[CIVIL WAR.]
MOSBY, JOHN SINGLETON ("The Gray Ghost"), Colonel, C.S.A. Partial printed document signed ("Jno. S. Mosby Major of Partisan Rangers"), n.p., n.d. [March 1863-December 1864]. 1 page (partial), 205 x 103mm. (8 x 4in.), left-hand portion missing, crudely printed on typical brownish Confederate war date paper, accomplished in manuscript, left-hand edge a bit browned.
Details
MOSBY, JOHN SINGLETON ("The Gray Ghost"), Colonel, C.S.A. Partial printed document signed ("Jno. S. Mosby Major of Partisan Rangers"), n.p., n.d. [March 1863-December 1864]. 1 page (partial), 205 x 103mm. (8 x 4in.), left-hand portion missing, crudely printed on typical brownish Confederate war date paper, accomplished in manuscript, left-hand edge a bit browned.
AN EXTREMELY RARE WAR-DATE MOSBY DOCUMENT: HIS PAY RETURN AS MAJOR OF THE "PARTISAN RANGERS"
War-date documents of Mosby are so rare as to all but unobtainable (we cannot trace one at auction for at least 30 years), partly because Mosby's unique irregular command of "Partisan Rangers" and his personal style as a commander required minimal paperwork. Official documentation of Mosby and his miniscule command is very seldom seen. Even guerilla leaders must be paid, of course, and the present document is part of an original Mosby pay voucher, recording his receipt of the not inconsiderable sum of $1,926.99 from a Confederate paymaster, constituting Mosby's salary for an unspecified period. In the extreme right-hand column, under "Remarks," the clerk records that Mosby was "commissioned Captain March 15th, 1863" and "Promoted Maj. 26th March." (The voucher must date from prior to December 1864, when Mosby was promoted to Colonel, the highest rank he attained.) In his Memoirs. Mosby explained that "In one sense the charge that I did not fight fair is true. I fought for success and not for display. There was no man in the Confederate Army who had less of the spirit of knight errantry in him, or took a more practical view of war than I did."
AN EXTREMELY RARE WAR-DATE MOSBY DOCUMENT: HIS PAY RETURN AS MAJOR OF THE "PARTISAN RANGERS"
War-date documents of Mosby are so rare as to all but unobtainable (we cannot trace one at auction for at least 30 years), partly because Mosby's unique irregular command of "Partisan Rangers" and his personal style as a commander required minimal paperwork. Official documentation of Mosby and his miniscule command is very seldom seen. Even guerilla leaders must be paid, of course, and the present document is part of an original Mosby pay voucher, recording his receipt of the not inconsiderable sum of $1,926.99 from a Confederate paymaster, constituting Mosby's salary for an unspecified period. In the extreme right-hand column, under "Remarks," the clerk records that Mosby was "commissioned Captain March 15th, 1863" and "Promoted Maj. 26th March." (The voucher must date from prior to December 1864, when Mosby was promoted to Colonel, the highest rank he attained.) In his Memoirs. Mosby explained that "In one sense the charge that I did not fight fair is true. I fought for success and not for display. There was no man in the Confederate Army who had less of the spirit of knight errantry in him, or took a more practical view of war than I did."