MOSBY, John Singleton (1833-1916). Autograph letter signed ("Jno S. Mosby") to Laura Ratcliffe (1836-1923), Washington D.C., 9 September 1905.

Two pages, 200 x 125mm (light scattered foxing on the first page). With original transmittal envelope, hand-addressed by Mosby to "Mrs. Laura Ratcliffe Hanna, Herndon, Virginia", cancelled Washington D.C., 9 September 1905.

Four decades after the close of the war, John S. Mosby reminisces with the Confederate spy who headquartered his rangers. Mosby makes plans to visit Ratcliffe’s home in Herndon, Virginia, writing: "I call you dear friend although it has been forty years since I saw you; for I can never forget the day General Stuart introduced me to you & how faithful you were during the trying days of the war.... I have several times met here a man who lives at Herndon who talked to me about you. Of course this has revived the recollection of the trying days when I used to see you in Fairfax. I...may probably stop over at Herndon to visit some of the old war scenes—If you have not forgotten me I w[oul]d like very much to see you again & talk of the old days & of the friends who have passed over the great river." Laura Ratcliffe met and befriended General J.E.B. Stuart when she was nursing wounded soldiers at his camp in the winter of 1861. Stuart later introduced her to his fellow cavalryman Mosby, and she would provide them both with intelligence on Union activity in Fairfax County. Mosby occasionally used the Ratcliffe home as his headquarters, and when his forces captured a large quantity of federal greenbacks, she held it for him. On 11 February 1863, Ratcliffe warned Mosby that the Union had set a trap for him near Frying Pan, thus saving his life.