John Singleton Mosby and the Sabre

 

                                                           

                                                     John S. Mosby

Recollections of J.F. Breazeale published in Manassas Journal, September 25, 1914

“A few weeks ago I had the good fortune to spend one of the most pleasant days of my life out upon the battlefield (Manassas Battlefield) with the Colonel.  He had not seen the battlefield in fifty three yers and while his step was probably not quite as elastic as it was then, his memory was just as clear as it was when he rode upon the field July 21, 1861.  Here was a man who brought a new system into cavalry tactics.  He has the utmost contempt for the sabre.  “I never saw a man killed with a sabre cut during the war,” he said.  “I remember very well one day in 1861, we charged into a regiment of Yankee cavalry.  A great big cavalry man, weighing over two hundred pounds, rode straight at me.  I hardly weighed a hundred and twenty.  He rose is the saddle and struck overhand with all his might.  My right arm was up in this position,” said the Colonel (holding up his arm as if in the act of firing pistol).  I dodged my head to the left and the blow struck me squarely on the shoulder.  It made a black place there for a week or two but it did not hurt me any.  I was always glad of this encounter as it proved to me the absolute worthlessness of the sabre."

                                          Mosby's Grave, Warrenton, Virginia

                                                        Civil War Humor 1861-1865

A brief but fascinating look at humor in the Civil War including: (1) Stories Around the Campfire, (2) Parody, (3) the Irish, (4) Humorous Incidents, (5) Civil War Humorists, and (6) Lincoln.

   The 1865 Fall of Richmond in Pictures