outred, only aimlessly and periodically active, and, moreover, were
on the point of dissolution at the outset.

Operating, for the most part, independently and in detached parties
the command offered no serious menace to citizens or soldiery, though
the latter were sometimes harassed and annoyed by them.

Mosby, who had greatly desired and often essayed their capture, was
finally given the opportunity for which he had eagerly waited.
Learning that the Rangers were encamped near Millville, W. Va.
(Keyes' Switch, as it was then called), he dispatched Captain Baylor
with a detachment of horse to that point.

Major Scott who, in 1867, wrote _Partisan Life With Mosby_, has this
to say of the fight which followed: "He (Baylor) took the precaution
to pass in between Halltown (where there was a brigade of infantry)
and the camp. When within fifty yards of the Loudoun Rangers the order
to charge was given. Two of them were killed, four wounded, and 65
taken prisoners, together with 81 horses with their equipments. The
rest of the command sought refuge in the bushes. The only loss which
Baylor sustained was Frank Helm, of Warrenton, who was wounded as he
charged among the foremost into the camp."

The day of the capture General Stevenson, commanding at Harper's
Ferry, and under whose orders the Rangers had been acting, sent the
following message to General Hancock at Winchester:

Harper's Ferry, _April 6, 1865._

Mosby surprised the camp of the Loudoun Rangers near Keyes'
Ford and cleaned them out. He made the attack about 10
a.m....

John D. Stevenson,
_Brigadier-General._

When Major-General Hancock, so distinguished in the Federal Army,
heard of Baylor's exploit he laughed heartily and exclaimed: "Well,
that is the last of the Loudoun Rangers."

As indeed it proved to be!

_Mosby's Command in its Relationship to Loudoun County._

From January, 1863, until the close of the war Colonel Mosby's
partisan operations were mostly confined to the counties of Loudoun
and Fauquier, this rich, pastoral country affording subsistence for
his command and the Blue Ridge a haven to which to retreat when hard
pressed by the superior numbers that, from time to time, were sent
against him. Here he planned and executed most of the daring coups
that were to win for him international fame.[31] Here also his men
were dispersed and reassembled with marvelous facility--one of
countless manifestations of his great origin