Jeffry D. Wert is the author of eight previous books on Civil War topics, most recently Cavalryman of the Lost Cause and The Sword of Lincoln. His articles and essays on the Civil War have appeared in many publications, including Civil War Times Illustrated, American History Illustrated, and Blue and Gray. A former history teacher at Penns Valley High School, he lives in Centre Hall, Pennsylvania, slightly more than one hour from the battlefield at Gettysburg.
In 1863, John Singleton Mosby and his band of irregulars, recruited in Union-occupied northern Virginia, began raiding Yankee outposts, wagon trains, troop detachments, headquarters and railroad lines. Their most celebrated exploit: capturing a Union general behind enemy lines without firing a shot. After each sortie, the Confederate guerrillas would hide in ``safe houses'' provided by the citizens of two northern Virginia counties. Mosby was captured once (and exchanged) and wounded several times, but continued to plan and personally lead guerrilla raids throughout the final two years of the war. Wert ( From Winchester to Cedar Creek ) has written the first comprehensive study of Mosby's Rangers and offers new material about its organization, membership and tactics, plus biographical information about Mosby himself. He reveals that the partisan band rarely exceeded 200, that a large percentage of them were teenagers, that the civilians who sheltered them paid a high price in Yankee retribution. Well-researched, objectively written, this is a first-class history. Photos. First serial to Civil War Times Illustrated; History Book Club main selection. (Oct.)
Perhaps no figures of the Civil War have been surrounded with more romanticism than John S. Mosby and his band of rebel rangers. Formed in mid-1863, Mosby's partisans confounded all Union attempts to destroy them, and for 28 months supplied Lee with priceless intelligence while wreaking havoc behind federal lines in northern Virginia. In telling anew Mosby's story, Wert has drawn extensively on previously neglected primary sources and provided a balanced history of the famous battalion. Although acknowledging that Mosby and the rangers were ``among some of the finest guerrillas in history,'' Wert avoids attributing monumental importance to them. They did not prolong the war nor siphon off thousands of Union troops. In the long run they simply increased the harshness and cost of the conflict. This book sets new standards for such studies; it is essential for scholars but great for general readers too. History Book Club main selection.-- Thomas E. Schott, Office of History, 17th Air Force, Sembach AB, Germany
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