Colonel John S. Mosby was, like me, an attorney and not a very tall guy (I'm 5'7" and he was 5'6"). He was (not necessarily like me) also a bad m'fer. He was expelled from the University of Virginia after shooting a bully and was sentenced to one year in prison. He was eventually pardoned and released. His prosecutor liked and respected him so much that he invited Mosby to study law under him (prior to the days of law school). Although he opposed secession, he enlisted in the 1st Virginia Cavalry as a private and soon became a highly respected scout for JEB Stuart. Eventually he was given the mission to form a unit of Partisan Rangers. He spent the last 2 years of the Civil War wreaking havoc in Northern Virginia against occupying Union troops, surviving 3 serious wounds, and essentially became Public Enemy #1 from the Union perspective. He was the last significant Confederate officer to surrender.
Despite having fought for the Confederacy and being a dogged enemy, Mosby became a Republican after the war and also became very good friends with Ulysses S. Grant and compaigned for Grant for President in Virginia. This earned him the enmity of many Southerners who had idolized him as a hero during the war. He served as the U.S. Consul to Hong Kong
during the Grant administration (and worked tirelessly to eliminate rampant corruption in that office), and also held government posts during the Rutherford Hayes, William McKinley (both Union officers during the war) and Teddy Roosevelt administrations.
Just someone I find extremely interesting.
