Gray Ghosts of the Confederacy is a history of the Confederate guerrillas who—under the ruthless command of such men as William C. Quantrill and “Bloody Bill” Anderson—plunged Missouri into a bloody, vicious conflict of an intensity unequaled in any other theater of the Civil War. Among their numbers were Frank and Jesse James and Cole and James Younger, who would later become infamous by extending the tactics they had learned during the war into civilian life.
During the Civil War, John Singleton Mosby led the Forty-third Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, better known as Mosby’s Rangers, in bold and daring operations behind Union lines. Throughout the course of the war, more than 2000 men were members of Mosby’s command, some for only a short time. Mosby had few confidants (he was described by one acquaintance as “a disturbing companion”) but became close friends with one of his finest officers, Samuel Forrer Chapman. Chapman served with Mosby for more than two years, and their friendship continued in the decades after the war. Take Sides with the Truth is a collection of more than eighty letters, published for the first time in their entirety, written by Mosby to Chapman from 1880, when Mosby was made U.S. consul to Hong Kong, until his death in a Washington, D.C., hospital in 1916. These letters reveal much about Mosby’s character and present his innermost thoughts on many subjects. At times, Mosby’s letters show a man with a sensitive nature; however, he could also be sarcastic and freely derided individuals he did not like. His letters are critical of General Robert E. Lee’s staff officers (“there was a lying concert between them”) and trace his decades-long crusade to clear the name of his friend and mentor J. E. B. Stuart in the Gettysburg campaign. Mosby also continuously asserts his belief that slavery was the cause of the Civil War—a view completely contrary to a major portion of the Lost Cause ideology. For him, it was more important to “take sides with the Truth” than to hold popular opinions. Peter A. Brown has brought together a valuable collection of correspondence that adds a new dimension to our understanding of a significant Civil War figure.
"Colonel Mosby was a 'Virginian of the Virginians', educated at the State's University, and seemed destined to pass his life as an obscure Virginia attorney, when war brought him his opportunity for fame. The following pages contain the story of his life as private in the cavalry, as a scout, and as a leader as partisans"--Introduction.
Confederate John Singleton Mosby forged his reputation on the most exhilarating of military activities: the overnight raid. Mosby possessed a genius for guerrilla and psychological warfare, taking control of the dark to make himself the "Gray Ghost" of Union nightmares. Gray Ghost, the first full biography of Confederate raider John Mosby, reveals new information on every aspect of Mosby's life, providing the first analysis of his impact on the Civil War from the Union viewpoint.
"Allardice provides detailed biographical information on 1,583 Confederate colonels, both staff and line officers and members of all armies. In his introduction, he explains how one became a colonel -- the mustering process, election of officers, reorganizing of regiments -- and discusses problems of the nominating process, seniority, and "rank inflation""--Provided by publisher.
A fascinating and well-documented account of the true-life exploits of famous and obscure Southern spies who served the Southern cause. Essential reading for Civil War buffs, American History students and spy story aficionados..
Assembled from hundreds of original documents, including intimate shipboard journals kept by Shenandoah officers, Sea of Gray is a masterful narrative of men at sea The sleek, 222-foot, black auxiliary steamer Sea King left London on October 8, 1864, ostensibly bound for Bombay. The subterfuge was ended off the shores of Madeira, where the ship was outfitted for war. The newly christened CSS Shenandoah then commenced the last, most quixotic sea story of the Civil War: the 58,000-mile, around-the-world cruise of the Confederacy's second most successful commerce raider. Before its voyage was over, thirty-two Union merchant and whaling ships and their cargoes would be destroyed. But it was only after ship and crew embarked on the last leg of their journey that the excursion took its most fearful turn. Four months after the Civil War was over, the Shenandoah's Captain Waddell finally learned he was, and had been, fighting without cause or state. In the eyes of the world, he had gone from being an enemy combatant to being a pirate—a hangable offense. Now fearing capture and mutiny, with supplies quickly dwindling, Waddell elected to camouflage the ship, circumnavigate the globe, and attempt to surrender on English soil. "A superb account of how the Confederate raider Shenandoah brought the American Civil War to the farthest reaches of the world." -- Nathaniel Philbrick, author of Mayflower and Sea of Glory
No single battalion was more feared during the Civil War than the 43rd Battalion of Virginia Cavalry. As one contemporary said, “They had…all the glamour of Robin Hood…all the courage and bravery of the ancient crusaders.” Better known as Mosby’s Rangers, they were an elite guerrilla unit that operated with stunning success in northern Virginia and Maryland from 1863 to the last days of the war. In this vivid account of the famous command of John Singleton Mosby, Jeffry D. Wert explores the personality of this iron-willed commander and brilliant tactician and gives us colorful profiles of the officers who served under him. Drawing on contemporary documents, including letters and diaries, this is the most complete and vivid account to date of the fighting unit that was so hated by General Ulysses S. Grant that he ordered any captured Ranger to be summarily executed without trial.
From the hills and valleys of the eastern Confederate states to the sun-drenched plains of Missouri and "Bleeding Kansas," a vicious, clandestine war was fought behind the big-battle clashes of the American Civil War. In the east, John Singleton Mosby became renowned for the daring hit-and-run tactics of his rebel horsemen. Here a relatively civilized war was fought; women and children usually left with a roof over their heads. But along the Kansas-Missouri border it was a far more brutal clash; no quarter given. William Clarke Quantrill and William "Bloody Bill" Anderson became notorious for their savagery.
