A key element of modern special operations is capturing or killing high-value targets. During the Civil War, the Jesse Scouts, a specialized unit within the Union Army, was created to do just that.
They donned Confederate uniforms and pursued the South's most dangerous men, setting up a series of epic engagements between elite forces. These Union operatives were the U.S. Army's first hunter-killer team. In February 1865, General Philip Sheridan released the Jesse Scouts to hunt down the notorious partisan leader, Major Harry Gilmore.
Braving frigid weather, snowdrifts, and icy roads, and smoothly walking through Confederate pickets, two Jesse Scouts in the Confederate Butternut hunt the enemy in the Shenandoah Valley in search of Gilmore's hideout. It broke through the ground. The skilled scouts completed the difficult mission in just 48 hours. “He returned on Thursday and reported to the General the location of Harry Gilmore and his commanding officer,” Scout Arch Rowand recorded.
Sheridan wasted no time in tracking down the scout's vital information and quickly assembled a cavalry force of 300 cavalry. Twenty Jesse Scouts, disguised as Confederate Butternuts, rode in front of the Union cavalry and set out “in the guise of a party of Gilmore's recruits coming from Maryland.” They had devised a plan to deceptively inform Gilmore's men that a large Union cavalry force was close behind them in order to determine the exact location of the partisan leaders.
“On Saturday morning, a cavalry force (300 men) and 20 scouts left this location.” [Winchester] to Moorefield, 58 miles away. We traveled all Saturday night and arrived at Moorefield just before Sunday morning. Leaving town surrounded by strong pickets, we turned onto South Fork River Road. We proceeded with 5 scouts. “Two miles out of town we saw two large, fine houses, the Williams and Randolph houses,” recalled Scout Arch Rowand.
Scouts saw the horse in the stable and surrounded Randolph's house. Their commander, Major Henry Young, knocked on the front door and said, “What kind of soldiers are in the house?''
The female servant casually told the shocked scouts the exact location of the prey, saying, “Major Gilmore is on the second floor.''
Lt. Col. Harry W. Gilmore (Wikimedia Commons)
Excited that they were about to win the prize, Young and the four Jesse Scouts drew their pistols and stalked upstairs. Pressing the barrel of his pistol against the sleeping man's head, Young asked, “Are you Colonel Gilmore?”
“Yes, so who in the name of the devil are you?” Gilmore later wrote, “They were dressed as Confederates, and I knew at first glance who they were. But to fight… It was too late. They confiscated my gun, which was lying on a chair under my uniform.”
“This is Major Young of General Sheridan's staff.”
“Okay. I'd like you to come with me.”
“General Sheridan would be happy to accompany you to Winchester as he would like to consult you on some important military matters.”
Despite being held at gunpoint and surrounded by a swarm of Union cavalry outside, Gilmore held out hope of escape. “I thought I would never be taken alive,” he later wrote. He took pains to dress “in the hope that my men would distract the attention in my favor.”
When he hurried outside and mounted his black horse, he was “already on guard against breaking the fence.” One Jesse Scout said: “Major Gilmore tried to run away as soon as he was in the saddle. I suspected this and was preparing against him. I caught his horse by the reins; he I made a second attempt. I caught his horse again.'' Finally, the enraged scout threatened to shoot Gilmore's horse from below unless Young put his captive on the inferior horse. . “Now that I had him, I wasn't going to let him get away.”
The details of this amazing story are told in my best-selling book. Unvanquished: The untold story of Lincoln's special forces, the search for Mosby's Rangers, and the shadow war that shaped American special operations.. The book tells the story of Lincoln's Special Forces, who donned Confederate gray to hunt Mosby and his Confederate Rangers, from 1863 to the end of the war at Appomattox, and tells the story of the forces that changed the course of the Civil War. It reveals the drama of regular guerrilla warfare. It inspired the creation of modern U.S. special operations in World War II. The book also tells the story of the Confederate Secret Intelligence Service.
While Jesse Scout and Young were guarding the cunning Gilmore, the notorious Confederate Captain George W. Stump, who had previously murdered several Jesse Scouts, also fell into the hands of the Scouts on his way back to Winchester. .
Having scouted nearby houses, a small group of hungry scouts drove up looking for food. A female servant there revealed that the house belonged to Stamp. He was an independent partisan known as “Stump's Battery” because he always carried a large number of revolvers and carbines with him. “I know Captain Stump… [had a] Since he had a reputation for hanging and slitting the throats of Union prisoners of war, I inquired more about him and told the colored woman that I had an important mission to meet her at once. . ” First they went to church, and then, having been informed that the captain was visiting his brother's house a short distance away, the two scouts headed to the mansion.
“I found Captain Stump on horseback and ordered him to surrender.'' We fired a few shots and he fell forward to the ground. He tried to get back up and reached for his revolver, but before he could use it we closed in on him. We put a revolver in his face and forced him to his knees. We quickly disarmed him.''As his nickname goes, “He carried three pistols.'' [on his belt]And on the saddle was a pistol and seven carbines. ”
The Confederates denied their identity and claimed they were brothers. As they marched him away, he lunged forward and tried to grab another Jesse Scout's revolver. The captor's scout then dryly replied that if Stamp tried the same thing again, he would “screen him out.”
When the group rejoined Young's ranks, the scouts reported to the major that they had captured Captain Stump, but he would not admit it. When Stamp finally surrendered and admitted his true identity, Young gave the Confederates an ultimatum. “I think you know that we will kill you. But we will not serve you the way you served our men, cutting their throats and strangling them. We'll give you a chance at life. Put on your spurs and start ten rods. Run away. But remember, my men are mortally wounded. .”
Lt. Col. Henry H. Young (Wikimedia Commons)
Captain Stump stoically “mounted his horse with a smile on his face, and we gave him the word 'go'. We allowed him to fire about 10 rods, but then the pistol shattered. He fell forward and died.”
Fearing that Gilmore would try to escape again, Young requested that the scouts allow him to proceed alone with Gilmore. When his request was denied, Young became angry and rode away on horseback. “Now that the lynx-eyed major is gone, I feel hope returning,” Gilmore said. [I] I was busy making various plans for my escape. Unfortunately for the Confederate partisan leaders, Young thought better of it and sent the four scouts back, and they “jumped out” from the woods just as Gilmore was about to make his third escape attempt.
Despite the keen eyes of scouts, Gilmore failed in his final attempt in the middle of the night. Reuniting with Young in Winchester, the scouts had to protect Gilmore from escape and from a deadly Northern mob seeking the Rebel bounty. While fighting the mob at Harper's Ferry, Young and Gilmore came to respect each other. Young told Gilmore, “If you get attacked, take one of my pistols and shoot right and left. They have to walk over my corpse before they can touch you.” The first Five days after his capture, on February 10, 1865, Scout Young and Jesse delivered the guerrilla leader to Fort Warren in Boston Harbor and “did not lose sight of his charge until the gates were firmly shut.”
Patrick K. O'Donnell is a bestselling and critically acclaimed military historian and expert on elite forces. He is the author of 13 books, including a new bestselling book about the Civil War. Unvanquished: The untold story of Lincoln's special forces, the search for Mosby's Rangers, and the shadow war that shaped American special operations.would make a great Christmas present and is currently on the front display. Barnes & Noble Stores nationwide. O'Donnell's other bestsellers include: essential things, unknownand Immortals of Washington. Mr. O'Donnell served as a combat historian for a Marine rifle platoon during the Battle of Fallujah and is a frequent lecturer on espionage, special operations and counterinsurgency. He has provided historical consulting for DreamWorks' award-winning miniseries Band of Brothers, as well as documentaries produced by the BBC, History Channel, and Discovery. follow his work PatrickKODonnell.com And in X @combatant.
