Blazer's Scouts was a Scout Dragoon unit of the Union Army during the second half of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. They were particularly active in tracking down and confronting Confederate States Army

partisans Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Itali ...

and guerrillas in

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

; especially those of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

John S. Mosby. They specialized in anti-guerrilla warfare, counterinsurgency, dragoon style sudden attacks, hit-and-run, reconnaissance and scouting for gathering intelligence in enemy areas, and tracking targets hunt.

History

Colonel

Carr B. White Carr Baily White (1823–1871) was a physician, an officer during the Mexican War and a general during the American Civil War. His Civil War service was entirely in western Virginia and Maryland. White was born in Mason County, Kentucky, but mov ...

organized the original cavalry company (initially known as the Brigade Scouts or Spencer's Scouts) at

Fayetteville, West Virginia Fayetteville is a town in and the county seat of Fayette County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,887 at the 2020 census. Fayetteville lies adjacent to the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve and is directly south of th ...

, in mid-September 1863. They were first commanded by

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

John W. Spencer of the 9th West Virginia Infantry, but he soon was replaced by two lieutenants from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

s, the

12th Twelfth can mean: *The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution *The Twelfth, a Protestant celebration originating in Ireland In mathematics: * 12th, an ordinal number; as in the item in an order twelve places from the beginning, follo ...

and 91st. Men from these three regiments constituted the unit. After engaging in several operations to negate the Confederate partisans, the scouts were disbanded only two months after being formed, although they did take the field briefly in December. Brigadier General

George Crook George R. Crook (September 8, 1828 – March 21, 1890) was a career United States Army officer who served in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. He is best known for commanding U.S. forces in the Geronimo Campaign, 1886 campaign that ...

, the commander of the

Army of West Virginia The Army of West Virginia served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and was the primary field army of the Department of West Virginia. It campaigned primarily in West Virginia, Southwest Virginia and in the Shenandoah Valley. It is no ...

(also known as the

VIII Corps 8th Corps, Eighth Corps, or VIII Corps may refer to: * VIII Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VIII Army Corps (German Confederation) * VIII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Arm ...

) reformed the unit in the spring of 1864 under

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Richard R. Blazer, and the company became popularly known as Blazer's Scouts. Their mission was to protect Union supply lines and also combat Confederate guerrilla parties. They were hand-picked men selected from the

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth Avenue * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a cont ...

, 9th,

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the Musical note, note thirteen scale degrees from the root (chord), root of a chord (music), chord and also the interval (music), interval between the root and the thirteenth. The thirteenth is m ...

and 14th West Virginia infantry regiments, 2nd West Virginia Cavalry and the 12th, 23rd, 34th, 36th Ohio, and 91st volunteer infantry regiments. They played important roles in the "Dublin Raid" on the

Virginia and Tennessee Railroad The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was an historic gauge railroad in the Southern United States, much of which is incorporated into the modern Norfolk Southern Railway. It played a strategic role in supplying the Confederacy during the American ...

and in Major General

David Hunter David Hunter (July 21, 1802 – February 2, 1886) was an American military officer. He served as a Union general during the American Civil War. He achieved notability for his unauthorized 1862 order (immediately rescinded) emancipating slaves ...

's Lynchburg Raid. Reassigned with the VIII Corps to the Army of the Shenandoah under

Philip H. Sheridan Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularized the n ...

, Blazer's Scouts began dueling with Mosby's Rangers in a series of operations in the

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The Valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the east ...

during the Valley Campaigns of 1864. They used the superior firepower of their

Spencer repeating rifle The Spencer repeating rifle was a 19th-century American lever-action firearm invented by Christopher Spencer. The Spencer carbine was a shorter and lighter version designed for the cavalry. The Spencer was the world's first military metallic-c ...

s effectively, and initially thwarted Confederate efforts in the region. However, on November 18, 1864, at Kabletown, West Virginia, Mosby was able to defeat Blazer's Scouts, inflicting 42 casualties, almost half of the Union force. Blazer himself was captured and remained a POW for the rest of the war. The remaining members would continue doing scout duties, until January 1865 when Blazer's Scouts were officially disbanded. North & South - The Official Magazine of the Civil War Society, Volume 11, Number 2, Page 54, accessed April 16, 2010
"Chasing a Gray Ghost"

References

Ohio in the Civil War: Blazer's Scouts

West Virginia in the Civil War: Blazer's Scouts

Notes

{{Reflist Units and formations of the Union army from Ohio Units and formations of the Union army from West Virginia Irregular forces of the American Civil War 1863 establishments in West Virginia Military units and formations established in 1863 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865

History

See also

References

Notes