The most famous Civil War name in Northern Virginia, other than General Lee, is Colonel John Singleton Mosby, the Gray Ghost. He stands out among nearly one thousand generals who served in the war, celebrated most for his raids that captured Union general Edwin Stoughton in Fairfax and Colonel Daniel French Dulany in Rose Hill. By 1864, he was a feared partisan guerrilla in the North and a nightmare for Union troops protecting Washington City. After the war, his support for presidential candidate Ulysses S. Grant forced Mosby to leave his native Virginia for Hong Kong as U.S. consul. A mentor to young George S. Patton, Mosby's military legacy extended to World War II. William S. Connery brings alive the many dimensions of this American hero.

Fairfax County resident William Connery is a member of the Company of Military Historians, the Capitol Hill Civil War Round Table, the Sloop of War Constellation Museum and the E.A. Poe Society of Baltimore. His previous book, Civil War Northern Virginia 1861, was awarded the Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal in June 2012.