The Partisans - Guerrilla Warriors of the Confederacy (Article 14)

They were called partisans, raiders, guerrillas, and irregulars by many; but rouges, killers, and criminals by others. They attacked Union Army troops, trains, bridges, and even an occasional fortress; but others also attacked civilians, including women and children, and robbery became a way of life for some. Although they were authorized by the Confederate government, military control was tenuous at best. While most considered themselves patriots and were proud of their Confederate alliance, others were fiercely independent and resisted any influence on their actions by the Southern military officers or politicians. Their leaders were men named Mosby, Quantrill, McNeill, White, and Monday (whose first name was Sue and was often mistakenly described in the press as a woman). Their forces operated mostly in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas.

President Abraham Lincoln and his first and second Secretaries of War, Simon Cameron and Edwin Stanton, could not understand how these irregular Confederate operatives could wreak so much havoc, for so long, without being caught. But, the Union Army did try, very hard, to catch them, diverting valuable resources to the hunt with only limited success; and more than one General vowed to bring them down, only to fail. Lincoln said they were “like a bur under the saddle” and in 1863, after Confederate General Lee retreated back South after the battle at Gettysburg,  Lincoln predicted that “As their rebellion grows weaker, it will turn more and more to guerrilliasm.”

Lincoln knew that the Confederate government had passed a “Partisan Ranger Act” which gave authority to designated guerrilla bands with the understanding that they would agree to place themselves under the command of a General Officer if needed for a major campaign; in the meantime they could operate with near autonomy. Some willingly accepted occasional directives to attack certain targets and became invaluable to Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee, Joseph Johnston and J.E.B. Stuart.  Others only remembered the “autonomy and guerrilla” sections of their authorization and never integrated or cooperated, even temporarily, into regular forces.

Unique to these groups, under the Partisan Act, was a provision that that their units would be paid by the Confederate Army for “any supplies, arms, and munitions” which they seized from the Union. With such a lucrative bounty, enlistments in Partisan bands, especially in Virginia, soon exceeded those into the regular Confederate Army.

So, who were these men, and what did they accomplish for the Confederate States of America? The following is a look at two distinctly different Partisan leaders and the results of their campaigns.

John Singleton Mosby had opposed secession and was indifferent towards slavery, but he said, “Virginia is my mother, and I can not fight against my mother.” A lawyer by training, when Virginia became the last of eleven states to secede, Mosby became an officer in the Confederate Army. He was a small man but once said, “I was glad to see that little men were a match for big men through being armed.”  Other lawyers considered him an intense competitor and one said that “he had a strong independent streak” which may explain his early difficulties with senior commanders. However, Mosby’s lack of respect for traditional military customs was offset by his courage and leadership, some said recklessness, when engaging the enemy; which led General Stuart to allow Mosby to resign his commission and recruit a partisan band.  Mosby gladly accepted the opportunity and willingly agreed to continue to aid General Johnston and General Lee, and, of course, Stuart’s forces whenever requested. 

Mosby’s raiders were so effective attacking Union supply lines and then disappearing into the countryside that he was nicknamed “The Grey Ghost” by newspapers from both sides. The northern Virginia area where he operated was referred to as “Mosby’s Confederacy,” and in one daring raid, Mosby captured Union Brigadier General Edwin Sloughton, 30 soldiers, and 58 horses.  When Lincoln was informed he said, “Well I’m sorry for that because I can make new Brigadier Generals, but I can’t make horses.”  The President was well aware that Sloughton was not well regarded by his superior officers and was later forced to resign his commission after a prisoner exchange.  Mosby was proud of his service to the Confederacy, however, after the war he wanted to again become a United States citizen and his request for pardon was approved.  He returned to the practice of law and became acquainted with President Ulysses S. Grant who appointed his old enemy to positions in the diplomatic corps and in the U.S. Department of Justice.  Mosby lived a long and productive life and died in 1916 at the age of 82.

On the other hand, hundreds of miles west, William Clarke Quantrill wanted nothing to do with the Confederate military or government; and the Southern officers in Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas wanted nothing to do with Quantrill.  They were glad, however, that, as an authorized Partisan, he had decided that the Union soldiers and abolitionists were his enemy, not their Confederate forces.  In a move he later regretted, Confederate General Thomas Hindman actually conferred the rank of Captain on Quantrill believing that might bring some control over the Raider’s activities; but Quantrill promptly promoted himself to “Colonel” and never followed any directive from Hindman.  While Quantrill attacked several Union encampments and supply trains, he most frequently led raids into communities in Kansas and Missouri.  Not satisfied to plunder the few belongings of the towns-people, his band would kill several of the men as a lesson to “Unionists and abolitionists.”  On August 21, 1863, with over 400 raiders, Quantrill attacked Lawrence, Kansas which was a known abolitionist community, and gave the order to “kill every man big enough to carry a gun.”  Over 150 men of Lawrence died that day, including some boys as young as twelve.  However, in a message mixed with some chivalry and some callousness, Quantrill had directed his forces that, “No women should be shot but remove their wedding bands.”  One very drunk raider was captured the next morning and killed by a civilian, becoming Quantrill’s only casualty. 

After that raid, the Governor of Missouri, despite being a strong Southern sympathizer, compared having Quantrill on the South’s side by saying, “It was like having won an elephant in a raffle.”  And Robert E. Lee said, “The evils resulting from their organization more than counterbalance the good they accomplish.”  Even many of his own raiders became disenchanted and Quantrill’s leadership began to wane, until he had fewer than thirty men left.  Of those, some became infamous after the war as they continued their criminal activity including Frank and Jesse James, and Cole and Jim Younger.  Quantrill and his smaller gang survived until the end of the war, conducting raids on Union supply lines, but he was wounded and captured while hiding in Kentucky on May 10, 1865.  He died of his injuries two weeks later while in a Union prison.  He was only 27 years old.

In my view, Mosby was a Confederate patriot who served his new country as his conscience guided him, although his post war ties to Ulysses S. Grant later turned some Southerners against him.  Quantrill, on the other hand, was an opportunistic criminal, reviled by the North, but who also eventually lost the support of almost all Confederate officials for his deliberate attacks on civilians.

But, as partisans and guerrillas, both fulfilled their missions to destroy Union resources and divert the attention of Union Commanders; and they both perplexed Abraham Lincoln.

Contact the author at gadorris2@gmail.com