Pvt. John Horace "Jack" Barnes, Jr., Co. A,
b. 1832, in Maryland, son of John Sr. and Sarah Barnes
m. Mary Isabella. Fox, 6 children
d. October, 1897, in Washington DC, buried in Fairfax Cemetery, Fairfax County
"The Celebrated Guerrilla, Jack Barnes"
-- Barnes as described in Federal reports, documenting his capture.
Maryland-born Jack Barnes moved to Fairfax County as a child of 6, when his parents bought "Hope Park" plantation, southeast of Fairfax Courthouse on Pope's Head Road.
By 1859 young Jack was Deputy Sheriff of Fairfax County, having served as constable in 1857-59, while also helping to work the family farm and operate the family's mill.
On April 25, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company D of the 17th Virginia Infantry, the Fairfax Rifles, along with his younger brother Samuel and elder brother William, the latter being the 1st lieutentant of the company. His brother in law, Frank Fox, also served with him in the 17th and was later also to become a Mosby Ranger.
In May of 1861, he was promoted to corporal. A few weeks later, he was captured near Fairfax Courthouse and sent to the Old Capitol Prison. A little over a week after his imprisonment, he was sent to a Federal hospital, recorded as suffering from "rubeola" (rubella?). After being captured, his company listed him as captured in July but in December listed him as AWOL. This was either a clerical error or suggests that he may have been paroled, returned to the regiment and then taken unauthorized leave.
He is recorded as having beeen paroled and exchanged in January 1863. In early war, prisoners were generally exchanged quite quickly, and this lapse of time is unusual. The scenario of him returning to duty and then being recaptured is therefore potentially plausible.
He joined Mosby's command sometime in early March, 1863 and was involved in the celebrated Fairfax Courthouse raid. The following week, he was captured at home and sent to Old Capitol Prison. He was paroled March 30 and sent to Petersburg, where he was appointed Sgt. of the parole camp. Around April 25 he rejoined Mosby, only to be taken prisoner again two days later, captured near Cub Run with two other Rangers, Albert "Ab" Wrenn and Peachy R. Taliaferro.
In fact, Barnes had recruited Wrenn to the command, along with four others: his brother in law Frank Fox, Phillip Lee and Thomas Lee (brothers?), Charles Ratcliffe and James J. Williamson, who in 1896 wrote the official history of the battalion (see below) and a memoir of life in the Old Capitol Prison.
He appears on a list of prisoners at the Old Capitol Prison in May as "not subject to exchange". However, he was exchanged two weeks later. He was present when Mosby formally organized the 43rd Battalion at Rector's Cross Roads on June 10. He was involved in several raids thereafter and is documented as having been present in the August 3 wagon raid near Fairfax Courthouse and the fight at Gooding's Tavern in Annandale on August 24 when Mosby was wounded.
He was once again captured on October 22 while scouting between Fairfax Courthouse and Annandale, identified in Federal report as"the celebrated guerilla, Jack Barnes."
On October 22, he was sent again to the Old Captiol Prison, where by now he was well known. The Federals decided to make an example of him and ried him in Washigton for "violating the oath of allegiance and stealing horses."
On July 26 he was sent to the Federal Prison in Albany New York, where he remained for the balance of the War. He was paroled on April 27, 1865 but was not released, despite taking the oath on May 29. His wife appealed to President Andrew Johnson to secure a pardon and he was finally released in the summer of 1865.
After the war, he continued to farm at Hope Park and operated the mill, which he appears to have inherited despite not being the eldest brother. He sold the mill in June of 1870 and bought a hotel at Fairfax Courthouse, and is recorded has having applied for his Confederate pension there.
He was also apparently one of the many beneficiaries of Col. Mosby's efforts to obtain patronage appointments for the veterans of his command, as James J. Williamson, in his book, Mosby's Rangers, published 1896, Barnes is listed as being with the U.S. Revenue Service at Fairfax Courthouse.
After the War, he belonged to the John Quincy Marr Camp of the UCV, based in Fairfax.
He died in Washington, D.C. in October of 1897, of consumption (TB) at the age of 65 and is buried in Fairfax Cemetery..
Relations to Other Rangers:
As noted above, his wife's brother, Frank Fox, served with him in the17th Virginia, and followed him into Mosby's command in April of 1863 and was subsequently promoted to 2nd Lt. of Company C. Lt. Fox was badly wounded in the September 4, 1864 fight at Gold Farm near Berryville and captured by the Federals, and taken to the army field hospital at Sandy Hook Maryland, where he died on September 20 of pneumonia and complications from his arm having been amputated.
Mentions in various references:
(incomplete, more to be added)James J. Williamson, Ranger Mosby (1896)
Pages: 14, 100, 101, 436Williamson describes how he joined Mosby's command in the early spring of 1863, having been imprisoned at the Old Captiol Prison in Washington, and sent to the parole camp at the Model Farm Barracks near Petersburg via Fortress Monroe and City Point where they were detained for two weeks until exchaged.
He writes "Among the acquantainces I had made in prison were six young men who, like myself, being denied to privelege of returning to their homes, had determine to unite their fortunes with Captain Mosby who was by then making a reputation for his dashing and successful exploits." (Note: this was about six weeks after the Faifax Courthouse raid)
He reports that they took the train from Petersburg to Gordonsville and then went on foot to Upperville where they learned that there was to be a meeting of Mosby's men the following day.
In a footnote, he states that his companions were "John H. Barnes, Frank Fox, Phillip Lee, Thomas Lee, Charles Ratcliffe and Albert Wrenn."
Among this group, Jack Barnes had been a Mosby Ranger before his capture and had taken part in the Fairfax Courthouse raid, and undoubtedly did his part in spreading the word of those "dashing and successful exploits", using his role as the Sergeant of the parole camp to recruit others to Mosby's command.
As those recruited were all from Northern Virginia with the exception of Williamson who was born in Baltimore and had lived in Washington, and one was his brother in law, it is probable that they needed little persuading.
Links Online:
The modern reenactor company of the 17th Virginia Infantry, Co. D (Fairfax Riflemen) has an excellent website which includes a history of the regiment and company, and biographies of the men of Company D and key local civilians, many of whom also figured in the history of Mosby's Command. There is a biography of Barnes on this site.
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