Special operations and irregular warfare are shaping the future of the world. Irregular forces have sparked regional wars and shut down vital transport routes as covert operations seek to influence elections. What’s old is new. The inspiration for modern American special operations and covert operations comes from the untold story of the Civil War. One of the main characters in this story, John Singleton Mosby, conducted what may be considered the perfect special operation 161 years ago this week.
On the night of March 9, 1863, amid drizzling rain and melting snow, Mosby, the guerrilla leader who most disrupted the Union Army by relentlessly raiding enemy pickets, railroad tracks, and other strategic targets, marched into Virginia. disappeared into Inaka ignored all attempts to capture him and led his men on further midnight special operations. Covered in darkness and black rain ponchos that hid the Confederate gray military uniforms, the 30 men rode toward an unknown destination. Mosby revealed his destination only to Sergeant James F. “Big Yankee” Ames, a man he trusted to get him through the enemy checkpoint. , had deserted from the Union Army only a few weeks earlier.
Blue Ridge Pass, Shenandoah River Valley, United States, Col. John Singleton Mosby’s men assemble during the American Civil War, illustration from The Illustrated London News, Volume 46, January 21, 1865.
The purpose of their mission, the kidnapping of Union Army Colonel Percy Windham, was so daring that their destination, Fairfax, Virginia, was so heavily guarded that “no one could dream of the possibility of the enemy approaching.” I didn’t even think about it.” But Gray Ghost, as the troublesome faction leader he would become known after this mission’s success, routinely aspired to things no one else could have dreamed of. Windham, a flamboyant wealthy British military officer with an incredible 10-inch mustache and pointy beard, calls Mosby a horse thief and threatens to set the entire town of Middleburg, Virginia on fire if Mosby’s attacks don’t stop. He made threats and violated the rules of war. . Mosby refuses to comply with the demands of the Union commanders, arguing that “such a fuss will not preclude him from using the lawful weapons that can be most effectively used to embarrass them.” The guerrilla leader also told his story by devouring him in bed and shipping him to Richmond, “thought I would stop it.” ”
Mosby assured his men, “Our safety depended on this bold plan.” He later wrote, “My force was only 29 men, and we were surrounded by thousands of hostile men…Nothing like that had ever been attempted before the war.” It is practical to prevent what could happen, and in war, as in everything else, much must be left to chance. No need.”
As if they were a returning Federal unit, they drove down the Chain Bridge Road, past thousands of sleeping Federal cavalry and infantry encamped in Germantown and Centerville, and from the south to Union friendly forces. passed directly through the territory. They arrived at Fairfax Courthouse around 2 a.m., two hours later than scheduled. On the way, a lookout stopped them and asked for identification, but Ames, who was leading a column of Confederate rangers dressed in Union blue and black ponchos, boldly replied:th The New York cavalry then captured the poor soldier and took him away.
Arriving in town, the Rangers are disappointed to learn that the insulting Windham has already left for Washington, but the stylish 25-year-old Edwin H., one of the youngest Brigadier Generals appointed by Lincoln, -I learned that General Stoughton was staying at a nearby house. . The Confederate guerrilla leader strode himself onto the white-column porch of a red-brick colonial house, grabbed the sleepy, nightshirt-clad lieutenant who answered his knock by the chest, and whispered to him who he was. , demanded that he be taken to the police. General’s room. He found the general asleep in bed, surrounded by uncorked bottles of champagne and other signs of revelry. After several unsuccessful attempts to wake him, the daring Confederate lifted up the Union officer’s nightshirt and slapped him. In response to his protests, Mosby asked, “General, have you ever heard of Mosby?”
“Yes. Have you got him?” came the enthusiastic reply.
“No. I’m Mosby, he got you.”
John Singleton Mosby stands in military uniform against a painted landscape. Mosby (1833-1916), an American Civil War colonel, was also a lawyer and, in 1878, American consul to Hong Kong. (Photo courtesy © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
While the general was dressing, in a bit of psychological warfare, the Confederates scrawled on the wall with coal taken from the fireplace, “Mosby” written to strike fear into the hearts of every Union soldier in Northern Virginia. ” he wrote five letters.
Mosby and his Rangers then faced the incredibly difficult task of leading Stoughton and a large force of men and horses to retreat through enemy territory without being arrested, and before nightfall they were captured by prisoners. revealed a small number of troops. In fact, after the attack, Lincoln was said to have been more worried about the number of horses that Mosby and his rangers had successfully stolen than about Stoughton’s kidnapping, saying, “I wasn’t really concerned about losing the Brigadier General. I’ll probably be able to have another baby,” she joked. Five minutes. But those horses cost him $125 each!”
This photo provided by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum shows an ambrotype image of President Abraham Lincoln circa 1858. During the U.S. Senate campaign against Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln sat down for a photo after doing some political work in western Illinois and presented one of his copies to President Abraham Lincoln. A man who was seriously injured during a cannon test at an election rally has had his life saved by flesh-eating maggots. That’s the unlikely and horrifying background for this original 1858 ambrotype of his, depicting a future Civil War president saving the nation, that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has added to its collection, officials said. His announcement was made on Monday, September 25, 2023. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library) To the museum via AP)
The details of this amazing, near-perfect special operation are told in my upcoming 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.. Book revealteeth Drama of The irregular guerrilla warfare that changed the course of the Civil War, including the story of Lincoln’s Special Forces Who wore Confederate gray? Hunt Mosby and his Confederate Rangers from 1863 until the end of the war at Appomattox—The previously untold story that 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.
Mosby was a thoughtful, bookish, 5-foot-7, 128-pound Virginian with clean-shaven, sandy hair who studied Latin and Greek in college before joining the Confederate Army. However, he was someone no one thought would end up with that name. It inspires fear in the most battle-hardened warriors. But the Confederate guerrilla leader who pioneered this new form of warfare, shrouded in mystery to the end, was also someone you would never expect to denounce the Lost Cause myth once the war was over.
After the war, Mosby was unapologetic about his military actions. “A soldier fights for his country, rightly or wrongly. He takes no responsibility for the political accomplishments of his fight…The South was my country.” But he A politically turned party. In addition to being a Republican, he was a personal friend of Ulysses S. Grant, became his campaign manager for the presidential election of 1868, earned the hatred of many, received death threats, and even even suffered an assassination attempt. A former partisan leader once quipped to a friend, “Being a Republican in Virginia is hell.”
General Ulysses S. Grant poses in Washington, D.C., March 9, 1864. He led the Union to victory in the Civil War and accepted the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Courthouse in 1865. He was appointed general in 1866. He served two terms as President of the United States from 1868 to 1877. (AP Photo/Matthew Brady)
He returned to practicing law, was appointed consul to Hong Kong, and worked as a U.S. attorney at the Department of Justice. He used his position to root out corruption, save the lives of trafficked women, and protect women migrating to the United States. His influence extended even further during his time with young George Patton Jr. on his family’s ranch in San Gabriel, California. Arguably America’s greatest guerrilla warfare practitioner’s torpedo and cavalry tactics influenced the young man’s tank and maneuver warfare doctrines that he later developed and utilized in World War II. Despite his remarkable life and the depth of his influence, the brilliant and charismatic former Confederate remains shrouded in mystery, defying convention, expectation, and, in some cases, even explanation. . His memories, and those of the Union scouts who followed him, carry a mysterious weight. Together they had a huge impact on American special operations, Forever the Gray Ghost.
Patrick K. O’Donnell is a bestselling and critically acclaimed military historian and expert on elite forces. He is the author of 13 of his books, including a forthcoming book on 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., Published on May 7th essential things, beyond courage, first shieldsand unknown. 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 the award-winning DreamWorks miniseries Band of Brothers, as well as documentaries produced by the BBC, History His Channel, and Discovery. PatrickKODonnell.com @Combatant
