Rebel: The Life and Times of John Singleton Mosby - Softcover

Siepel, Kevin H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312015070 ISBN 13: 9780312015077

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1988

Synopsis

Rebel is the first complete biography of Col. John S. Mosby, one of the  Confederacy's best-known practitioners of guerrilla warfare. The book not only covers his early life and wartime exploits, but also delves into his postwar life, breaking new ground in the process. Mosby, one-time nemesis of the U.S. government, not only became a staunch Republican and the friend of Republican presidents, but also went on to serve in crusading positions as U.S. consul in Hong Kong, as a Land Office special agent in Nebraska and Alabama, and as an attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice. A fighter for much of his long life, he was nonetheless thoroughly revolted by the carnage being perpetrated in Europe as he approached his death in 1916.

About this title

From the Back Cover

John Singleton Mosby (1833-1916) was the Confederacy's best-known practitioner of guerrilla warfare. At heart a Unionist, he nonetheless joined the Southern cause when his home state of Virginia seceded. He served first in the cavalry and later as commander of a partisan unit in Northern Virginia, an area he so thoroughly dominated militarily that it became known on both sides as "Mosby's Confederacy." He and his small band routed Federal cavalry, appropriated supplies, and destroyed communications and supply lines. His operations tied up such large numbers of Federal troops that sufficient force could not be gathered to break Robert E. Lee's army till April 1965. No other Confederate officer received as many commendations from Lee as did Mosby. His narrow escapes and impossible exploits (including the capture of a Union general from his bed) earned him status as a cavalry commander equal to Stuart and Forrest, and a preeminence among the partisan leaders of history.Mosby was only 31 when the war ended. Rebel fully explores his long and eventful career: his political battles; his close friendships with former enemies; his association with presidents from Ulysses S. Grant to Theodore Roosevelt; his service as U.S. consul in Hong Kong; and his involvement in the West's range-fencing crisis. In the process this book reveals the fierce independence and eccentric vision of one of America's most controversial, uncompromising figures.

About the Author

Kevin H. Siepel, most recently the author of the two-volume Conquistador Voices, writes on personal, historical, and environmental themes. His benchmark biography of Confederate cavalry officer John S. Mosby has proven durable, as has his biography of western New York state pioneer Joseph Bennett, which also broke new ground. Conquistador Voices takes a fresh look at the Spanish Conquest of the Americas, making heavy use of the conquistadors' own recollections to tell the tale.  Siepel's essays and articles have appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, Foreign Service Journal, Civil War, Wild West, two Chicken Soup for the Soul volumes, and elsewhere. One of his Monitor essays was translated into several languages and published worldwide by Readers Digest. Mr. Siepel lives in western New York state. Foreword writer Eugene McCarthy (1916-2005) represented Minnesota in both House and Senate and played a key role in the presidential race of 1968.

Edition details

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0312015070
• ISBN 13: 9780312015077
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 346