As for the raid itself, I will wait for Eric’s book to opine on that, but I always wondered why Dahlgren was one place and Kilpatrick was elsewhere. Certainly it seems that Kilpatrick had the good sense to keep the larger numbers with him. In any event, he at least survived though I cannot say that was necessarily a good thing.

It was a first-rate trip. Boy, I was tired last night.

The prosthetic ended up in the hands of one of Mosby’s guys, a man named Ballard. The irony is, of course, stunning.

Eric

You seem to make it a habit of wearing people out.

Man!~ I’ll bet that was one whoopass rampage!

Did you guys ever find out who got Mr. D’s prosthetic limb/appendage?

Please tell me it wasn’t one of those Mosby knotheads!

???? Damn Presbyteryian limbsuckers.
Kiddin’ Val. Wasn’t Mosby a communist?

While every word of that is true, you’re referring to the wrong raid. We were focusing on the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid of February-March 1864. However, old pal Horace Mewborn, who is THE authority on all things Mosby, was along and told that story.

Eric

A Union officer named Glazier later wrote in his book “Three Years in the Federal Cavalry” of the capture and that the young man was sent on to Old Capitol Prison where, ten days later, he was one of those participating in the first exchange of prisoners. The young man was exchanged for a Union lieutenant but although he had identified himself to his captives as a captain, he was only a private soldier, so the Rebs got the best “rank wise” – and in many other ways – on THAT exchange.

Furthermore, on the boat to the exchange point, the man noticed the movement of federal troops in the area and learned from the boat’s captain – who was a Confederate sympathizer – that these were the troops of General Burnside going to reinforce Pope. When he landed, the young soldier requested of Judge Ould that he be passed through quickly because he had news for General Lee. Making his way in the August heat to Lee’s headquarters over 12 miles away, he gave his information to Lee who sent word to Jackson to attack Pope before Burnside’s reinforcements could reach him which resulted in the battle of Cedar Mountain.

The young man then returned to his position on the staff of Confederate General J. E. B. Stuart where he was Stuart’s favorite scout and intimate friend. He had been at Beaver Dam on his way to see General Jackson with a note of introduction from Stuart because he wanted a few men to try his hand at harassing Pope’s army behind his lines, attacking communications, destroying supplies and generally committing havoc. Stuart had not wished to part with any of his own men for such a dangerous scheme, but he thought that Jackson, who had suggested just such type of warfare, might be willing to provide a few infantrymen to participate in this bold and, frankly, hopeless endeavor.

Of course, Kilpatrick prevented the young man from ever reaching Jackson except in such a way as to provide him with the information that helped precipitate the battle of Cedar Mountain. Who knows? Had Kilpatrick failed to undertake the raid, the young man might have reached Jackson, but the information would not and the matter might have ended differently.

In a way, therefore, Kilpatrick’s raid precipitated far more than the destruction of one railroad depot. It changed the lives of many people including one Confederate cavalryman whose bold and reckless scheme was eventually given Stuart’s blessing in December of 1862 when he bestowed nine men on his friend and favorite scout to “try his hand at harassing the Yankees.”