Blazer's Scouts was a Scout Dragoon unit of the Union Army during the second half of the American Civil War. They were particularly active in tracking down and confronting Confederate States Army partisans and guerrillas in West Virginia and Virginia; especially those of ColonelJohn 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 organized the original cavalry company (initially known as the Brigade Scouts or Spencer's Scouts) at Fayetteville, West Virginia, in mid-September 1863. They were first commanded by Captain John W. Spencer of the 9th West Virginia Infantry, but he soon was replaced by two lieutenants from Ohioregiments, the 12th 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.[1]
Reassigned with the VIII Corps to the Army of the Shenandoah under Philip H. Sheridan, Blazer's Scouts began dueling with Mosby's Rangers in a series of operations in the Shenandoah Valley during the Valley Campaigns of 1864. They used the superior firepower of their Spencer repeating rifles 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.[3]
The remaining members would continue doing scout duties,[4] until January 1865 when Blazer's Scouts were officially disbanded.[5]
^Ownsbey, Betty J. Alias Paine: Lewis Thornton Powell, the Mystery Man of the Lincoln Conspiracy. McFarland (November 29, 2005). p. 24. ISBN978-0786425556
^Broadwater, Robert P. Civil War Special Forces: The Elite and Distinct Fighting Units of the Union and Confederate Armies. Praeger (August 26, 2014). pp. 130-131. ISBN978-1440830570