Below lay the invaders.  Swept into the South by the winds of war, their armies lay
in countless encampments like this one throughout the southern homeland - their
campfires blinking in the dark of night.  Americans too - and once countrymen -
now they had come South as the enemy.  To the Shenandoah Valley they brought
the worst of war.  Homes, barns and mills were burned.  Livestock was destroyed.
 Life on the Confederate homefront became much harder.  But Dixie's defenders
did not give up easily - and no Confederate commander fought harder or better
than Lieutenant Colonel John Singleton Mosby.  On December 1, 1864, almost a
year-and-a-half of war lay ahead.  Mosby, soon to be promoted to colonel, would plan
more surprise attacks, strike more wagon trains, capture more enemy troops, arms and
equipment.  In the end, although he and his rangers would have diverted thousands of
Northern troops from the front lines, the best efforts of even "Mosby's Rangers" could not
win Southern independence.  Although he would disband his battalion rather than surrender,
John S. Mosby would again provide leadership - setting an example of postwar
reconciliation.

© American Publishing Group