Repealed Under Pressure

The Confederate Partisan Ranger Act was repealed February 17^th 1864, with persuasion from General Robert E Lee.

The Confederate Congress passed the Partisan Ranger Act on April 21^st 1862.  The Act was supposed to increase recruitment of units for Confederate service.  The Confederate leadership found out in due time that a lack of discipline among these irregulars could allow for a loss of control within the units.  The Confederate Congress after receiving pressure from Confederate General Robert E Lee repealed the Act on February 17^th 1864.

Two partisan rangers groups; Mosby’s Raiders and McNeill’s Rangers were allowed to continue to operate through to end of the war.  These two groups which operated mostly in the counties of West Virginia had a strong military structure.

The Partisan Ranger Act as passed:

Section 1. The congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the president be, and he is hereby authorized to commission such officers as he may deem proper with authority to form bands of partisan rangers, in companies, battalions, or regiments, to be composed of such members as the President may approve.

Section 2. Be it further enacted, that such partisan rangers, after being regularly received in the service, shall be entitled to the same pay, rations, and quarters during the term of service, and be subject to the same regulations as other soldiers.

Section 3. Be its further enacted, That for any arms and munitions of war captured from the enemy by any body of partisan rangers and delivered to any quartermaster at such place or places may be designated by a commanding general, the rangers shall be paid their full value in such manner as the Secretary of War may prescribe.

Killed By A Man He Shot

Confederate John W Mobley was killed April 5^th 1865 when he was ambushed by a group of Loudoun Rangers.

John W Mobley was born June 1^st 1844 near Neersville, Virginia.

Mobley enlisted September 15^th 1862 to fight the Civil War in Company A of the 35^th Virginia Battalion a cavalry unit known as White’s Comanches, from Hillsboro, Virginia.  The first major combat he was involved in was the Battle of Brandy Station on June 9^th 1863, where his horse was shot from under him.  Mobley was riding with Mosby’s Ranger during a skirmish at Waterford, Virginia on May 17^th 1864, in which he wounded one of the Loudoun Rangers, a Charles Stewart, shooting him in the face.  Then there was an attack on November 10^th 1864 on a supply wagon moving from Charles Town, and on November 19^th 1864 Mobley led the 35^th against some Union Dragoons in the central West Virginia area.  Working as a scout he led the advance on January 17^th 1865 in the George’s Schoolhouse Raid.

On April 5^th 1865 that same Loudon Ranger; Charles Stewart who Mobley had shot at Waterford the year before, along with a group of other Loudoun Rangers, ambushed Mobley.  He was killed just outside of Lovettsville, Virginia near Luther H Potterfield’s barn.

A Raid On Home Ground

The George’s Schoolhouse Raid in Lovettsville, Virginia on January 17^th 1865 was the last move in Loudoun County by White’s Comanche’s.

The end of 1864 found Confederate Colonel Elijah V White the commander of the 35^th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry in the Shenandoah Valley.  His rations were running out, and men leaving the ranks in recorded numbers.  White moved his men back into their home territory of Loudoun County, Virginia, to forage and regroup.  About the same time Union cavalry Colonel Thomas C Devin on a regular patrol of the area made camp northwest of Lovettsville near George’s Schoolhouse.

On January 12^th 1865 some members of White’s 35th were at a party in Hillsborough, Virginia when they were surprised by the Union leaning Loudoun Rangers.  One member of the 35^th was killed and two captured.  White put together a unit of about 80 men made up of the 35^th and Mosby’s Rangers.

On the night of January 17^th 1865 White’s raiding party moved on Devin’s camp, capturing the pickets.  The raiding party charged the Union cavalry camp, only to find that Devin had recently been reinforced and had about 400 men.  Union men assembled in the dark, most in a state of undress, and advanced on the raiders.  The raiders quickly broke off the attack, making a retreat, taking about 50 captured horses with them.

New Hampshire's First

The 1^st New Hampshire Cavalry was officially detached from the 1^st New England Cavalry January 7^th 1864.

From October through December 1861 there were four companies of cavalry organized in Concord, New Hampshire.  These companies were attached as a battalion to the 1^st New England Cavalry as Companies I, K, L and M.  The battalion was detached on January 7^th 1864 and officially became the 1^st New Hampshire Volunteer Cavalry.  Under the command of Colonel John L Thompson they were ordered to Washington, DC April 23^rd 1864.  They were attached to the 2^nd Brigade of the 3^rd Division of the Army of the Shenandoah.  A part of the regiment was in service at the Battle of Cold Harbor from June 1^st to 12^th 1864.  They were involved in all of Union Philip H Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign, including the Battle of Cedar Creek.  They were on guard and patrol duty in the defenses of Washington, DC in March of 1863 against raids of Mosby’s Raiders.

During their service they had 33 men killed of mortally wounded, and 114 who died from disease.  The 1^st mustered out of service July 1865.

Recruiting Irregulars

The Confederate Congress passed the Partisan Ranger Act on April 21^st 1862 to encourage the recruitment of irregulars.

The Confederate Congress on April 21^st 1862 voted to pass the Partisan Ranger Act.  The leadership would come to oppose the use of irregulars, as they became alarmed by a lack of discipline and rivalry between groups.  With insistence from Robert E Lee and other Confederate Army leaders the Act was repealed February 17^th 1864.  There were two partisan groups which were exempted and allowed to remain in force until the end of the Civil War.  These two ranger groups were Mosby’s Raiders and McNeill’s Rangers.

The Partisan Ranger Act read as follows:

Section 1. The congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the president be, and he is hereby authorized to commission such officers as he may deem proper with authority to form bands of partisan rangers, in companies, battalions, or regiments, to be composed of such members as the President may approve.

Section 2. Be it further enacted, that such partisan rangers, after being regularly received in the service, shall be entitled to the same pay, rations, and quarters during the term of service, and be subject to the same regulations as other soldiers.

Section 3. Be its further enacted, That for any arms and munitions of war captured from the enemy by any body of partisan rangers and delivered to any quartermaster at such place or places may be designated by a commanding general, the rangers shall be paid their full value in such manner as the Secretary of War may prescribe.

The End of the Bloody Conflict

The official end of the Civil War was declared on August 20th 1866.

Although many people assume the end of the Civil War occurred when General Robert E Lee and General Ulysses S Grant met in Appomattox in April of 1865, the war continued on for many more months. In April Mosby’s Raiders, and General Joseph E Johnston troops surrendered or disbanded. In May they were followed by Major General Dabney Herndon Maury the commander of Florida and South Georgia, Edmund Kirby Smith, and others. The last battle of the war was fought on May 13th 1865 at the Battle of Palmito Ranch in Texas. The last Confederates to surrender were those on board the CSS Shenandoah, who gave up on November 6th 1865.

President Andrew Johnson made a formal declaration to the end of the war on August 20th 1866. He signed the “Proclamation—Declaring that Peace, Order, Tranquility, and Civil Authority Now Exists in and Throughout the Whole of the United States of America.”