The Strange Story of Harper's Ferry, with Legends of the Surrounding CountryBarry, Joseph
History
The Strange Story of Harper's Ferry, with Legends of the Surrounding Country
Barry, Joseph
Harpers Ferry (W. Va.) -- History; Harpers Ferry (W. Va.) -- History -- John Brown's Raid, 1859
Fine, who at one time lived in the
neighborhood, but who moved west long before the war. The son took his
mother's name and it is one that will ever be famous in that region on
account of his exploits. He and his mother were poor and, when a mere
boy, he used to drive a team for a free negro butcher named Joe Hagan,
who lived in Loudoun and used to attend the Harper's Ferry market with
his meat wagon. Mobley was at this time a lubberly, simple-looking lad,
and the pert youths of the town used to tease him. He gave no indication
then of the desperate spirit which he afterwards exhibited. On the
contrary, he appeared to be rather cowardly. When the war broke out,
however, he joined a company of confederate cavalry raised in Loudoun
county, and, although not much above seventeen years of age, he was
detailed by his captain as a scout to watch the federal army around his
native place. Under the circumstances, this was an important and
delicate duty. With this roving commission he, with a few others, ranged
the neighborhood of Niersville and Hillsborough and sometimes he came to
the bank of the Shenandoah at Harper's Ferry. He is said to have kept,
like Dugald Dalgetty, a sharp eye on his private interests, while
obeying to the letter the commands of his superiors. He was a great
terror of sutlers and wagonmasters and he is supposed to have captured
many rich prizes, displaying the most reckless courage and committing
some cold blooded murders. Like many other gentlemen of the road,
however, he had his admirers, and many anecdotes are told of his
forbearance and generosity. On the 5th of April, 1865--four days before
Lee's surrender--his career ended by his being shot to death by a party
of three soldiers of the union army, who had set a trap for him with the
connivance, perhaps, of some neighbors and pretended friends. His body,
with the head perforated in three places by bullets, was thrown, like a
sack of grain, across a horse's back and conveyed in triumph to Harper's
Ferry where it was exposed to public view in front of the headquarters.
The body was almost denuded by relic hunters who, with their jack
knives, cut pieces off his clothes as souvenirs of the war and of the
most noted of the Virginia guerillas.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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