Herndon Station Raid:
Mosby's Men Who Took Part
As noted above, Mosby did not take the roll in every engagement. And in these early days, before Mosby's Command was formally constituted as the 43rd Battalion of Virginia Cavalry on June 10, 1863, there were no muster rolls in any event.
Ranger John DeButts who, with Mosby captured the men hiding in the sawmill in the Herndon raid. He was also the only ranger wounded in the raid.Sometime shortly after 1 pm on Tuesday, March 17th, 1863, Captain John Singleton Mosby led 40 men in a raid on the Union cavalry outpost at Herndon Station.
Who were these men? A small handful have been positively documented, because of specific roles they played in the raid. There are a larger number who can be pinpointed as probably having been part of this raid, simply because they were known to have been part of Mosby's Command at the time. Others,we can only guess at.
"I can't call the roll in every fight, Munson!"
-- John Singleton Mosby, as reported by Ranger John Munson in his memoirs, Reminiscences of a Mosby Guerrilla
Identifying the Participants:
A total of only six men, including Mosby himself, can be 100% confirmed as having been among the 40 men at Herndon, as these were the only ones specificially mentioned in any of the memoirs written by men of the command.
A further 22 probable participants have been identified on the basis of it being known that they were part of Mosby's command by this stage. This number includes the remaining men of the original 15 detailed from the First Virginia Cavalry (minus those already taken prisoner), and men who were known to be on the Fairfax Raid the week before, or who had taken part in earlier operations and were not seriously wounded or captured before this date. This gives us a total of 28 known or probable participants out of a total of 40 or 41 (depending on whether the total of 40 includes Mosby himself or not).
Seven more men can be guessed at based on their having been documented as participating in the fight at Miskell's Farm on April 1 -- in which the First Vermont attacked them, partially in retaliation for the Herndon Raid. And eigth man is mentioned in the command's actions of mid-April but not described as a new recruit, so he becomes another possibility for a Herndon raid participant.
All told, this gives us a maximum total of 37 out of 40 or 41 participants potentially identified. It is probable that we will never known the others. This was the week after the Fairfax Raid and capture of General Stoughton and Mosby's fame was starting to spread. It's probable that a number of local farmers and men on detail or furlough from other units took part, simply to get in on what was perceived as the fun.
"Mosby's Conglomerates":
The command was a hodgepodge -- with men coming into the unit from a variety of sources:
- Those remaining from the original detail of 15 men from the First Virginia Cavalry (some of whom had already been taken prisoner),
- Local men from Loudoun, Fauquier and Fairfax counties who were either too old or too young to be drafted,
- Others who exempt from the draft because their official residence was outside the Confederacy - e.g. residents of Maryland and the District of Columbia,
- Soldiers whose duties detailed them to the area, or who were home on furlough, including medical furlough
- Men whose original units were disbanded (e.g. Scott's Partisan Rangers, Wheat's Louisiana Tigers) or who had been captured and sent to prison and instead of returning to their original units decided to join Mosby.
- Men who had been officers in their original companies but had not been reelected int he April 1862 officer elections mandated by the conscription law.
Mosby dubbed them "Mosby's Conglomerates" and they were indeed a conglomeration -- but they rapidly became one of the most effective fighting forces in the Confederate army.
In addition to the above, a number of individuals rode a few raids with Mosby but never formally joined the command. the most significant units in this respect were Company H of the 4th Virginia Cavalry (Warrenton's famed "Black Horse Troop"), the 7th Virginia Cavalry (the legendary Turner Ashby's former command) and the 17th Virginia Infantry, Northern Virginia's local regiment comprised of men from Alexandria all the way to Warren County.
Major John Scott, author of the first history of Mosby's Rangers (1867) and himself a member of the 4th Virginia Cavalry, had this to say about the the Black Horse Troop:
"...the most abundant and useful course from which these temporary recruits are derived is from the members of the regular cavalry at home, on detail or furlough. Hence it is that members of the Black Horse Company, originally recruited from this county, have so often taken part in our expeditions, and are weaving their history into Mosby's career."
The Participants, as Identified:
Known Participants Actually Documented:
1. "Captain" John S Mosby**
2. John deButts**
3. John Underwood**
4. Dick Moran**
5. "Jake the Hungarian" (surname unknown)**
6. James "Big Yankee" Ames**Probable Participants, Documented as Having Been With Mosby's Command at the Time:
7. "Major" Hibbs*
8. William Keys (detailed from 1st VA)*
9. George (John?) Seibert (detailed from 1st VA) *
10. "Jimmy the Irishman" (detailed from 1st VA??) *
11. Joe Nelson*
12. Frank Williams*
13. Walter Frankland*
14. George Whitescarver*
15. William Thomas "Prince Georges Tom" Turner* (slightly wounded in the Aldie Mill fight 2 weeks before but probably in OK shape by this time
16. Welt Hatcher*
17. William Lyle Hunter (detailed from 1st VA)*
18. George Slater (detailed from 1st VA)*
19. Edward "Ned" Hurst (detailed from 1st VA)*
20. Christian Gall (detailed from 1st VA)*
21. Jasper Jones (detailed from 1st VA) *
22. William Jones (detailed from 1st VA) *
23. Daniel L. Thomas (detailed from 1st VA) *
24. James Greenlee (detailed from 1st VA) *
25. Peachy Taliaferro (detailed from 1st VA) *
26. George Martin (detailed from 1st VA) *
27. John Wild (on some lists as part of the original 1st Va. detail, although he'd left the regiment by then, however, he is documented as having been at Miskell's Farm on April 1 (see others below)*
28. Henry Furlong Carter (was in Aldie Mill raid 3/2)*Men Possibly With Mosby at Herndon, As They Are Documented as Having Been in the Fight At Miskell's Farm on April 1:
29. William Henry Chapman
30. Sam Chapman
31. ______Davis (Kentuckian, WIA at Miskell's d. a few days later)
32. Harry Hatcher -- was at Miskells may have been in area two weeks earlier, but wasn't on Fairfax raid the week before Herndon although his younger brother was
33. Richard Sowers
34. Robert Hart (member of Black Horse Troop, wounded at Miskell's Farm)
35. _________ Wellington (cited for bravery at Miskells)
36. Thomas Baynton "Kinloch Tom" Turner -- is documented as having been at Miskell's Farm. Was probably with the command before that, having been recommended by General Stuart and having probably served long enough to acquire a nickname. Four days after the Miskell's Farm fight, he was mortally wounded in action near Warrenton and died at home on April 29.Men Possibly with Mosby at Herndon, having Been Documented as With the Command by mid-April, With their Date of Joining Not Known:
37. Samuel Dushane - was in command at least by April 19 scout to Fairfax Courthouse, reported as having joined Mosby after Wheat's Louisiana Tigers disbanded in August, 1862, so COULD have been on Herndon Raid
(Note: Fountain Beattie, Mosby's best friend from the First Virginia was NOT there, as he was in the Old Capitol Prison, having been captured on February 26 in Middleburg. He was not paroled until March 29)
If you can assist in identifying any more of the Herndon Raid participants, please email us!
Visit MosbysRangers.comFor information on the event, contact:
Richard Downer: mosbysraid@HRIAssociates.com
(general information, logistics, civic involvement)
Kathryn Coombs: MosbyWeb@aol.com
(reenactors, living history program, website)