July 12, 1861
I will now relate our first adventure with the Yankees. Yesterday Captain Jones took 50 of his Company on a scouting expedition. We went down towards Martinsburg. When two miles of there we flushed a party of Yankees. They broke and took to the cornfield. The main body of the party took up the road after them. The Captain sent five men (including myself) around to intercept them. For a mile we went at breakneck speed over the gullies, ditches and fences until we got ahead of them. We then wheeled, rode up to two who immediately surrendered. We sent them on back and four of us then pursued them on to Martinsburg. We drove in three infantry and about fifteen of their cavalry. We rode up to within a half mile of their encampment and had a full view of it. We then rode back to the main body of our party. About this time we had surrounded another of them when one of our men came galloping up and said that we were cut off by 250 Yankee cavalry. Of course we didn’t stop to catch a prisoner but commenced preparing for a fight. But it turned out to be another company from our own regiment. We scoured about the woods and fields fully two hours in full view of their tents and they didn’t dare to come out and attack us. We divided the accoutrements of the two prisoners with the squad that took them. I got one of their canteens, the finest I ever saw made of zinc which will keep water cool much longer than tin. At the time we were after them we could distinctly hear the firing at an engagement between another company of our regiment (from Rockingham) and a Yankee foraging party. They dispersed them and killed one and took a horse. “Nobody hurt” on our side. Our men were very eager for the fray and I believe would have dashed into their camp if Captain Jones would have let them… We will go on another expedition this week.
John S. Mosby
Sources
Wilson, Gregory P. Private John S. Mosby, First Virginia Cavalry: Picketing Fairfax County Before Becoming the Confederacy’s “Gray Ghost.” CreateSpace: By the author, 2015.
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