Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

None

Use Restrictions

Consult repository for information

Preferred Citation

John S. Mosby Letters, MSS 06-25, Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library

Acquisition Information

The original letter in folder 1 from John Mosby to Thomas R. Keith dated January 20, 1900, was donated to the Historical Society of Fairfax County in 1950-1951 by Keith’s daughter, Hannah Keith Howze. The letter was later transferred to Fairfax County Public Library’s Virginia Room on an unknown date. The two photocopied letters from John Mosby in Folders 3-4 were a gift of Dr. Kenneth S. McAtee, May 1989. The photocopies of John Mosby letters 1864-1910 in folders 5 through 40 were a gift of Mrs. Virgie R. Ritchie. Folder 5 contains seven aperture cards containing images of the letters in folders 6-40.

Processing Information

Mark F. Hall, September 2023
EAD generated by Ross Landis, 2024

Historical and Biographical Information

John Singleton Mosby, b. Dec. 6, 1833, Powhatan County, VA. Attended Hampden-Sydney College and the University of Virginia; later studied law and admitted to Virginia bar. Joined Confederate Army, served in 1st Virginia Cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart. Appointed to lead 43rd Virginia Cavalry ("Mosby's Command"), which operated as partisan rangers and guerrillas often behind Union lines in Northern Virginia. Mosby’s raids earned him the nickname “The Gray Ghost” and parts of Northern Virginia were known in the press as Mosby's Confederacy. One of his most famous exploits was the capture of Union Brig. Gen. Edwin H. Stoughton from a house (now the rectory of Truro Parish) across Main Street from the old Fairfax County Courthouse. After the war, Mosby served as U.S. consul to Hong Kong (1878-1885), and later as an attorney for the Southern Pacific Railroad, a land agent for the U.S. Department of the Interior, and an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. He died May 30, 1916, and is buried in Warrenton, VA.

Scope and Content

The John S. Mosby Letters consist of 0.5 linear feet and span the years 1864-1910 and consist of 1 original handwritten letter, two folders of photocopies of handwritten and typed correspondence and one folder of aperture cards of the photocopies in folders 6 through 40. The original handwritten letter contains a newspaper clipping and the letter refutes statements in the newspaper. Much of the correspondence in folders 5 through 40 consists of letters from Mosby to Benton Chinn, chiefly regarding contemporary newspaper references to Mosby’s Rangers, other Civil War topics, and political issues of the era in addition to personal matters. Transcriptions of the letters are included.

Related Material

Robert M. Moxham Manuscript Papers on “A History of Annandale, Virginia”, MSS 08-23, Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Francis Asbury Dickins Papers, 1729-1934

Watt Family Papers, 1821-1902, Mss1 W3403a, Virginia Historical Society

Separated Material

None

Index Terms

• Beattie, Fountain “Fount” (1840-1923)
• Chinn, Benton (1844-1926)
• Confederate States of America. Army. Virginia Cavalry Battalion, 43rd.
• Guerrillas -- Southern States -- Correspondence.
• Keith, Thomas R. (1872-1937)
• Mosby, John Singleton (1833-1916)
• Soldiers -- Southern States -- Correspondence.

Adjunct Descriptive Data