SCV Honors Martyred Mosby's Rangers
Sons of Confederate Veterans Ceremony Honors Seven Men Tied to Mosby’s Rangers; Keynote Urges Duty, Truth, and Remembrance
Sons of Confederate Veterans Ceremony Honors Seven Men Tied to Mosby’s Rangers; Keynote Urges Duty, Truth, and Remembrance
An evening ceremony hosted by the Col. John S. Mosby Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) #1237, opened with welcome remarks from Commander Dwayne Mauck, a presentation of colors, and prayers led by SCV Chaplain Buzz Gregory. Attendees recited the Pledge of Allegiance and saluted the Virginia and Confederate flags before turning to the night’s main purpose: remembering seven men executed after capture during the Civil War, six of them from Mosby’s Rangers.
Keynote speaker James Diehl, Brigade Commander for the Virginia SCV, delivered an address titled “For the Last Time? A Challenge for Today.” A retired Marine officer with decades in federal service, Diehl framed the program around duty, the laws of war, and public memory. He said he would focus less on the Union officers involved and more on the character of the Rangers themselves.
Diehl recounted the retaliatory execution ordered by Col. John S. Mosby following the hangings—an act Mosby later said he regretted having to do, but not doing his duty. Diehl then led a solemn call-and-response “roll,” asking the crowd to join after each third reading of a name: Thomas Anderson; Carter (surname only provided); David Joan; Lucian Love; Thomas Overby; Gallatin Willis; and Henry Rhodes, described as a teenage bystander shot after the chaos in town. After the final call of each name, the audience replied, “Died a Southern hero.”
“Men don’t really die until their names are said for the last time,” Diehl said, citing a…