05/14/2026
The Unvanquished: The Untold Story of Lincoln’s Special Forces, the Manhunt for Mosby’s Rangers, and the Shadow War That Forged America’s Special Operations. Quite the mouthful.
On the cover, Sergeant Joseph Firth of Blazer’s Scouts stares out hauntingly. Sergeant Firth was killed by friendly fire in a horseback firefight with rebels. The shot came from a newbie who was rushed into action in Lincoln’s (better late than never) decision to meet Jeff Davis where he already was… irregular warfare. Irregular in that there were no longer rules. Men wore the other side’s uniforms and operated behind each other’s lines.
Colonel John Singleton Mosby, the “Gray Ghost” was the commander of the 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion known as Mosby’s Rangers. For all of 1863 Mosby and his fiercely loyal band of rangers wreaked havoc on the Shenandoah Valley, pilfering Union supply trains, dignitaries, Union loyalists, and any Union spy not at the top of their game.
This is an enrapturing narrative about a clash between two inevitable forces and ideologies, fought in the backwoods, the hearts and minds of the locals, and shady dignitaries performing clandestine activities in foreign lands. The Union, the Confederacy, Mexico, Canada, and France all have their hands dirty in this book.
The story is filled with extraordinary tales of spycraft, heroic endeavors, double agents, secretive female spies, and will they won’t they tension. Lincoln did not want to engage in this style of war, but Jeff Davis was mopping the floor with them and dragging the war out, which only favored the Confederacy. So, reluctantly he acknowledged the Jesse Scouts and issued the command to hunt down and kill Mosby’s Rangers. Mosby and his rangers were involved with John Wilkes Booth and the assassination attempts on Lincoln, including the eventual successful one. As well as transporting Davis out of Richmond.
This is a must read for fans of history, spy stories, and who dun it’s. It’s filled with action, mystery, even hints of the paranormal. Stop in and grab a copy today!
The thing you’re craving doesn’t live on a screen.
