Pvt. Albert G. Willis, Co. C, Col. John S. Mosby's Partisan Rangers (43d Battalion, Virginia Cavalry) and at least one other Ranger were captured about 13 Oct. 1864 near Gaines Crossroads by Union Brig. Gen. William H. Powell's U.S. 2d Cavalry Division. During the Civil War, many Federals considered partisans civilian bushwhackers, not regular soldiers. Powell, in reprisal for what he called the "murder" of a U.S. soldier by alleged partisans, ordered a Ranger executed. According to some postwar sources, Willis, a ministerial student, offered his life in place of a married cohort. He was hanged nearby on 14 Oct. and buried at a Baptist church in Flint Hill.
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