American Historical Ephemera and Photography

One page, 8 x 10 1/2 in., old folds, ink staining/smearing, other staining/toning. On Department of Justice letterhead.

Mosby first asks his trusted correspondent "Sam" for the steamship schedule so that he can address a letter to someone named "Willie." He then turns to the subject of Charles E. Binns, an alleged deserter from Mosby's 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion, who Mosby simply refers to here as "Binns."

He writes: "Bringing up Binns alive before This generation does look a good deal like the resurrection of Cain. It was Welt Hatcher who was with Binns when he committed the outrage at Frank Rixley's. I suppose Cain wd. now deny that he ever committed murder. You see I have imposed on Binns the curse of the Wandering Jew - Immortality. A hundred years hence he will be roaming through Fairfax begging somebody to kill him."

Mosby served as an assistant attorney in the Federal Department of Justice from 1904-1910. When one of his former rangers, Dulaney Richards, died in January of 1909, Mosby penned a letter praising Richards and dogging his stepfather, Charles Binns, which was printed in the 22 February issues of the Fairfax Herald. When Binns replied to Mosby's published letter, an anonymous subject publicly accused Binns of being a deserter from Mosby's command.

Charles E. Binns, of Loudon County, joined up with Mosby's command in Middleburg along with his stepson Dulaney Richards. Binns had served with Mosby for about six months, when, according to James Williamson's Mosby's Rangers, he "committed some acts of rascality" while drunk. Mosby reportedly ordered Binns' arrest, and presumably to escape punishment, Binns deserted the command. He then offered his services as a scout and guide to Colonel Charles Russell Lowell, commander of the cavalry brigade of the Union XXII Corps. This act made Binns not only a deserter, but a much reviled turncoat.

Letter accompanied by a typewritten transcription.