Historian shines new light on tale of hanged Confederate

William Thomas "Billy" Overby, a member of the Confederate guerrilla group Mosby's Rangers, lived most of his life in Sharpsburg, not far from what is today Thomas Crossroads.

He was hanged on Sept. 23, 1864, in Front Royal, Va., by a band of rogue Federals. Offered freedom if he would disclose Mosby's whereabouts, Overby supposedly told his captors, minutes before the noose tightened, "Mosby will hang 10 of you for every one of us."

For years those words haunted Carolyn Cary, longtime Fayette County historian. Last March she self-published "William Thomas Overby: Proud Partisan Ranger," the first biography of this little-known figure.

Cary made six trips to the National Archives in Washington. She visited museums, local historical societies, university libraries and scoured every ribbon of asphalt in northern Virginia, where Overby fought. All told, her research took six years — nearly twice as long as Overby served the Confederacy.

"I spent more money on this project than I paid for my first house," said Cary, editor of the "The History of Fayette County," published in 1977.

She has fleshed out details from Overby's life. He was born April 2, 1837, in Brunswick County, Va., and at age 3 his family moved to Coweta County. His father farmed land where the Thomas Overby Subdivision sits today.

In May 1861, Overby joined the Company A, 7th Regiment Georgia Volunteers Infantry. He fought at First Manassas, Yorktown, Williamsburg, the Seven Days Battle, then Second Manassas, where he was "severely wounded." He switched to cavalry. Cary doesn't know if Overby ever met Col. John S. Mosby face to face, but it appears he was fighting with that clandestine band of Confederate guerrillas in the fall of 1863.

Mosby's Rangers were despised by Union strategists. The group captured wagon supplies, blew up munitions dumps, tore up railroads, and once even captured a Yankee general.

On September 23, 1864, a splinter group of Mosby's men attacked a Union ambulance train in Front Royal, Va. Five Confederates, including Overby, were captured during the skirmish, along with a teenage boy who wasn't a soldier but merely dreamed of riding with Mosby.

Three of the men and the teenager were roped, dragged through the streets and shot to death. Overby and a man named Carter were questioned relentlessly on Mosby's whereabouts. Cary thinks neither had any idea where Mosby was holed up.

Carter and Overby were put on horses, marched up a hill offering a gorgeous vista of Front Royal, and ropes were thrown over two walnut trees. An eyewitness wrote that [Overby and Carter] "bore themselves like heroes, and endured the taunts of their captors with proud and undaunted mein. I recollect the appearance of Overby was a splendid specimen of manhood — tall, well-knit frame, and a head of black, wavy hair floating in the wind, he looked like a knight of old."

This image of Overby drove Cary onward even as her research hit snags. She was disappointed she couldn't find any of Overby's letters, though she found references that he sent letters home. She checked out a tip that a relative in Oklahoma had them, but found neither the letters nor the relative.

Overby was buried about 12 miles from Front Royal, and his body stayed there 132 years. In December 1996, after 20 years of trying off and on, the Sharpsburg chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans reburied Overby's remains in the Confederate section of Newnan's Oak Hill Cemetery.

Meanwhile, after compiling $2,000 worth of books and six milk crates full of documents, Cary began writing her book last September. She finished in February.

"I guess I did write it pretty fast," she said. "But remember, I'd been thinking about him for years. Billy himself had maybe 10 minutes on that horse before they hanged him. Compared to him, I had an eternity."

To order a copy of "William Thomas Overby: Proud Partisan Ranger," write to C.J. Terry and Associates Inc., P.O. Box 495, Fayetteville, GA 30214, or phone 770-461-7152. Copies of the hardbound book are $21.

Honestly I have doubts that the photo is Overby at all and I would say that the photo probably dates from the 1870's.

Three things stand out to me as red flags.

1) The person in the photo is wearing worsted shoulder boards or knots. These types of insignia were rarely if ever used during the Civil War period. They were adopted by the US Army and numerous militia units during the 1870's-1880's. Just to make sure I reviewed some of my reference works and looked at over 400 photos of Confederate & Southern Militia officers & enlistedmen....not one of them had worsted boards on their uniforms.

2) The Kepi is a very low front style more indicative of the 1870's than of the 1860's. The kepi also appears to have a cord instead of a band type chin strap. The cord chin straps were not used during the Civil War period. While it might be period, it looks an awful lot like a later kepi.

3) The sword belt and plate are of a type and style that could be period but the belt in particular is a gilted thread type which was very very common during the 1870's not the 1860's or 1850's. While some of these fancy belts were used, they almost always were worn as dress uniform by high ranking officers. It is very doubtful that an infantryman would have been wearing this type of belt in 1861.

Also the article does not mention Overby's rank. If he was just a private or non-commissioned officer, then the picture is almost certainly not him. Very few units had enlistedmen wearing double breasted frock coats, kepis with bullion insignia and officer type belts and sword belt plates.

In my opinion, this picture is probably a circa 1870's militia officer or cadet.

I think it is a Lt Uniform, because the lack of federal-pattern staff officer's buttons, which commonly were worn by Confederate officers.

I also found the site listed below; I hope it helps.

Mosby's Rangers:
Uniforms, Arms and Accoutrements
Part 1: The Context:
Background on Confederate Uniforms

"During the spring and early summer of 1861, the men did not dream that they were to be paid anything for their services, or even that the government was to clothe them. They had bought their own uniforms, and whenever these wore out they ordered new ones to be sent, by the first opportunity, from home. I remember the very first time the thought of getting clothing from the government ever entered my own mind. I was serving in Stuart's cavalry, and the summer of 1861 was nearly over..."

-- George Cary Eggleston, A Rebel's Recollections, Hurd & Houghton, 1875

In comparison to its Federal counterpart, the Confederate military uniform could more properly be called a "multiform", with various individuals within the same unit wearing slightly different gear, because of several factors:

(1) The evolution of the CSA uniform: The prevalence of militia uniforms and locally made items during the early war "commutation period" followed by in 1862 the "Depot" system of clothing manufacture coming into being, with strong regional variations among the several depots and with evolving styles within each depot. The best known case of this was the evolution of the basic shell jacket issued by the Richmond Depot, studied in depth by historian Les Jensen. Jensen developed a system of categorizing the Richmond Depot shell into four periods as this basic 9 button shell jacket evolved from having epaulettes and belt loops to a plainer style later in the war.

(2) Mixed issues of uniforms: Scarcity in the South meaning that when new uniform issue was available, preference was generally given to those whose gear was the most worn out, so some men in a unit could have the older style Richmond Depot Shell, for example while others might have the new issue

(3) Interspersing of civilian items with military-issue items: e.g. civilian hats, shirts, waistcoats (not issued by the Army) and other items sent from home.

(4) In certain cases, the wearing of captured Yankee gear: Contrary to myth, this did not necessarily take the form of robbing the bodies of the dead, but instead of being given captured goods from Yankee supply wagons as many soldiers had difficulty looting the dead (cf. Sam Watkins', memoir "Co. Aytch") Captured item most likely to be used apart from weapons and horse tack included boots and shoes, belts (US belt buckles turned upside down), cap boxes and other leather accoutrements. In cases where equipment was taken from Union casualties, these items were also less "personal" than apparel and therefore easier to take.

Over the years, a Confederate reenactor tradition has evolved of wearing Yankee issue sky blue kersey trowsers. However, this was relatively uncommon. Where it did occur, the trowsers were usually from captured Yankee supply wagons rather than from the dead. (Simple considerations of human biology yields the answer as to why this is the case!) Yankee waistcoats obtained from captured sutler wagons were also occasionally, but probably less frequently used, sometimes with the buttons changed. The one item of Yankee clothing that would never be used would be a uniform coat or jacket, as this could easily lead to being mistaken for the enemy and being shot.

(5) Most officers, particularly the more senior ones, would have their uniforms custom made by tailors: Beyond the basic "look" and uniform specifications, this allowed for a considerable amount of personal expression. Some privates from wealthier families would also avail themselves of this option when they had the opportunity, as the military-issue cloth was generally cheaper goods -- coarser and scratchier than the broadcloth used by civilian tailors.

Recommended Reading:

Echoes of Glory: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (Time Life Books, out of print, frequently available on eBay, usually through buying the whole three volume set. The CSA volume was edited by Leslie D. Jensen, the leading expert on Confederate uniforms

Johnny Reb : The Uniform of the Confederate Army, 1861-1865, by Leslie D. Jensen (G.I. Series, Philadelphia, Pa. 1996)

The Museum of the Confederacy has published an exellent book, cataloguing and describing in detail the numerous original uniforms in their collectoin. Unfortunately, it is not yet offered in their online bookstore, but can be obtained by telephoning the museum's giftshop, the .

http://www.mosbysrangers.com/rangers/uniforms1.htm

The book Valor in Gray: the recipents of the Confederate Medal of Honor (featuring CSA soldiers singled out for bravery by the SCV in the 1970s) has the exact same picture for Overby credited to the Warren Rifles Confederate Museum.

Overby's medal citation reads: Captured with five others in a skirmish outside Front Royal, Private Overby and his compatriots, instead of recieving the humane treatment accorded to prisoners of war, were ordered to be executed. Reviled and beaten by his captors, Private Overby could only watch as three of his fellow prisoners were wrenched away, dragged through the streets, and summarily shot. Knowing he had no chance against such a mob, Private Overby remained erect and defiant. Despite a noose around his neck, he refused to give his executioners vital information that could compromise his battalion-even in exchange for his life-and instead with his last words issued a dark prophecy of revenge.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


Carolyn Cary filled six milk crates with documents and collected $2,000 worth of books while researching William Thomas Overby.	William Thomas Overby was a member of Mosby's Raiders. He was hanged in 1864.