown\u2019s Shop\u201d on map of Jefferson County, West Virginia \u2013 loc.gov.<\/p>\n

The train made real good time, and as reported by one of the passengers on board it passed Brown\u2019s Shop at 2:30 AM. He looked down at his watch it was 2:30 AM and, just a few moments later, they crashed into the side of this railroad cut (just over my right shoulder).<\/p>\n

It was complete bedlam \u2013 people on the train hollering: \u201cguerillas! guerillas!\u201d \u2013 shots fired into the car. The rail had been taken up by Mosby and his men earlier that night \u2013 supposedly to guide the locomotive into the bank and then slide along the bank. However, the locomotive crashed, exploded and killed the engineer, Elijah Collins. Mosby\u2019s men dropped on to the track and then burst into the cars.<\/p>\n

13. Engine "Government" [Commodore?] down the "banks" near Brandy, April 1864.
\n14. Montage 3D Topo Map of Greenback Raid.jpeg<\/p>\n

MOSBY:<\/p>\n

15. John S. Mosby head shot.jpeg<\/p>\n

It was a lovely night, bright and clear with a big jack frost on the ground. I believe I was the only member of my command who went through the war without a watch but, all of my men had watches and we knew it would not be long before the train would be due. We had ridden all day and were tired and sleepy. So we were soon and soon were peacefully dreamin\u2019. I laid my head in the lap of one of my men Curg Hutchinson and fell asleep.<\/p>\n

16. John S.Mosby loc.gov.jpeg<\/p>\n

FRENCH:
\nNow how did Mosby get here? On October the 12th, he had started this way after receiving information from one of his scouts Jim Wiltshire that there was a gap in the picket line nearby and it would be a good opportunity to stop one of these trains and interrupt Sheridan\u2019s means of communication. Now Sheridan and his army was at that time were camped around Middletown, Virginia. But he relied on this line to bring him supplies and bring him his troops. This night the B&O was also bringing him 3,000 to pay some of his troops.<\/p>\n

Mosby, at this time, had been injured. He had been injured earlier that day in a fight near The Plains, Virginia, when his horse fell during a fight, rolled on him and injured his ankle. That was October 11th. But the next day, October 12th, he decided to head this way. He took eighty-four of his men and headed from Middleburg westward towards Bunker Hill, West Virginia.<\/p>\n

17. James G. Wiltshire.jpeg<\/p>\n

17a. Mosby’s Illust. London News.jpeg<\/p>\n

17b. Wiltshire lived nearby.jpeg<\/p>\n

18. Sheridan and his generals NARA .jpeg
\n18a. Sheridan and his generals NARA close up.jpeg<\/p>\n

He also sent Capt. William Chapman, with another battalion of men farther east in the area of Point of Rocks to intercept one of the trains there. Now, Mosby had a time schedule. He knew what time the train would be coming by here. During the day of the 13th, he was going to spend a lot of time with his men along the Martinsburg-Winchester Turnpike (what we call, usually, the Valley Pike or Route 11). They were intercepting riders and couriers during that day even killed a few Union soldiers and captured a few civilians.<\/p>\n

19. Sheridan relied on this line.jpeg<\/p>\n

20. French Curg Hutchinson at 2nd Reunion August 14, 1895<\/p>\n

21. Montage William Chapman Map by Jacobi.jpeg<\/p>\n

In Martinsburg, Brigadier-General William Seward, the son of the Secretary of State, received reports that Mosby was in the area. One of his soldiers said that he recognized Mosby and that he had his foot bound up. Seward also contacted Brigadier-General John Stevenson at Harper\u2019s Ferry and alerted him to the fact that Mosby was in the area.<\/p>\n

22. The Valley-Turnpike-Photo-of-Macadamized.jpeg<\/p>\n

23. Montage Seward, Stevenson & Martinsburg, Map.jpeg<\/p>\n

That evening \u2013 the evening of the 13th \u2013 they headed this way. After dark \u2013 probably around eleven or twelve o\u2019clock \u2013 they reached the woods just to the south of here. Left some men behind with the horses and came over here. Now, Mosby was probably on horseback at the time. <\/p>\n

25. (no 24). men using levers on rails loc.gov
\n26. rails on ties loc.gov
\nBut they would take position along this bank and some of the men took out a rail on the outside of the line so the train would slide right into the bank. However, as I said, it would crash.<\/p>\n

27. It would crash Millers Vol. 2 p. 37<\/p>\n

The men \u2013 it was probably around midnight a little bit after \u2013 they knew the train was coming along. The men went to sleep. Mosby even said he put his head in one of his men\u2019s lap and dozed off.<\/p>\n

28. Montage John Alexander & Starry Night Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Millet<\/p>\n

29. Montage RR tracks Alexander<\/p>\n

we went to work on the track, and soon had one side of it so elevated on fence rails and old ties as to insure the upsetting of the engine when it should come to that point. Then we laid along the bank and waited for things to happen.<\/p>\n

30. Winslow Homer campfire<\/p>\n

31. Men sleeping by Walton Taber<\/p>\n

Some of the boys, perhaps most of them, soon fell asleep, but \u201ctired Nature\u2019s sweet restorer\u201d was not for me that night.<\/p>\n

32. Spirits in fog.jpeg
\n33. train in foggy distance – Paul Neglia.jpeg<\/p>\n

The lights and sounds from a neighboring camp first interested me, and then my imagination ran riot. Anticipations of what was certain to happen, and pictures of what might happen, in the next half hour, set my nerves tingling.<\/p>\n

34. John Alexander (younger) – Williamson, p. 471<\/p>\n

PAUSE<\/p>\n

It is not a pleasant thing to lie calmly under the stars and contemplate the usual contingencies of a straight fight. But the possible horrors of a railroad wreck, and the sufferings of women, and children, and, not improbably, the presence of a carload of infantry, took such tangible shapes in my meditations as to give me a very bad half hour.<\/p>\n

Presently I heard the train coming and I hurried around waking up the boys. I then went back to my place and watched and listened to the thumping of my heart. Nearer and louder came the sounds and quicker beat my pulses. Directly the headlight of the engine shot around a curve not far off, and as the engine rushed almost under me, it seemed, my heart well-nigh choked me. And then there was a tremendous thump and the shriek of the steam and the sound of a single shot and then \u2014 \u201cthe deluge.\u201d
\nAlexander, pp. 108-109.<\/p>\n

35. Mosby headshot loc.gov (same as No. 15).<\/p>\n

MOSBY:
\nThen I was aroused and astounded by an explosion and crash. The catastrophe came so suddenly that my men at first seemed to be stunned and bewildered. A good description of the scene could be found in Dante\u2019s Inferno (1:53), because as we had displaced the rails, the engine had run off the track, the boiler had burst and was filled with red hot cinders and escaping steam. <\/p>\n

36a. (no 36) women passengers on board Scott, p. 337.jpg<\/p>\n

Above all could be heard the screams of the passengers, especially the women. p. 314.<\/p>\n

ALEXANDER:
\n37. Alexander the younger.jpeg<\/p>\n

\u201cBoard her, boys !\u201d rang out the Colonel\u2019s crisp, steady tones. That brought me back to sense and braced me. The conductor of the train seemed to take in the situation more promptly than any of us, and never for a moment lost his nerve. He jumped off between his train and us, swinging a lighted lantern, and cried out that he surrendered the train. Down the bank we rushed. p. 109.<\/p>\n

FRENCH:
\nJohn Alexander, who was a young man who later wrote a book about his experience with Mosby, said he couldn\u2019t sleep because he was just visualizing crashing a train. He knew passengers are going to be aboard the train and it could cause a large loss of life. About 2:30 of course, as I say, the train\u2019s coming this way. Alexander describes it as it makes the curve and comes into view. He said that when it got here it just thundered past and all of the sudden, there was a crash. He said the men were falling out of the steam almost like apparitions and (also) boarding the train.<\/p>\n

As I ran up the steps on the platform of a coach, a tall Ranger was standing with his pistol, poked through the door ajar, calling on somebody to surrender. Being short and slim, I slipped under his arm and jumped in. On the first seat sat a soldier with a lady beside him, who, as I stopped, assured me that her \u201chusband was a sick man.\u201d <\/p>\n

38. portly man Strother Harpers Aug, 1856.jpg
\n39. gold pocket watch wikimedia commons.jpg<\/p>\n

Just behind them sat a gentleman, across whose portliness stretched a gold watch chain. He must have noticed that it fascinated my gaze, for he promptly presented it to me, without detaching from it a beautiful gold watch. Of course I could not accept such munificence without some inquiry into the condition of his finances. The generous old man responded to this with the offer of his pocket-book, <\/p>\n

40. hand taking gold watch chain.jpg
\nbut I had barely noticed its plump appearance, when a long lank arm reached over my shoulder and appropriated what my modesty might have declined. By this time the boys were crowding into the car.<\/p>\n

41. Montage John Alexander and Scott p. 337 (repeats).jpg<\/p>\n

FRENCH:<\/p>\n

42. Charles Henry Dear findagrave.com George Seitz.jpg
\n43. James G. Wiltshire.jpeg
\nCharley Dear, one of the scouts, and Jim Wiltshire, hurriedly went into the cars. Wiltshire went into one, Dear another. Dear shot a Union soldier who got up.
\nAnd, once again it was complete bedlam, as the Rangers, not only are looking for payrolls \u2013 there was a safe on board with ,000 in as express). The whole train consisted of five passenger cars, a sleeper, a baggage car and an Adams Express car, a little bit like a UPS service. It would transport money.<\/p>\n

44. the Adams Express.jpeg<\/p>\n

Even that night it was transporting one dead body, a soldier, back home. A lot of confusion. The men on the train trying to give their valuables to women, because
\nthe Confederates would seldom bother or steal from women. <\/p>\n

45. Sallie Martin B&0 Magazine May, 1936.jpeg<\/p>\n

One girl from Martinsburg we\u2019ll talk a little bit about \u2013 one 12-year-old Sallie Martin. She had been with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore that day. As soon as the Confederates got on board, her uncle handed her his expensive timepiece. She was able to save it even though she was twirling it around on her finger. The Confederates didn\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n

MOSBY:<\/p>\n

46. Private J. West Aldridge Alexander p. n128.jpg
\nTwo of my men, Charlie Dear and West Aldridge, came to me and reported that they had two U.S. Paymasters with their satchels of greenbacks pp. 316-317.<\/p>\n

47. 1863 Greenback Abraham Lincoln .jpg
\n48. Scott, p. 337.jpg
\nFRENCH:
\nDear and another Ranger went back to check on some of the Union soldiers, and they discovered a satchel and a box. They didn\u2019t know what was in it. They took it outside and found that it was money, filled with uncut Greenbacks or paper money. This was to pay the troops in Martinsburg and other of Sheridan\u2019s troops. This was a big haul. They\u2019d take it out. Show it to Mosby. Now remember these people were partisan rangers, and partisan rangers could keep anything that they captured, and if it was arms, or equipment or horses, they could sell it back to the Confederate government or keep it for themselves.<\/p>\n

49. Illus. London News 1865.jpg
\n50. Charley Dear.jpg
\n51. Charles Grogan Maryland Hist. Society.jpg<\/p>\n

So Mosby knew this was a good pay day for the troops \u2013 his 84 men. He picked four men out including Dear and Lt. Grogan and he sent them back across the Blue Ridge with that money to a place called Bloomfield.<\/p>\n

Mosby, who was using a cane after his recent hip injury, and as he supervised the plundering from the hillside, maintained that he wasn\u2019t following closely the possible taking of personal valuables from the passengers. He later wrote of the raid: \u201cWhether my men got anything in the shape of pocketbooks, watches, or other valuable articles, I never inquired, and I was too busy attending to the destroying of the train to see whether they did. p. 317.<\/p>\n

52. sleeping car for men.jpg<\/p>\n

FRENCH:<\/p>\n

The men especially in the sleeper car lost almost everything because they didn\u2019t have time to hide their valuables. Some of the men, who were in the cars, were taken out into the woods. First they thought, that they were going to be \u2013 maybe \u2013 even shot. <\/p>\n

53. men strip Scott, p. 402.jpg<\/p>\n

But the rangers took them out there, made them strip completely, and then they took what they wanted from them. Sometimes they took their pants and so on.<\/p>\n

54. Montage Kearneysville train station Taylor Sketchbook, p. 205.jpeg<\/p>\n

Even after this was over, these men, rather than getting back on the train in front of the women without much of their clothes, decided they\u2019d walk on to Kearneysville and try to find some clothes there.<\/p>\n

55. Mosby with sword full loc.gov.jpg
\n56. Woman drawing Partisan Life with Mosby, p. 332.jpg<\/p>\n

While all this is going on, Mosby is standing on the back bank. Women are coming up and asking him for favors. One said: \u201cMy father\u2019s a Mason,\u201d trying to get some help from Mosby in that way. Mosby said \u201cI don\u2019t care. You have to get out of here.\u201d On board the train, women especially were asking for protection.<\/p>\n

57. Mosby headshot loc.gov .jpg
\n58. man with torch woman with child Scott p. 331 .jpg<\/p>\n

". . . I want to emphacize that no women were hurt during this time. I believe Alexander said in his memoirs that he told a few of the women on the train there that they didn\u2019t have to worry, (that) they were Southern gentlemen and that they had the most beautiful in the South, and these women on the train didn\u2019t have to worry.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s complete bedlam. It\u2019s going to last forty-five minutes.<\/p>\n

MOSBY:
\nIt did not take long to pull out the passengers. While all this was goin\u2019 on I stood on the bank giving directions to the men, and one of them reported to me that <\/p>\n

59. Fashion German 1860s on train.jpg<\/p>\n

a car was filled with Germans and they would not come out I told him: \u201cSet fire to the car and burn the Dutch (deutsch) out, if they would not come out.\u201d <\/p>\n

60. The New York Herald wikipedia.org.jpg<\/p>\n

There were a lot of New York Heralds on the train for Sheridan\u2019s army. So my men circulated the papers through the train and applied matches. pp. 315.<\/p>\n

61. Henry Cabell Maddux .jpg<\/p>\n

Cab Maddux . . came dashing up and cried that the Yankees were coming. I immediately gave orders to mount up quickly and form. One was sent to find out if the report was true. He soon came back and said it was not. The menthen dismounted and went to work again. I was very mad at Cab for almost creatin\u2019 a stampede and told him I had a good mind to have him shot. Cab was quick-witted, but seeing how angry I was, said nothing then. . . . Years afterward, Cab confessed why he gave the false alarm. He said he heard (p. 317) the noise the train made when it ran off the track and knew the men were gathering the spoils and did not think it was fair for him to be away picketing for their benefit.<\/p>\n

Suddenly there was a grand illumination. The Germans now took in the situation and came tumbling out in a pile out of the flames. They ought not to blame me but Sheridan. It was his business not mine to protect them.
\np. 316.<\/p>\n

62. Montage Sallie Martin, drum and beaver hat.jpg<\/p>\n

FRENCH:
\nSallie Martin about this time is getting off the train, but she\u2019s having a problem. She\u2019s bought a big beaver hat that day for herself and also two drums, and she\u2019s trying to get off the train. She can\u2019t do it. One of Mosby\u2019s men comes to her and says: \u201cSis I\u2019ll help ya.\u201d So he picks her up and he takes her over here on the bank, puts her down and he tells her: \u201cI know it\u2019s cold, but it\u2019s going to be warm pretty soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

MOSBY:
\nWe left all the civilians, including the ladies to keep warm by the burning cars, pp. 317-318.<\/p>\n

FRENCH:<\/p>\n

63. Jim Surkamp wooded bank .jpg
\nNow they\u2019re twenty-seven soldiers on board and some of these are going to be taken captive, including the two paymasters on board \u2013 Major Ruggles and Major Moore. They\u2019re lined up and one of the soldiers says to his sergeant: \u201cI\u2019m afraid they\u2019re going to shoot us.\u201d And he replied: \u201cDon\u2019t worry they haven\u2019t gone that far yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

64. Montage Centralia Massacre.jpg<\/p>\n

Now, remember, a month before in Centralia, Missouri \u2013 Bill Anderson, Jesse James and others got over twenty soldiers off of a train there at the station and shot and killed all but one. So that\u2019s what this soldier was thinking about. Maybe they were going to be in that type of situation.<\/p>\n

MOSBY:
\n65. beaverskin great coat hat boots pinterest.jpg<\/p>\n

The soldiers were taken with us as prisoners. Among the latter was a young German lieutenant who had just received a commission and was on his way to join his regiment in Sheridan\u2019s army. He was dressed in a fine beaver-cloth overcoat; high boots, and a new hat with gilt cord and tassel. After we were pretty well acquainted, I said to him, \u201cWe have done you no harm. Why did you come over here to fight us?\u201d \u201cOh,\u201d he said, \u201cI only come to learn de art of war.\u201d I then left him and rode to the head of the column.<\/p>\n

66. Montage Mosby German talk.jpg<\/p>\n

It was not long before the German came trotting up to join me. There had been such a metamorphosis that I scarcely recognized him. One of my men had exchanged his old clothes with him for his new ones, and he complained about it. I asked him if he had not told me that he came to Virginia to learn the art of war. \u201cYes,\u201d he replied. \u201cVery well,\u201d I said, \u201cthis is your first lesson.\u201d p. 318.<\/p>\n

FRENCH:<\/p>\n

67. Steve French.jpg
\nSo, once again, it takes forty minutes to an hour to complete.<\/p>\n

The Rangers mount up with their plunder. A few of them shout to the women over here on the bank. \u201cWe have room for you if you want to go south with us.\u201d But they have no takers. And they disappear into the night. Here are the passengers. It\u2019s very cold, but the fire has started. And pretty soon the whole train is going to be consumed, including the money on board, the ,000 that was headed to a bank in Cumberland.<\/p>\n

68. pop pop.jpg<\/p>\n

Suddenly, they hear all this \u201cpop, pop, pop, pop, pop.\u201d And soon the smell of oysters. They could smell oysters. Sallie Martin \u2013 almost 72 years later \u2013 she was talking to a reporter for the B&O Magazine \u2013 and she said how vividly she remembered how good oysters tasted with some soda crackers she had bought in Baltimore earlier that day.<\/p>\n

69. London Illustrated News loc.gov.jpeg<\/p>\n

STEVE FRENCH:
\nThe next morning a train comes from Martinsburg and picks the the passengers up and takes them back. Back to Mosby, they\u2019re headed east across the Blue Ridge. By this time Union General Stevenson in Harpers Ferry has sent men out to capture him (Mosby) and also General Stuart, but he (Mosby) is able to escape.<\/p>\n

70. Montage Their mettle was up.jpg<\/p>\n

MOSBY:
\nMy men had had an easy time capturing the train, and, although they were not indifferent to greenbacks, their mettle was up when they heard that \u201cOld Blaze\u201d, was about. They were eager for a fight in which they could win more laurels. It was not long before we struck Blazer\u2019s trail and saw his camp fires where he had spent the night. I could no longer restrain the men \u2014 they rushed into the camp \u201cas reapers descend to the harvests of death.\u201d p. 319<\/p>\n

We crossed the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge before noon and found Grogan\u2019s party with the greenbacks waiting for us at the appointed place in Loudoun County. The men were ordered to dismount and fall in line, and three were appointed \u2014 Charlie Hall, Mountjoy, and Fount Beattie \u2014 to open the satchels and count the money in their presence. I ordered it to be divided equally among them and no distinction be made between officers and men. Of course, the motive of the act was to stimulate enterprise. p. 320.<\/p>\n

FRENCH
\nThey will reach Bloomfield and there Mosby will set up a division of the money. OK. Each man will get a little over two thousand dollars in greenbacks. A big haul. You could say that today that might equate to sixty, eighty thousand dollars in purchasing power.<\/p>\n

71. Montage Littleton.jpg<\/p>\n

JIM SURKAMP
\nJames Thomas Littleton, whose family lived at the Snow Hill Farm about three miles away, got family help in making his ,000 share of paper money look less new.<\/p>\n

Ada Littleton Tavenner, who was a little girl in 1864, recounted how her brother, Jimmy Littleton, was with Mosby when the payroll train was robbed. All the girls, her parents and Jimmy went down into the dirt cellar at night with lanterns, and there for several hours crimped and shuffled the new money, and rubbed it with dirt and grime to make it appear old and used.<\/p>\n

FRENCH
\nMosby, however, refuses to take one cent. He was a great student of ancient history, and he always told the men and other people he fought for glory, not for spoils \u2013 just like Achilles and people like that back in the days of ancient Greece and Rome.<\/p>\n

72. John Alexander in later years.jpg<\/p>\n

Alexander later recalled of the incident: No sort of solicitations from his men could induce him to take a share. His emphatic response was that he was fighting for glory, not for spoils. I have always wondered what he took us for? But so sensitive on this point was he, that he would not even permit Mrs. Mosby to accept a purse of gold which the boys subsequently made up and tendered her.<\/p>\n

FRENCH:
\nSo he doesn\u2019t take any money, but later those men will take up a collection and they will purchase a horse, but they\u2019ll give it to his wife. Then, she will give it to him, and that\u2019s the way he will take it.<\/p>\n

73. Berryville Wagon Raid The Museum of the Confederacy, photography by Katherine Wetzel.jpg<\/p>\n

MOSBY LATER SAVES THE FORMER PAYMASTER FROM BEING SUED<\/p>\n

74. Title Edward Moore and stolen money.jpg
\n75. French Aaron Buron dies<\/p>\n

AARON BURTON DIES:<\/p>\n

On Monday, December 22nd 1902 in Brooklyn, NY a news article, was reported across the nation including the Kansas City Star in Missouri. It read:<\/p>\n

He was Mosby\u2019s bodyguard<\/p>\n

The death of nenogenarian Negro Aaron Burton in Brooklyn. The Funeral of Aaron Burton, the negro bodyguard of Colonel John S. Mosby, the Confederate cavalry leader, was conducted yesterday at the home of his daughter. Burton, who was more than ninety years old had lived in Brooklyn for seven years. He was born in Charlottesville, Va. and belonged to Miss Jennie McGaran, who became the wife of Col. Mosby. In the Civil War Col. Mosby placed the utmost confidence in his bodyguard and frequently sent him on important missions. In his later life the colored man who not forgotten by his old master, who frequently sent him checks. \u201cFather\u201d Burton as he was known among the Brooklyn acquaintances, leaves four daughters and two sons.<\/p>\n

He Was Mosby\u2019s Bodyguard. The Death of a Nenogenarian Negro, Aaron Burton, in Brooklyn
\nNew-York tribune., December 23, 1902, Page 9, Image 9
\nchroniclingamerica.loc.gov 3 June 2008 Web. 23 October 2017.<\/p>\n

After the War, always guided by logic with lawyerly precision and independence, he sought out the company of Sam Chapman to whom he wrote his thoughts and visited like minded old warriors such as William Edward Hitchcock McDonald at Media Farm near Charles Town, Wv.<\/p>\n

76. Mosby Memoirs, p. 398.jpg
\n77. Major Edward Allen Hitchcock McDonald.jpg
\n78. Sam Chapmen during the war.jpg<\/p>\n

79. Mosby and Sam Chapman later years.jpg<\/p>\n

MOSBY:
\nI wrote you about my disgust at reading the Reunion speeches. It has since been increased by reading Christian\u2019s report. I am certainly glad I wasn\u2019t there. According to Christian, the Virginia people were the abolitionists and the Northern people were pro-slavery. He says slavery was \u2018a patriarchal\u2019 institution. So were polygamy and circumcision. Ask Hugh if he has been circumcised.<\/p>\n

80. Reunion Williamson, p. 500. .jpg
\n81. George L. Christian.jpg
\n82. James M. Mason drafted the 2nd Fugitive Slave Act.jpg
\n83. Andrew Hunter John Brown prosecutor.jpg
\n84. Henry Wise Governor of Virginia 1859.jpg<\/p>\n

Christian quotes what the Old Virginians said against slavery. True; but why didn\u2019t he quote what the modern Virginians said in favor of it? Mason, Hunter, Wise, etc. Why didn\u2019t he state that a Virginia senator, Mason, was the author of the Fugitive Slave Law, and why didn\u2019t he quote The Virginia Code that made it a crime to speak against slavery?<\/p>\n

Now while I think as badly of slavery as Horace Greeley did, I am not ashamed that my family were slaveholders. It was our inheritance.<\/p>\n

The South went to war on account of slavery. South Carolina went to war, as she said in her secession proclamation, because slavery would not be secure under Lincoln. South Carolina ought to know what was the cause for her seceding. The truth is the modern Virginians departed from the teachings of the Father\u2019s.<\/p>\n

85. Mosby letter to Sam Chapman TITLE.jpg<\/p>\n

I am not ashamed of having fought on the side of slavery, a soldier fights for his country, right or wrong, he is not responsible for the political merits of the course he fights in. The South was my country.<\/p>\n

86. Portrait Mosby’s Memoirs p. 318 by W. O. Beck.jpg
\n87. Julia Davis with McDonald Grand Parents.jpg
\n88. Julia Davis Adams.jpg
\n90. Media Farm near Charles town, WV.jpg<\/p>\n

91. Mosby & McDonald.jpg<\/p>\n

They just sat on the porch in comfortable rocking chairs and reminisced, . . . We always served them juleps, you know, with company, yes we\u2019d have juleps, especially if it was an old Confederate. I mean that was obviously the thing. Grandfather was one of the leaders. I remember Mosby very distinctly because he was so a particular enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

92. Julia Davis age nine .jpg<\/p>\n

When I was about eleven which was shortly before he died. He said he had fought from First Manassas to Appomattox,<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t quite finish telling you what grandfather said about the war. He said he had to fight the way he did because he couldn\u2019t fight his own people, because in those days, you were much more a Virginian than you were a United States person. After all, Virginia had been here for 150 years before there was a . . . and the states were very conscious of their own governments still.<\/p>\n

93. Major E. H. McDonald.jpg<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t approve of slavery and said he would never own a slave and he also didn\u2019t approve of secession. He argued about that with this father a great deal. Then he told me he had to fight the way he did because he couldn\u2019t have fought his own people.<\/p>\n

94. Wm E.H. McDonald and Julia Davis.jpg<\/p>\n

BUT, he said, you must always be VERY glad we didn\u2019t win! So he took the whole thing off the top of my head there and I went away to boarding school and I\u2019d never have to be \u201ca Southerner\u201d you know and stand up for the Confederacy . . .<\/p>\n

He was a very intelligent man.<\/p>\n

95. tombstone of Wm E.H. McDonald Zion Episcopal churchyard.jpg
\n96. Mosby dies May 30, 1916.jpg
\n97. Monument for Mosby.jpg<\/p>\n

\nThis Big Seven<\/em> image was automatically curated and published with WP Robot<\/a> plugin – CLICK HERE<\/a> to learn more about WP Robot for WordPress<\/a> – a massive time and money saver.<\/p>\n

Visit the MyPE YouTube Channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

50. Charley Dear Image by Jim Surkamp Mosby\u2019s Greenback Raid Jefferson County, WV Oct. 14, 1864 with Steve French By Jim Surkamp on November 18, 2018 in Civilian, Confederate, Jefferson County, Union, Wartime Made possible with the generous, community-minded support of American Public University System (apus.edu). The researched content of civilwarscholars.com is intended to encourage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9014],"tags":[42408,4772],"class_list":{"0":"post-207514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-images","7":"tag-charley","8":"tag-dear","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207514\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}