As warfare evolves, elite units play an ever-increasing role, but not every soldier can perform these specialized duties. Special operations forces require special men. Union major Henry Harrison Young was such a man—born for war. “It was very rare to find a man who found in the most deadly peril his greatest pleasure, and who sought out danger not only in the line of duty.
The previously untold story of Henry Young and the Civil War units that inspired the creation of America’s special forces is explored in my forthcoming book 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.
Young’s commanding officer observed, “We had many officers who in civil life had shown nothing above average ability, that in the hour of trial, amidst the carnage of battle,…
