at hand,
and on June 10, 1862, he organized his first company. This was the
nucleus around which he subsequently shaped his ideal command. The fame
of his achievements had already spread throughout Virginia and Maryland,
and attracted to his standard many kindred spirits from both States. No
conscripting was necessary. Those for whom this mode of warfare
possessed a charm would brave hardship and danger for the privilege of
enlisting under his banner. His recruits from Maryland, and many of
those from Virginia, were compelled to pass through the Federal pickets
in order to join his command. Yet great care had to be exercised in the
selection of his men, and not every applicant was received. If an
unworthy soldier procured admission, so soon as the mistake was
discovered he was sent under guard as a conscript to the regular
service.

Mosby reserved the right to select all of his officers, who were
invariably chosen from those who had already demonstrated their fitness
for this particular service. It has been said of a great military hero
that the surest proof of his genius was his skill in finding out genius
in others, and his promptness in calling it into action. Mosby, in his
limited sphere, displayed a similar talent, and to this faculty, almost
as much as any one thing, may be attributed his success with his
enlarged command. When a sufficient number of men had enlisted to form a
new company, he would have them drawn up in line and his adjutant would
read to them the names of those selected for officers, with the
announcement that all who were not in favor of their election could step
out of the ranks and go to the regular service. Of course no one ever
left. In order to comply with the law, the form of an election was then
gone through with, and their commander's choice ratified. In no other
body of troops were all the officers thus _unanimously_ elected.

Mosby's command, as finally organized, consisted of eight companies of
cavalry and one of mounted artillery, officered by a colonel, a
lieutenant-colonel, and a major, with the usual complement of company
officers. But the entire force was seldom combined. Instead of this,
they would be divided into two or more detachments operating in
different places. So it was not at all unusual for an attack to be made
the same night upon Sheridan's line of transportation in the valley,
upon the pickets guarding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, upon the
outposts in Fairfax