"My purpose was to weaken the armies invading Virginia, by harassing their rear... To destroy supply trains, to break up the means of conveying intelligence, and thus isolating an army from its base, as well as its different corps from each other, to confuse their plans by capturing their dispatches, are the objects of partisan war. It is just as legitimate to fight an enemy in the rear as in the front. The only difference is in the danger... John S. Mosby
 
Photo from the National Archives
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The Mosby Heritage Area was formed in 1995 to increase awareness of the historic, cultural and natural qualities of a unique part of Northern Virginia. Named for the Confederate colonel who harried Union troops throughout the region, the Mosby Heritage Area retains much of the landscape and landmarks of three centuries of our Nation's history. The Mosby Heritage Area is the first heritage area designated in the Commonwealth of Virginia  

Virginia's Mosby Heritage Area
 
The Mosby Heritage Area is one of over 100 Heritage Areas formed by Americans throughout the country to celebrate their own communities' distinctive characters and senses of place. In 1995, local citizens established the boundaries for the Mosby Heritage Area along natural features and historic travelways and received official support through resolutions passed by the Boards of Supervisors from both Fauquier and Loudoun Counties. The Mosby Heritage Area is a "living museum" and retains much of the landscape and landmarks of the past three centuries. The Area is named for Colonel John Singleton Mosby, whose Rangers so dominated the region during the Civil War that its core was known as Mosby's Confederacy. The Route 50 Corridor bisects the John Mosby Heritage Area which is made up of the towns, villages, and open spaces in Clarke County, western Loudoun County, northeastern Warren County, northern Fauquier County, and northwestern Prince William County as well as a portion of Jefferson County, West Virginia

Atoka (wartime Rector's Crossroads)
 
In June 1863 Mosby's rangers were formed here, also on Dec. 21 1864 Col. John S. Mosby is wounded by Union cavalry at Lakeland near Rector’s Cross Roads (Atoka). Concealing his identity, Mosby is left to die, but recovers and resumes command of his Rangers two months later

Atoka (wartime Rector's Crossroads)
 
Interpretive marker at Atoka

Atoka area
 
Typical of the scenery found on the Mosby Heritage Tour