had
his camp.

Mosby and his men cantered down the hillside to the road as Wyndham's
force moved out of the village and then broke into a mad gallop to
overtake them.

* * * * *

It was always hard to be sure whether jackets were dirty gray or faded
blue. As the Union soldier had a not unfounded belief that the
Virginia woods were swarming with bushwhackers (Confederate
guerillas), the haste of a few men left behind to rejoin the column
was quite understandable. The rearguard pulled up and waited for them.
Then, at about twenty yards' range, one of the New Yorkers, a
sergeant, realized what was happening and shouted a warning:

"They're Rebs!"

Instantly one of Mosby's men, Ned Hurst, shot him dead. Other
revolvers, ready drawn, banged, and several Union cavalrymen were
wounded. Mosby and his followers hastily snatched the bridles of three
others, disarmed them and turned, galloping away with them.

By this time, the main column, which had not halted with the
rearguard, was four or five hundred yards away. There was a brief
uproar, a shouting of contradictory orders, and then the whole column
turned and came back at a gallop. Mosby, four of his men, and the
three prisoners, got away, but Beattie and two others were captured
when their horses fell on a sheet of ice treacherously hidden under
the snow. There was no possibility of rescuing them. After the capture
of Beattie and his companions, the pursuit stopped. Halting at a
distance, Mosby saw Wyndham form his force into a compact body and
move off toward Aldie at a brisk trot. He sent off the prisoners under
guard of two of his men and followed Wyndham's retreat almost to Aldie
without opportunity to inflict any more damage.

During his stop at Middleburg, Wyndham had heaped coals on a growing
opposition to Mosby, fostered by pro-Unionists in the neighborhood.
Wyndham informed the townspeople that he would burn the town and
imprison the citizens if Mosby continued the attacks on his outposts.
A group of citizens, taking the threat to heart, petitioned Stuart to
recall Mosby, but the general sent a stinging rebuke, telling the
Middleburgers that Mosby and his men were risking their lives which
were worth considerably more than a few houses and barns.

Mosby was also worried about the antipathy to the Scott Law and the
partisan ranger system which was growing among some of the general
officers of the Confederacy. To counteract s