Historic Sites in Clarke County, Virginia

The John Singleton Mosby Heritage Area

The Mosby Heritage Area

The Mosby Heritage Area was formed in 1995 to increase awareness of the historic, cultural and natural qualities of a unique part of Northern Virginia. Named for the Confederate colonel who harried Union troops throughout the region, the Mosby Heritage Area retains much of the landscape and landmarks of three centuries of our Nation's history. The Mosby Heritage Area is the first heritage area designated in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Information about the Mosby Heritage Area: http://www.mosbyheritagearea.org/

John Singleton Mosby (1833–1916)

Col. John Singleton Mosby, C.S.A. has been claimed to have prevented a Union victory in the summer or fall of 1864 as the leader of the Civil War's most successful guerrilla command. Practicing law in Bristol, VA at the start of the war, he enlisted in the Confederate cavalry, seeing action in the first battle of Manassas. For most of 1862 he was a scout for J. E. B. Stuart, serving during the Peninsula Campagain and at Antietam. In January 1863 Mosby was given his own command of partisan rangers (a.k.a. guerilla fighters) that were not bound by traditional conventions. Known as Mosby's Rangers, their primary mission was the disruption of railroads and supply lines, as well as intercepting dispatches, horses and Union soldiers. After the war, Mosby became a symbol of national reconciliation, forming an unlikley friendship with U.S. Grant and supporting him in the presidential elections of 1868 and 1872. Mosby was appointed U.S. Consul to Hong Kong in 1879, a post he held until 1885.

Mosby and his Lieutenant

Colonel John S. Mosby, 1833–1916 of Loudon (sic) County and his Lieutenant John S. Russell of Berryville. Colonel Mosby was nicknamed the “Gray Ghost of the Confederacy” because of his frequent and sudden damaging raids upon the Union (northern) troops and their supply trains in this area during the Civil War of 1861–1865.

His hideout was located at the Red Fox Tavern in Middleburg, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains across the Shenandoah River. This picture was presented March 1971 by Mrs. Joel Griffing of Berryville. The picture is located at the Holy Cross Abbey Museum.

The Locke Store

The Locke store, formerly the J.H. Clarke House and Tavern where Col. John S. Mosby discussed terms of surrender in 1865. The following text is from The Memoirs of Colonel John S. Mosby:

After General Lee's surrender I received a communication from General Hancock asking for mine. I declined to do so until I could hear whether Joe Johnston would surrender or continue the war. We agreed on a five days' armistice. When it expired nothing had been heard from Johnston. I met a flag of truce at Millwood, and had proposed an extension of ten days, but received through Major Russell a message from Hancock refusing it and informing me that unless I surrendered immediately he would proceed to devastate the country. The reply I sent by Russell was, “Tell General Hancock he is able to do it.” Hancock then had 40,000 men at Winchester. The next day I disbanded my battalion to save the country from being made a desert.

John S. Mosby's Memoirs can be found at: http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/mosby/menu.html