A large treasure of valuables is said to be hidden in the woods of Fairfax County, Virginia. Worth about $350,000 when it was buried, it would be worth more than $6 million today.

The tale begins with a Confederate partisan Ranger named John S. Mosby, known as the “Grey Ghost” for his lightning-quick raids and ability to elude Union Army pursuers.

Mosby joined the Confederate army as a private at the outbreak of the Civil War, first serving in the Washington Mounted Rifles. In April 1862, the Confederate Congress passed the Partisan Rangers Act, which provided that “such partisan rangers, after being regularly received into service, shall be entitled to the same pay, rations, and quarters, during their term of service, and be subject to the same regulations, as other soldiers.” By the end of the year, after proving himself as a solid scout and intelligence gatherer under General J.E.B. Stuart, Mosby formed his Rangers.

In January 1863, J.E.B. Stuart, with General Robert E. Lee’s approval, authorized Mosby to form and command the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry, which officially operated as a unit of the Army of Northern Virginia. However, the men (1,900 of whom served from January 1863 through April 1865) lived outside the norms of regular army cavalrymen. This included sharing in the disposition of spoils of war, having no camp duties, and living among the civilian population. Over time, most of his men were recruits who had never served in the Confederate Army.

The small cavalry unit was unleashed in central Virginia and immediately began tormenting Union positions. Rather than meeting its enemies in open battle, Mosby’s unit often slipped behind Union lines under cover of darkness to capture soldiers and supplies. A true guerrilla force, Mosby and his men carried out blistering attacks on Union outfits. They destroyed rail lines and bridges before scattering into the woods and blending with the civilian population.

On March 9, 1863, Mosby conducted a daring raid far inside Union lines near the Fairfax County Courthouse. At 2:00 a.m. on a dark, rainy night, Mosby and 29 men suddenly appeared in the town of Fairfax Court House, Virginia, ten miles behind Union lines. Though thousands of Union troops were in the surrounding camps and many in the town, the Rangers stealthily slipped past numerous outposts and pickets, cutting telegraph lines along the way.

After quietly capturing the guards, Mosby made his way to General Edwin H. Stoughton’s bedroom, where the officer was sleeping. Mosby awakened Stoughton with a slap on his bare back and informed him that he was now a prisoner. When Stoughton was dressed, Mosby escorted him out to the street, where the Rangers had gathered 32 other surprised prisoners and 58 horses.

According to legend, Mosby obtained not only men and horses during the nocturnal raid but also some $350,000 worth of gold, silver, jewelry, and other family heirlooms that Union troops had taken from Southern homes.

One and one-half hours after arriving at Fairfax Court House, the Rangers, never having fired a shot, rode out of town with their prisoners, horses, and treasure. On the way back, Mosby’s scouts warned him of a large detachment of Union soldiers nearby. In case of a battle, Mosby and a trusted sergeant left the trail as the rest of the detachment moved on. They then buried the sack of treasure between two large pine trees, which Mosby marked with an X. Then, using a roundabout route to confuse any pursuers, Mosby and his men made it safely back to Confederate territory.

Mosby remained loyal to those he believed to be fair-minded throughout his life, such as J.E.B. Stewart and Ulysses S. Grant, but he refused to cater to Southern sympathies.

He died of complications after throat surgery in a Washington, D.C., hospital on May 30, 1916, and was buried at the Warrenton Cemetery in Warrenton, Virginia.

And what of the treasure? One version of the tale says that he sent his trusted sergeant and several other men back to retrieve the cache, but before they got there, they were caught and hanged by Union soldiers. No one knows why Mosby never returned, but he allegedly said on his deathbed that a lot of valuable stuff was waiting somewhere in the Virginia countryside, and he wished he had gotten it.

The treasure is said to be hidden somewhere between Norman and Culpeper, close to present-day Route 522.