NamSouth

[btownsend]

Johnny Cummings was a good friend of mine who lived between The Plains and Marshall. His mother told me that her grandmother told her, that she was not allowed to go outside when Mosby came to visit as he was profane. They entertained him on the porch!

[Val Proto]

John Mosby could certainly be 'profane'. However, he was not so in general conversation. When angry, he could be so, but he was always aware of the presence of ladies and children and of his position as an attorney. Mosby was a loving husband and father, married to a devout Catholic woman, Pauline Clarke. He did not swear in front of children although he might have - in his old age - let fly the occasional d**n or h**l, but certainly his language was hardly 'blue' - at least when he was not terribly provoked. It may be that the family who kept him on the front porch were overly sensitive or it may be that the topics discussed were such that Mosby might indulge is unseemly language.

It is said that he forbade his men to swear during the war as they were housed in civilian domiciles and he did not wish to have them thrown out as 'unfit' to reside with the citizens of 'his' Confederacy or to influence in a coarsening way, those households. However, he did permit some mild expletives when dealing with the enemy! 'Surrender, you d**ned Yankee or I'll blow your brains out!' was, I believe, considered acceptable. But then, no civilians would probably have been present when such a statement was made!

My favorite 'swearing story' involves the severe injury Mosby suffered to his face and eye when he was thrown from a carriage after the footboard gave way when he leaned down to disentangle the reins of one of the team he was driving. He was carried, bleeding and unconscious into the University of Virginia hospital where a surgeon prepared to operate on his fractured skulll and ruined left eye. Not wanting to begin surgery while Mosby was comatose lest he die under the anesthetic, the surgeon had his assistant try to rouse the elderly man by shouting in his ear, 'What is your name!' over and over again. About the fourth time, a harsh voice answered, 'None of your G*d d****d business!' This was followed by a spate of swearing that would have done Mosby's first commander - 'Grumble' Jones - proud! The surgeon turned and, smiling, said, 'He's conscious!'

[btownsend]

'He's conscious!'

Cute!