American Historical Ephemera & Photography

5 3/4 x 7 1/2 in. sepia-toned albumen photograph of CSA Colonel and partisan ranger John Singleton Mosby, on mount signed and inscribed by Mosby, "Very Respectfully Yours, Jno. S. Mosby." A photograph of Mosby in uniform, seated against a simple backdrop, with blindstamp in print at lower right for "Bendann Bros., Balto." Matted and framed, 13 1/2 x 15 1/2 in. (photograph in very fine condition with few small spots, light toning and few minor stains to mount, unexamined outside frame). 

Mosby enlisted as private in his native Virginia and was soon appointed Major of the "Virginia Volunteers," composed of two mounted companies and eight infantry companies. The Confederate Congress passed the Partisan Ranger Act in April 1862 while Mosby was scouting for J.E.B. Stuart on the Peninsula. Mosby was captured in July and held for ten days in the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC before being part of the first exchange of prisoners in the war. By the end of the year, Mosby and Stuart were engaging in raids behind enemy lines. Mosby was then in command of the 43rd Virginia Cavalry which became known as "Mosby's Raiders/Rangers," and he earned the nickname "Gray Ghost."

After the war Mosby became friends with Ulysses Grant, eventually working as his election manager in Virginia. He later befriended Rutherford B. Hayes and James Garfield. Grant noted that he found Mosby to be "thoroughly honest and truthful," and Mosby was appointed to a number of government positions, including consul to Hong Kong and positions in the Justice Department.