Samuel C. Means
Samuel Carrington Means (August 5, 1827 – March 2, 1884) was the founder and first captain of the Loudoun Rangers, a Union Army unit from Virginia that fought in the American Civil War. He was a successful gristmill owner and businessman from Waterford, Virginia, and also served as the station master for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Point of Rocks, Maryland.
When Virginia seceded in May 1861, Confederate authorities pressed him to support their side because of his mill. A former Quaker with strong ties to loyal Maryland, Means refused to help the Confederates. They issued warrants for his arrest, and he fled to Maryland on July 1, 1861, leaving his family behind. The Confederates seized his Virginia property, including 28 horses, 42 hogs, 2 wagons, and all the flour and meal at his mill.
In March 1862, during a Union advance into Loudoun County, Means served as a scout for the Union forces. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton then gave him permission to raise a cavalry company for border service in Loudoun and Maryland. That company became the Loudoun Rangers, which operated as partisans in Loudoun for most of the war and later were brought into regular army service. Means left the unit in 1864.
He died on March 2, 1884, in Washington, D.C., at age 56. He was married to Rachel Ann.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 05:12 (CET).