The Gray Ghost Colonel John Singleton Mosby

Born December 6, 1833, in Powhatan County, VA, John Singleton Mosby was the son of Alfred and Virginny Mosby. At the age of seven, Mosby and his family moved to Albemarle County near Charlottesville. Educated locally, Mosby was a small child and was frequently picked upon, however he rarely backed down from a fight. Entering the University of Virginia in 1849, Mosby proved to be an able student and excelled at Latin and Greek. While a student, he became involved in a fight with a local bully, during which he shot the man in the neck. Expelled from school, Mosby was convicted of unlawful shooting and sentenced to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Following the trial, several of the jurors petitioned for Mosbys release and on December 23, 1853, the governor issued a pardon. During his brief time in jail, Mosby befriended the local prosecutor, William J. Robertson, and indicated an interest in studying law. Reading law at Robertsons office, Mosby was finally admitted to the bar and opened his own practice in nearby Howardsville, VA. Shortly thereafter, he met Pauline Clarke and the two were married on December 30, 1857. Civil War: Settling in Bristol, VA, the couple had two children prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. Initially an opponent of secession, Mosby immediately enlisted in the Washington Mounted Rifles (1st Virginia Cavalry) when his state left the Union. Fighting as a private at the First Battle of Bull Run, Mosby found that military discipline and traditional soldiering were not to his liking. Despite this, he proved an able cavalryman and was soon promoted to first lieutenant and made adjutant of the regiment. As the fighting shifted to the Peninsula in the summer of 1862, Mosby volunteered to serve as a scout for Brigadier General J.E.B. Stuarts famed ride around the Army of the Potomac. Following this dramatic campaign, Mosby was captured by Union troops on July 19, 1862, near Beaver Dam Station. Taken to Washington, Mosby carefully observed his surroundings as he was moved to Hampton Roads to be exchanged. Noticing ships bearing Major General Ambrose Burnsides command arriving from North Carolina, he immediately reported this information to General Robert E. Lee upon being released. This intelligence assisted Lee in planning the campaign that culminated in the Second Battle of Bull Run. That fall, Mosby began lobbying Stuart to allow him to create an independent cavalry command in Northern Virginia. Operating under the Confederacys Partisan Ranger Law, this unit would conduct small, fast-moving raids on the Union lines of communication and supply. Seeking to emulate his hero from the American Revolution, partisan leader Francis Marion (The Swamp Fox), Mosby finally received permission from Stuart in December 1862, and was promoted to major the following March. Recruiting in Northern Virginia, Mosby created a force of irregular troops which were designated partisan rangers. Consisting of volunteers from all walks of life, they lived in the area, blending in with the populace, and came together when summoned by their commander. Conducting night raids against Union outposts and supply convoys, they struck where the enemy was weakest. Though his force grew in size (240 by 1864), it was seldom combined and often struck multiple targets in the same night. This dispersion of forces kept Mosbys Union pursuers off balance. On March 8, 1863, Mosby and 29 men raided the Fairfax County Court House and captured Brigadier General Edwin H. Stoughton while he slept. Other daring missions included attacks on Catlett Station and Aldie. In June 1863, Mosbys command was redesignated the 43rd Battalion of Partisan Rangers. Though pursued by Union forces, the nature of Mosbys unit allowed his men to simply fade away after each attack, leaving no trail to follow. Frustrated by Mosbys successes, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant issued an edict in 1864, that Mosby and his men were to be designated outlaws and hung without trial if captured. As Union forces under Major General Philip Sheridan moved into the Shenandoah Valley in September 1864, Mosby began operating against his rear. Later that month, seven of Mosbys men were captured and hung at Front Royal, VA by Brigadier General George A. Custer. Retaliating, Mosby responded in kind, killing five Union prisoners (two others escaped). A key triumph occurred in October, when Mosby succeeded in capturing Sheridans payroll during the Greenback Raid. As the situation in the Valley escalated, Mosby wrote to Sheridan on November 11, 1864, asking for a return to the fair treatment of prisoners. Sheridan agreed to this request and no further killings occurred. Frustrated by Mosbys raids, Sheridan organized a specially equipped unit of 100 men to capture the Confederate partisan. This group, with the exception of two men, was killed or captured by Mosby on November 18. Mosby, promoted to colonel in December, saw his command rise to 800 men, and continued his activities until the end of the war in April 1865. Unwilling to formally surrender, Mosby reviewed his men for the last time on April 21, 1865, before disbanding his unit. Postwar: Following the war, Mosby angered many in the South by becoming a Republican. Believing that it was the best way to help heal the nation, he befriended Grant and served as his presidential campaign chair in Virginia. In response to Mosbys actions, the former partisan received death threats and had his boyhood home burned down. In addition, at least one attempt was made on his life. To help protect him from these dangers, Grant appointed him as US Consul to Hong Kong in 1878. Returning to the US in 1885, Mosby worked as a lawyer in California for the Southern Pacific Railroad, before moving through a variety of governmental posts. Last serving as Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice (1904-1910), Mosby died in Washington DC on May 30, 1916, and was buried at Warrenton Cemetery in Virginia. Sources Civil War Home: John MosbyJohn S. Mosby Biography

The Glass Menagerie Essay - 1802 Words

The Glass Menagerie-Journal Entry #1 If you could change the outcome of the story, what change would you make? If I could change the outcome of the story, I would have allowed Laura and Jim O’Connor to get married. I would have made this change because then Amanda’s problem would have been solved, and Laura would have had financial support in the future. Another reason I would have made this change is because Jim O’Connor would have been the ideal man for Laura because he connected with her. He saw past her awkward fondness of a glass animal set. He also got Laura to take pride in herself. Another thing I would change is the early department of Tom. I understand that he was longing for adventure outside of the warehouse. I also†¦show more content†¦Tom’s memories also prohibited him from finding happiness and moving forward, but it also led to the creation of the play. All of the characters have ways to deal with their cruel memories, except Tom. Amanda has her happy days from her youth and Laura has her glass collection. Tom has no sufficient way of escape. He has tried escaping to the movies, but he came to realize that it was not a real way out. I dislike how Tennessee William’s uses both past and present tenses in the play because it is a bit puzzling. As you know, Tom is both a narrator and a character in the play. Younger Tom is the character and older Tom is the narrator. Older Tom speaks in past tense since he is telling his recollections. Younger Tom is speaking in present tense. The Sun Also Rises- Journal #4 Are you sympathetic or unsympathetic towards a character’s dilemma or difficult decision? I am sympathetic towards Jake Barnes’s problem. Jake Barnes was a soldier who fought in the World War I. During the war, he was wounded. Due to his injury, he is unable to have sex, which can cause problems, both mental and physical. For Jake, his injury causes two major problems which I feel are very unfortunate. 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Explanations for Criminal Behaviour Free Essays

Compare two explanations for criminal behaviour. Crime is simply the behaviour that breaks the law. However, as Standen points out, â€Å"the understanding of what actually constitutes crime varies according to historical, cultural and power dimensions which may rule different behaviours as criminal at different times†, (n. We will write a custom essay sample on Explanations for Criminal Behaviour or any similar topic only for you Order Now d, p. 1). The most obvious example of this is when the law changes. For example from viewing the list of criminal offences by the Legal Services Commission, aiding suicide became a crime in 1961, yet causing death by dangerous driving did not become a crime until 1988. Criminal behaviour can then be explained as the violation of the criminal code. Usually to be convicted of a crime, an individual needs to have acted deliberately and without justification of their actions. Understanding why crime occurs is a big problem, yet there are certain explanations that can explain criminal behaviour. Modern theories that attempt to explain criminal behaviour emphasise the nature versus nurture debate; genes set the limits on behaviour while the environment forms developments in the limits (Standen n. d: p. 2). Some of these theories put an emphasis on physical features. Sheldon developed somatypes, suggesting that broad and muscular mesomorphs were more likely to be criminals. His findings support the fact that criminals are more likely to be muscular, yet to date it is still unclear what the link is between mesomorphy and crime (Standen n. d: p. 3). Out of the numerous theories that try to explain criminal behaviour, there are two which can explain it more effectively; sociological and psychological. Sociological criminology examines group variables to crime. Bartol and Bartol suggest these variables include age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, personal relationships and ethnic-cultural affiliation (Bartol and Bartol, 2005: p. 5). These variables have important relationships with categories and patterns of crime. For example sociological criminology has determined that African American males from disadvantaged backgrounds are more represented as perpetrators of homicide. More black people are excluded from school, leading to the notion that young African American males are disproportionately involved in crime. Social class and poverty are involved in research on crime. Most sociological theories emphasise the lower a person’s social class; the more likely they are to display criminal behaviour. For example, a low class person who is living under poor economic conditions is more likely to commit a criminal offence such as burglary to survive. Schools in deprived areas have low academic achievement, which is a characteristic of many offenders. Schools in these areas can fail to engage with challenging pupils, causing them to truant and becoming involved in criminal behaviour. Standen suggests that challenging pupils will eventually fail to achieve the qualifications needed to escape having a criminal career (Standen, n. d: p. 9). Psychological criminology is the science of behaviour and mental processes of the criminal. Bartol and Bartol state that â€Å"whereas sociological criminology focuses on society and groups as a whole, psychological criminology focuses on individual criminal behaviour† (2005: p6). It centres on how criminal behaviour is acquired, maintained and modified. The â€Å"social and personality influences on criminal behaviour are considered along with the mental processes that mediate that behaviour† (Bartol and Bartol, 2005: p. 6). Eysenck developed a psychological theory of crime that suggests neuroticism and extroversion are linked to antisocial behaviour. Eysenck eventually developed the P variable, which was noticed by aggressive and impersonal behaviour. Individuals who score highly on the p variable scale are more likely to display criminal behaviour, for example if a person is abused as a child. Whether it is physically or mentally, the child will develop impersonal behaviour, detaching themselves from their social setting to cope with what is happening to them. Once the child has become detached, this can progress with them to adulthood and cause them to become violent and display criminal behaviour. William Glasser introduced rational choice theory which is seen as the most common reason why criminals do what they do. The theory suggests the offender is completely rational when they make the decision to commit a crime. Within choice theory there are three representations of criminal behaviour; the rational actor where individuals choose whether to do the crime; the predestined actor where criminals cannot control their urges causing them to commit crime and the victimised actor where the offender has been a victim of society. Choice theory therefore offers numerous explanations why a person could offend. Psychological and sociological theories are well represented and explain why criminal behaviour occurs. As suggested by Bartol and Bartol, crime occurs in a social context, so factors like race, ethnicity, gender and social class will always be involved in explaining criminal behaviour. Explaining criminal behaviour improves the understanding of why people commit crime. In the United Kingdom, the police force has been given more authority to tackle criminal behaviour with seizure measures (Whitehead 2011). This could help determine more in depth explanations as to why criminal behaviour occurs, especially in certain social divisions. How to cite Explanations for Criminal Behaviour, Essay examples