| "The Dark Day of 1864" "Mosby
will hang ten of you for everyone of us", these were the
final words from William Thomas Overby to his
executioners, as the rope tightened around his neck, then
two whips cracked, sending the horse out from under him.
And then silence. This was the final scene of a tragic
drama that took place less than two hours before, in which
six of Mosby's Men had the tragic lead roles, in Front
Royal on September 23, 1864.
Colonel John S. Mosby, who was wounded at the time,
ordered Captain Sam Chapman to take a detachment into the
Valley and operate against Union General Philip Sheridan's
line of communications, as Sheridan advanced southward.
At daybreak on September 23rd, Chapman and several
Rangers rode, probing for the enemy. They followed the
Gooney Manor Road and a few miles south of town the
Rangers saw an ambulance train, with a small escort,
enroute towards Front Royal.
Chapman hurried back to his men and organizes his
ambush. As the attack begins, Chapman realizes that he
fighting against two divisions of Union Cavalry. He
immediately orders a retreat. During the retreat six of
Mosby's men were captured and executed without trial. Four
were shot and the last two were hung from a walnut tree
here on Richardson's Hill refusing to surrender the
location of Mosby's headquarters.
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