Reuben Stipes was born 1844 in Harpers Ferry as the son of Ann and Reuben Stipes (sen). During the Civil War he was a member of the Loudoun Virginia Rangers, the only organized body of troops from the state of Virginia to fight in the Union Army.

COMPANY "B" ENLISTED MEN ¹⁾:
NAME:  STIPES, Reuben
RESIDENT OR WHERE ENROLLED:  -----
AGE:  --
MUSTERED INTO SERVICE: -----
WHEN, WHERE:  -----
DATE OF MUSTER OUT:  -----
MEMORANDA:  Captured in a skirmish 30 Sep 1863, near Neersville, Va.

The Loudoun Rangers²⁾ were an independent Civil War cavalry unit drawn from the largely Quaker and German farming communities of northern Loudoun County. Of all the special units that were formed to combat Confederate partisan rangers in Virginia during the Civil War — the Blazer Scouts, the Jesse Scouts, Cole's Maryland Cavalry and others — probably the most promising was the Loudoun Rangers.

Despite the pacifist beliefs of their church, many of Loudoun County's Quakers took up arms on each side. The Loudoun Rangers' founder and commander was Captain Samuel C. Means, himself a Quaker and the owner of a large grist mill in Waterford. Means also owned a substantial mercantile business in Point of Rocks, Md. Forced by vigorous Confederate persecution to take refuge in Maryland, Means was summoned to Washington and offered a commission to raise a cavalry company of disaffected refugee Virginians. He quickly raised two companies, which were mustered into Federal service on June 20, 1862.

Loudoun County was swarming with Confederates. It was the Loudoun Rangers' job to make periodic raids to harass and capture them. To do so, the Rangers established camps on the Maryland side of the Potomac River. From there they made constant forays into Loudoun, Clarke and Jefferson counties.

Sources:

¹⁾ Service records of Union and Confederate Civil War Soldiers, maintained at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, (M394 roll 1)

2) The History of Loudoun County, Virginia