DK - The American Civil War

Confederate soldiers into battle lines

west of the village. He might indeed

have made a superb corps commander

of infantry, but never got the chance.

Only days after the outbreak of

fighting at Spotsylvania, Stuart and his

outnumbered horsemen were battling

Sheridan’s troopers at Yellow Tavern

outside Richmond. As Stuart galloped

into the thick of the fight, his bugler

remarked, “General, I believe you love

bullets.” Stuart merely replied, “I don’t

reckon there is any danger.” Moments

later, a retreating Michigan private

took a parting shot at a figure in gray

who had been emptying his pistol at

them. Stuart spun in his saddle.

He was removed to his brother-in-

law’s house in Richmond, where he

died 24 hours later. As his funeral

cortege wound through the city’s

streets, there was no music and no

pageantry, only the muffled roar of

cannons as the fighting raged on

outside the capital.

upon him after Stonewall Jackson’s

mortal wounding. The cavalryman

handled the infantry brilliantly, leading

thousands of foot soldiers through

thick brush and heading several of the

charges that broke the Union back.

On June 9, 1863, Stuart was hit by a

surprise Union attack at Brandy

Station, Virginia. In the

largest cavalry clash of

the war, Stuart’s men

just managed to

fend off the Union

horsemen, but it

was a bloody affair. Annoyed, Stuart

mounted an audacious cavalry raid

across the Potomac; he captured

numerous supply wagons, but lost

touch with Lee, then on his second

invasion of the North. Temporarily

deprived of his “eyes and ears,” Lee

stumbled into a battle not of his

choosing at Gettysburg.

At Spotsylvania Court House, Stuart

practically saved Lee’s army, when

his troopers held up General Grant’s

oncoming Union juggernaut long

enough for Stuart to herd the arriving

JEB STUART

TIMELINE

Powder flask

Nipple key

Pewter oil bottle

Revolver

Percussion

caps

Cap tin

Spare nipple holder

Bullet mold Cleaning rod

Lubricating bullets

Lubricating compound

Compartment

Cased revolver

Stuart’s chief of staff and closest friend, the Prussian

officer, Major Heros von Borcke, presented him with

this English-made Tranter revolver in June 1863.

“He never brought me a piece of

false information ... I can scarcely

think of him without weeping.”

CONFEDERATE GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE, ON STUART’S DEATH, 1864

JEB STUART’S JACKET

The four-day ride

This lithograph depicts Jeb Stuart in his plumed hat as

he leads his cavalry on the reconnaissance trip that

became known as his first “Ride around McClellan”

on June 12–15, 1862.

■ February 6, 1833 Born at the Stuart family

home of Laurel Hill in Patrick County, Virginia.

■ July 1854 Graduates from West Point and

soon departs for the Western frontier to fight

Apaches and Cheyenne.

■ November 14, 1855 Marries Flora Cooke,

the daughter of Colonel Philip St. George Cooke,

at Fort Riley, Kansas, and is soon promoted to

first lieutenant.

■ October 18, 1859 Negotiates the surrender of

abolitionist John Brown and his insurrectionists

in the arsenal at Harpers Ferry.

■ May 14, 1861 Following Virginia’s secession,

Stuart resigns his commission as captain in the

U.S. Army and becomes colonel of the 1st

Virginia Cavalry.

■ July 21, 1861 Leads a key charge in the First

Battle of Bull Run; promoted to brigadier general.

■ June 12–15, 1862 Undertakes his first “Ride

around McClellan,” circling the Army of the

Potomac in three days with 1,200 troopers,

cutting Union supply lines, burning wagon

trains, and losing only one man. Soon

promoted to major general.

■ October 10–12, 1862 With 1,800 troopers

undertakes his second ride around

McClellan, raiding as far north as

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

■ May 3–6, 1863 During the Battle of

Chancellorsville, takes command of the

wounded Stonewall Jackson’s Second

Corps and helps drive Hooker back across

the Rappahannock River.

■ June 9, 1863 Leads his troopers at Brandy

Station, the largest cavalry battle of the war.

■ June 28–July 3, 1863 Captures 125

Union supply wagons near Rockville on a raid

north of the Potomac; swings over to join

Lee and leads the cavalry fight at the Battle

of Gettysburg.

■ May 7–8, 1864 His cavalry holds the

approaches to Spotsylvania Court House long

enough for Lee’s infantry to move into position

to thwart Grant’s battle plan.

■ May 11, 1864 Stuart intercepts Sheridan’s

raid on Richmond at Yellow Tavern, only

6 miles (9.5km) north of the capital, but is

fatally wounded by a pistol ball and dies the

next day, only 31 years old.