ent promptly to Stuart, pointing out Pope's disinterest in
his own lines of supply and communication, and asked that he be given
about twenty men and detailed to get into Pope's rear and see what
sort of disturbance he could create.

Stuart doubted the propriety of sending men into what was then
Stonewall Jackson's territory, but he gave Mosby a letter to Jackson,
recommending the bearer highly and outlining what he proposed doing,
with the request that he be given some men to try it. With this
letter, Mosby set out for Jackson's headquarters.

He never reached his destination. On the way, he was taken prisoner by
a raiding force of New York cavalry, and arrived, instead, at Old
Capitol jail in Washington. Stuart requested his exchange at once, and
Mosby spent only about ten days in Old Capitol, and then was sent down
the Potomac on an exchange boat, along with a number of other
prisoners of war, for Hampton Roads.

The boat-load of prisoners, about to be exchanged and returned to
their own army, were allowed to pass through a busy port of military
embarkation and debarkation, with every opportunity to observe
everything that was going on, and, to make a bad matter worse, the
steamboat captain was himself a Confederate sympathizer. So when
Mosby, from the exchange boat, observed a number of transports lying
at anchor, he had no trouble at all in learning that they carried
Burnside's men, newly brought north from the Carolinas. With the help
of the steamboat captain, Mosby was able to learn that the transports
were bound for Acquia Creek, on the Potomac; that meant that the
re-enforcements were for Pope.

* * * * *

As soon as he was exchanged, Mosby made all haste for Lee's
headquarters to report what he had discovered. Lee, remembering Mosby
as the man who had scouted ahead of Stuart's Ride Around MacClellan,
knew that he had a hot bit of information from a credible source. A
dispatch rider was started off at once for Jackson, and Jackson struck
Pope at Cedar Mountain before he could be re-enforced. Mosby returned
to Stuart's headquarters, losing no time in promoting a pair of .44's
to replace the ones lost when captured, and found his stock with
Stuart at an all-time high as a result of his recent feat of espionage
while in the hands of the enemy.

So he was with Stuart when Stuart stopped at Laura Ratcliffe's home,
and was on hand when Stuart wanted to make one of his characteris