The Civil War

The Civil War, fought between 1861 and 1865, was America's first totally industrialized war. Within the armies of the North and South, several Ranger units stood out as having significantly contributed to the war effort. While over four hundred Union and Confederate military units called themselves Rangers, very few of them actually conducted Ranger-type missions.

The unit commanded by Confederate Colonel John Singleton Mosby was one of the few units who conducted small unit operations, employing many of the tactics Francis Marion had developed a hundred years earlier. The independent operations Mosby's unit began in 1863 included numerous raids on Union installations, deep raids and prisoner snatches. Mosby's area of operation was primarily in Virginia and was so successful and slippery that he earned the nickname "The Gray Ghost". He kept his unit small, never exceeding more than 300 men, adhering to a doctrine based on the elements of speed, mobility, and surprise. Mosby's most famous achievement during the Civil War was the capture of Union Brigadier General Edwin Stoughton in 1863. Mosby's Rangers were disbanded on April 21st, 1865.