Medford mail tribune., March 11, 1963, Image 18

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MONDAY.
was
An Incredible Episode of War
By MERTON T. AKERS
United Pren International
This is the story of John
Singleton Mosby. Edwin H.
Stoughton and Antonia Ford
one of the more incredible
episodes of the incredible Civ
il War.
The time was the " early
morning of March 9, 1803,
the place Fairfax Court
House, Va., a village now on
the edge of metropolitan
Washington.
Mosby was a captain of
partisan Confederate cavalry.
He headed about 100 scouts
who operated in the twilight
zone between the two armies
and who disbanded and lived
as civilians between exploits.
Later the guerrilla leader
would become a colonel, much
more famous as a partisan
leader and after the war, a
friend of Gen. U. S. Grant.
At the start of the Civil
War Mosby was 28 years old
and a country lawyer in Bris
tol, Va. He learned his pro
fession from his defense at
torney while awaiting trial
for shooting a fellow student
at the University of Virginia.
John Esten Cooke of Gen.
J. E. B. Stuart's staff, de
scribed Mosby as "thin and
"wiry, and I should say about
five feet nine or ten inches
E-.ll..!.,
Editor's note: Sylvia Portor It on vacation. During her
absence e column by Ralph McGtll is being substituted.
McGill Is currently on a tour of African nations, about
which he is writing.
A CASTLE AT OSU. ACCRA
Accra, Ghana: On a high hill, which drops almost to the
sea, stands an old castle fortress. It was built by the Danes
in 1681. They handed it over to the British In 1850. (In the
United States at this lime there was so much concentration
on the bitterly developing sectionalism that was to lead to
civil war that few Americans even knew about the affairs
of Danish kings.) The Danes called It Christiansborg Castle.
Today the Ghanaian government is completing two three
story extensions. They contain 90 rooms and offices, a cinema
hall, and a large conference room. The old castle itself.
dwarfed by the splendor and
the center. About it are the
fountains, a car park, hidden
crete, and a garden where lame
yisllors for tidbits. The president and some cabinet officers
win nave oinces in ine new structure, until the British
left the old castle, white on lis high point of land, It was
the residence of the crown s governor.
Christiansborg is heavy with the presence of history. It is
one of series of castles built along the west coast by
European nations in the slave trade. They ran from Da
homey to Goree Island off Cape Verde at Senegal. The
castles were about as far as Europe penetrated into
Africa. The captives came from the inland and were paid
for and placed in rooms below the thick main floor level.
They wailed, then, until the ships came to buy the slaves
and take them away,
' There arc balconies. The battlements arc wide enough
to wulk upon. One can Imagine the many governors, tiic
lonely watch officers, and the garrisons of almost two cen
turies staring toward the sea from those battlements and
balconies, wondering about home. Would the next sail be
that of an enemy raider or friend?
Death came to hundreds in the long span of years. Yel
low fever, malaria, dysenteries, typhoid they were the
ruthless killers. Drink and dissipation were almost as deadly.
The old records are replete with comments on drunkenness,
wenching, and the penalties thereof. !
Many of the wretched captives died of disease in the 1
slave quarters under the walls. There is an opening through ,
which the captives were lowered to the beach to be placed '
in the small boals which took them to the ship. There arc '
old cannon, rusted and eroded by centuries of salt air, wind,
and rains. Some still point toward the sea. Others have been :
placed about the new wings as decorations. The thick-walled !
old castle, with its cobblcstoncd court, its cannon, which arc
almost amusing In this timo ol nuclear power, is a poignant j
and, for all Us quaintness and beauty, an ugly, oppressive j
symbol of history.
With the slave trades steadily restricted by conscience
and law, the forts were abandoned or sold. The British
took over Christiansborg in 1850. The Dutch held on to
theirs, further down the coast, until 1872. In 1874 the Gold
Coast was proclaimed a British colony.
It is surprising, somehow, to come upon th dates caus
ing one lo realise how late was the European scramble
for colonies in Airica. In 1870 only a small portion ol the
continent was ruled by European powers. In North Airica,
only Algeria, Egypt, end Tunis were io controlled. In
West Airica, Europe had had commercial doalings with
coastal tribes lor more than four centuries. Yet, late in
the 19th century French rule in Senegal had been eble to
move only a few miles inland. The British and Portuguese
hed done little more.
European colonics were hardly more than enclaves. In
the capitals of Europe men drew boundaries on inaccurate
maps and made decisions based on a shocking lack of infor
mation. Names began lo emerge in Africa Cecil Rhodes
and Paul Krugcr are two of the best known.
It was 1911 before England, France, and Germany made a
treaty and reached agreement about colonial rights and titles.
By then events were moving toward a bridge at Sarajevo
in central Europe.
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in height. A slight stoop in
the neck was not ungracetui.
The chin was carried well
forward; the lips vere thin
and wore a somewhat satiri
cal smile; the eyes, under a
brown felt hat, were keen,
sparkling and roved curious
ly from side to side ... His
voice was low ... He rarely
sat still ten minutes."
Stoughton was 25 year old
and one of the youngest of
the Federal brigadier gener
als. He commanded the out
posts around Fairfax. He
came from a wealthy Ver
mont family of considerable
social standing and was cited
for bravery as colonel of the
Fourth Vermont Infantry dur
ing the Peninsula campaign.
He was a West Pointer in the
class of 1859, being graduated
17th in a class of 22.
In the winter of 1862-63 he
was living a comfortable,
even luxurious, life at Fair
fax C. H. His parties were fa
mous. As a companion he had
a runaway Cambridge, Mass.,
girl of 20 whom he had made
a staff major with all the
privileges which went with
the rank.
Stoughton gave a big par
ty for Sunday night, March
8. His mother and sister came
down from Washington. All
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the officers attended and as
many women of Fairfax as
would come. Champagne spar
kled in quantity. The gucals
danced to the music of a reg
imental band. It was a gay
party and broke up only well
after midnight.
About 2 a.m. Mosby and 29
of his troopers rode into
town. They split into groups.
One group took over the tent
of telegrapher Robert Weit
brecht and restrained him
from spreading the alarm.
Cavalry Colonel
Another went to the house
of Sir Percy Wyndham, a
cavalry colonel Mosby espe
cially wanted to capture. The
Britisher fighting on the un
ion side had publicly called
Mosby a horse thief, a name
which carried special oppro
bium in the days of equine
transportation. But Wynd
ham had been called to Wash
ington and missed being cap
tured. A group headed by Mosby
went straight to the house
where Stoughton had his
headquarters. Pounding on
the front door, they announc
ed they were carrying dis
patches for the general. A
sleepy staff lieutenant let
them in and then was look
ing down the muzzles of Mos
by's sixshootcrs.
Upstairs the raiders went
lo Stoughton's bedroom. He
was sleeping soundly after
the evening's festivities.
Mosby pulled back the bed
covers, raised the general s
nightshirt and slapped his
rear.
As Mosby recalled it, this
was the conversation:
"Get up, general, and come
with me," Mosby ordered.
Stoughton, not fully awake,
replied:
What is this? Do you know
who I am sir?"
I reckon I do, general.
Did you ever hear of Mosby?"
Yes, have you caught
him?"
No, but he has caught
you.
"What's this all about?"
"It means, general that
Sluart's cavalry have taken
over Fairfax and General
Jackson is in Cenlrevillc,"
Mosby lied.
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AMBUSHING UNION COURIER Early on
the morning of March 9, 1863, John S.
Mosby and 29 of his troopers staged a dar
ing raid on this Union-held village. It was a
raid that resulted in the capture of Gen.
Edwin H. Stoughton, Austrian Baron R. R.
Wardcncr, two captains, 30 privates, and
"Is Fitz Lee here?"
"Yes," Mosby lied again.
"Then take me to him. I
knew him at West Point."
(Stoughton left no version
of his own conversation.)
Only the Federal provost
marshal, L. L. O'Connor, and
Col. Robert Johnstone, Fifth
N.Y. Cavalry and post com
mandant, among the higher
officers, escaped. O'Connor
was checking outposts and
Johnstone fled to an out
house without even a night
shirt. Mosby's bag for the night
was one general Stoughton;
one nobleman Baron R. B.
Wardcner, an Austrian visit
ing Wyndham; two captains,
30 privates and 58 horses.
O'Connor broke the bad
news to Maj. Gen. Samuel P.
Heinlzelman, I h e Federal
corps commander, at 3:30 a.m.
in this dispatch:
"Captain Mosby, with his
command, entered this town
this morning at 2 a.m. They
captured my patrols, horses,
etc. They took Brigadier Gen
eral Stoughton and horses,
and all his men detached from
his brigade. They took every
horse that could be found,
public and private, and the
commanding officer of the
post, Colonel Johnstone, of
the Fifth New York Cavalry,
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made his escape from them in
nude state by accident.
They searched for me in ev
ery direction, but being on
the Vienna road,, visiting out
posts, I made my escape. All
our available cavalry forces
are in pursuit of them."
Now Antonia Ford comes
Into the picture
Friend of Mosby
She was the daughter of a
Fairfax merchant. A blonde
with brown eyes, she was a
rabid Secessionist, a friend of
Mosby and Stuart, holding a
major's "commission" from
the latter as aide-de-camp.
Soon after the raid a wom
an detective appeared in Fair
fax, passed herself ofl as a
Secessionist and won Anlo
nia's confidence. Miss Ford
even showed her "commis
sion" lo the detective.
So the Federals took her
off to Old Capitol Prison in
Washington four days after
the raid. Her father and sev
eral other prominent Fair
fax residents went along.
They soon were released but
Antonia was not so fortunate.
She was held for months, de
spite efforts to obtain her
release. One of those who
worked the hardest for her
release was Union Maj. Jo
seph C. Willard, one of the
founders of Willard's Hotel,
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58 horses. The attack was typical of those
engineered by Mosby before, and till the
war's end. This drawing, from the Library
of Congress collection, is a sketch of Mosby
and his raiders ambushing a Union Courier.
(UPI)
who had been stationed ear
lier in Fairfax.
After she was released she
went to Richmond where
Cooke saw her.
"She was thin and white
as a ghost," he wrote, adding
that her condition was the
result of bad food in prison.
Her imprisonment did not
all go for naught, however.
Later she was married to
Willard and presided as host
ess for years at his hotel.
Stoughton's military career
was brief after his capture.
While he was in prison his
general's commission expired.
He was released in May 1863
and soon resigned.
When President Lincoln
heard of the Fairfax capture,
he said:
"Well, I'm sorry for that.
I can make new brigadier
generals, but I can't make
horses."
Mosby died in 1916, never
admitting Antonia Ford was
the spy who triggered his
Fairfax raid.
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but also to what befell mighty
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And "charger," believe it
or not, was what the head of
John the Baptist was carried
on when it was brought in
to Herodias' daughter.
No, this is not a new lan
guage, but an archaic one.
Such obsolete words as
these are strewn through the
Lewis, Clark Choir
Sets Local Concert
Portland The 60-voice
A Cappella Choir of Lewis
and Clark college of Portland
will be in Medford Friday,
March 22, under the sponsor
ship of the First Presbyterian
church.
The choir is on its 15th an
nual tour of towns in Oregon,
California and Nevada, under
the direction of L. Stanley
Glarum, member of the music
faculty of Lewis and Clark.
The program will open with
two numbers sung in Latin,
"Tenebrae Factae Sunt" by
Ingegneri, and "Improperium
Expeclavit Cor Meum" by
Eberlin, followed by "Kom
Susser Tod" by Bach, and
"Die Mit Tranen Saen" by
Schein.
The second part will open
with a number by conductor
Glarum, "Let All People
Praise Thee"; "Ave Maria" by
Bruckner; "The Three Kings"
by Willan; "Praise Thou the
Lord" by Gretchaninoff, and
Sing Ye Merrily" by Men
delssohn. The third portion will con.
elude with "Glory to God"
by Tschesnokoff; "Regenera
tion" and "Exaltation" by
Christiansen; "Sakura Saku-
ra" by Hairston and "The In
visible Choir" by Glarum.
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Abound in New Reference Bible
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Study Edition
The volume, in preparation
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The new edition offers al-
Soviet Union To Buy
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Stockholm - IUPH - The So
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freighters worth $20 million,
a shipbuilding company
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The spokesman for Lind
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1964 according to a contract
signed in Moscow Saturday.
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Radio
Free Europe
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Amn'cM Ptepfe'i Counter -Vorc to Cwnmimi'M
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