y, when a party of General John D. Imboden's
rangers, in the Shenandoah Valley, made a rapid raid to Romney, farther
west, where they captured several men, horses, and wagons, having taken
our forces entirely by surprise. The success which characterized these
forays was not only disgraceful to ourselves, and very disheartening,
but it gave the Rebels an audacious effrontery and malignant boldness,
which led them into more frequent and reckless movements. But our men
were a little more on the alert, and thus averted, to a great extent,
the injury which was intended.

_February 25._--To-day Fitz-Hugh Lee, almost in the very face of our
pickets, crossed the Rappahannock near Falmouth, attacked by surprise a
camp, where he captured one hundred and fifty prisoners, but was not
able to return without some loss. The next day General W. E. Jones
marched with a brigade into the Valley, attacked and routed two
regiments of General Milroy's cavalry, and, with slight loss from his
command, escaped with about two hundred prisoners. The most daring,
however, of all these raids was made by Major White, with his band of
Loudon County rangers, which differs not much from guerillas, into
Maryland, where they captured a few prisoners, but spent most of their
time and strength in plunder. Poolesville was the scene of their
depredations.

It did seem as though nearly every Rebel cavalry officer had been
touched with a magic wand which filled him with the most weird and
romantic views of warfare, and led him into enterprises almost as wild
as any of Dick Turpin's. Fauquier County was the theatre of several of
these movements by Captain Randolph, of the Black Horse Cavalry. And in
these days appeared another partisan, whose name for the first time
flashes out in big capitals in the official as well as other bulletins,
amid most startling manoeuvrings: it is John S. Mosby. To the Harris
Light this gentleman was not wholly unknown, and we distinctly remember
the time when he was a prisoner in our hands. It appears that he was
then sent to Old Capitol Prison at Washington. Not long thereafter he
was released; and, being bent on revenge, and naturally fitted for
guerilla operations, he soon received permission from his chief, to
operate on an independent plan.

This Mosby, as we have been informed by an acquaintance of his, a Rebel
soldier who has known him from early life, has always been a sort of
guerilla--deserting from his father's house