ALS signed “Jno. S. Mosby,” one page both sides, 7.75 x 10, October 13, 1900. Letter to Samuel Houston Letcher, son of the former governor of Virginia, John Letcher. In part: “I am glad to hear that you are collecting material for a biography of your father, as his life covered an interesting and momentous period in Virginia history. I never met him privately but once. I was first a private in the 1st Va. Cavalry, when Gen. J. E. B. Stuart was its Colonel: When Stuart became brigadier general, Gov. Letcher appointed W. E. Jones—my captain—to be Colonel of the regiment. Jones on Feby. 14th, 62 made me his adjutant. The regiment retired as rear guard of Johnston's army from Centreville & went to the Peninsula. Just as we got there the Confed. Conscript Act passed that preserved the organizations as they were—but allowed the men to elect company officers, & these elected field officers. Fitz Lee—who had been lieutenant colonel—was elected over Jones. The Conscript Act was silent as to regimental staff officers—adjutants—quartermasters & commissaries. It was supposed that these wd holdover but assuming that Fitz Lee wanted to select his own adjutant, within an hour after the election was over, I wrote & handed him my resignation. He promptly accepted it & did me an unintentional favor—If he had retained me in the regiment I would have been over shadowed & never heard of. It was an unintentional kindness Fitz did me for wh[ich] I do not feel in the least grateful. I had not had a furlough or seen my family for a year. On my way home l called on Gov. Letcher about getting a commission in the State troops under FIoyd—This was in May 62. But nothing came of it. I returned to the army the day of the battle of Seven Pines—Stuart invited me to serve as a scout (not as a spy) for him at his headquarters—Wh[ich] I did. In Jany: 63 he told me that he had asked for a Captain's commission for me: in anticipation of its coming he let me have a detail of men from the 1st Va. Cavalry…I began operations in Northern VA about Feby 1st: 1863 with this detachment—On the night of Mch: 8th-63 we captured Gen. Stoughton at Fairfax C. H. & brought him to Culpepper C. H. When I went to the telegraph office to send a telegram to Stuart the operator told me that he was on the train due in a few hours from Richmond—He sent my telegram and Stuart recd. it on the train. I met him at the depot when the train arrived. He was overjoyed—& handed me a Captains Commission from Gov: Letcher: he had been to Richmond—had applied to the Confederate Government for one for me—& although I had been mentioned in a general order by Gen: Lee in announcing Stuart‘s ride around McCleIlan, the commission was refused. He then got a commission for me from Governor Letcher. Stuart—seeing my disappointment when he handed me the commission, remarked—‘l think you can get the Confederate government to recognize it’—I rather curtly replied—‘I don’t want any recognition from them.’ I never saw your father afterward—I still have his commission among my papers. I never brought it to the notice of the Confederate government, but returned the next day to the field of my operations—It is clear that I have never been one of Virginia’s ‘favorite sons’—‘Sparta has many a worthier son than he.’—Although I was not raised a Democrat, but an Albemarle Whig, I voted with your father for Douglas in 1860.” In fine condition, with intersecting folds, a trivial chip to one edge, and some slight show-through from writing to opposing sides.
An extraordinary letter with Mosby mentioning in particular his initial struggles—while he loved being in the field, he showed little interest in the day-to-day routines of military life, and most saw him as an indifferent soldier. This conflicted with the style of the born-and-bred military man Fitzhugh Lee—who Mosby detested in the first place—leading him to resign from his position as adjutant (he hated the paperwork involved), as well as his commission as lieutenant. Knowing J. E. B. Stuart from some previous scouting missions, Mosby was able to attach to his staff despite the lack of a commission. Following one of his most daring raids resulting in the capture of General Edwin Stoughton, Governor Letcher desired to recognize him and issued a captain's commission in the Provisional Army of Virginia, even though it had long ceased to exist—still, Mosby was indignant at having not been legitimately commissioned by the Confederate government. Clearly, however, he appreciated the gesture, having kept the commission with his papers for the rest of his life. A positively exceptional letter with this autobiographical sketch of Mosby's early service and military career, along with the association of being written to the governor's son. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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