Maj. Adolphus Edward"Dolly" Richards
b. May 26, 1844, at "Green Garden", near Upperville, son of Jesse and Ellenor Richards.
m. May 11, 1870, Mattie Tyler, daughter of John W. Tyler, a prominent Louisville attorney. Son: John Tyler, daughter: Jesse Richards, m. Ronald
d. February 20, 1920, at his home in Louisville, KY. Buried Cave Hill,, Cemetery, Louisville
His brother was also a Mosby Ranger: Capt. Thomas W.T. Richards, (Co. G)
"Dolly" Richards was enlisted by Mosby himself in Company B of the 43rd Va. Cavalry on october 1, 1863 at Scuffleburg, Fauquier County. He had previously served as a Lieutentnat in the 7th Va. Cavalry and as aide de camp on General Jones' staff..
Two months after his enlistment, he was promoted to 1st Lt. , Company C, and was promoted again to Captain of effective April 6, 1864. He was promoted to Major on December 7, 1864.
One of Mosby's senior lieutenants, he played a leading role in many of the command's engagements. (see. pps 360-361 of Keen / Mewborn book) and is extensively mentioned in all major works on the 43rd battalion.
Before the War, he was a student at Randolph Macon College. After the War, he went back to college, attending the University of Virginia from 1865-67 and the University of Louisvile, 1867-68, where he received his law degre. He establed a law practice in Louisville and was later elected a Superior Court Judge in 1882.
He attended post-War reunions of the unit and gave the speech on behalf of the 43rd battalion veterans for the 1899 dedication of the monument to the Rangers executed in Front Royal. (Col. Mosby declined to attend as he dissaproved of the monument being located in a graveyard).
There is an online biography in the digitized version of Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky, by H. Levin, editor, 1897. (Kentucky Biographies Project, KYGenWeb)
Mentions in various references:
(incomplete, more to be added)The Letters of John S. Mosby (published by the Stuart-Mosby Society), pps 37, 70. 96-199, 125, 138, 144, 178, 188, 207-208, 210, 216
Mosby's Rangers, by Ranger James J. Williamson, 1896 (reprinted by Time Life Books) pps 109, 110, 115, 166, 141, 150, 151, 152, 158, 160, 162, 165, 16, 167, 168, 175, 182, 185, 192, 208, 212, 213, 226, 230, 255, 259, 280, 284, 302, 327, 329, 331, 340, 341, 343, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418
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