James Ewell Brown Stuart (6 February 1833 – 12 May 1864) was a Major-General of the Confederate States Army and commander of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War. Stuart was the trusted eyes and ears of General Robert E. Lee, as his cavalry was instrumental in reconnaissance and supporting offensive operations. Stuart's death at the Battle of Yellow Tavern in 1864 was a great loss for the Confederacy, and he is regarded as one of the greatest cavalry commanders in American history and a southern legend.
Biography[]
James Ewell Brown Stuart was born in Patrick County, Virginia on 6 February 1833, the son of congressman and wealthy plantation owner Archibald Stuart. Stuart graduated from West Point in 1854, 13th in a class of 46, and he befriended academy superintendent Robert E. Lee, as he was a popular and bright student. He served in the US Army on the frontier, fighting the Cheyenne under Colonel Edwin V. Sumner and serving in Kansas during the "Bleeding Kansas" outbreak of violence, and he volunteered to serve as Lee's aide-de-camp when he put down John Brown's 1859 uprising at Harpers Ferry. Stuart decided to resign his commission in 1861 when the American Civil War broke out, and he chose to side with the Confederate States of America, although his father-in-law remained a Colonel in the US Army. Stuart joined forces with Lee, and he would become one of Lee's most trusted commanders.
Civil War[]
Stuart in battle
On 16 July 1861, Stuart was promoted to colonel and given command of a Virginia cavalry regiment in the Army of the Shenandoah under Thomas Jackson, being transferred from the infantry to the cavalry. Stuart led a cavalry charge at Bull Run to pursue fleeing Union troops, and he was given command of all cavalry in the Army of Northern Virginia with the rank of Brigadier-General on 24 September 1861. After completely circumnavigating the Union army at Williamsburg on 12 June 1862 and capturing 165 Union troops and a large amount of supplies, Stuart became a Confederate hero, being greeted with flower petals in Richmond. In the autumn of 1862, his cavalry corps scouted ahead of Lee's main army when Lee invaded Maryland, and he engaged in skirmishes with George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac at Mountville, Aldie, and Upperville from 26 October 1862 to early November, preventing the Union from crossing the Potomac River after the retreat from the costly Battle of Antietam. He took part in numerous skirmishes in 1863, including the Battle of Kelly's Ford, and he named his daughter after Major John Pelham, one of his artillery officers and one of his closest friends, who had been killed in the skirmish; he saw Pelham as a younger brother, and his daughter Virginia Pelham Stuart was born on 9 October 1863.
Failure at Gettysburg[]
Stuart in 1863
In May 1863, Stuart unusually commanded an infantry corps at the Battle of Chancellorsville, performing well in the battle. He returned to the cavalry for the Gettysburg campaign, which saw him reach two low points. He was fought to a draw by Alfred Pleasanton's Union cavalry at the Battle of Brandy Station in June 1863, and he was absent from the Battle of Gettysburg in July. Stuart was busy raiding Union positions and attempting to get more glory for himself, and it was the spy Henry Thomas Harrison who told James Longstreet about the Army of the Potomac's positions and not Stuart. In addition, Stuart's cavalry did not fight in the great battle, instead belatedly arriving at Lee's camp with a captured caravan of supply wagons. Lee sharply rebuked Stuart, and Stuart presented his sword to Lee, showing that he was willing to surrender; Lee told Stuart that he was invaluable and that he should simply learn from his mistake, as men should, and Stuart retained his command. On 9 September 1863, he was given a corps command but not promoted to Brigadier-General, possibly a punishment for his failure at Gettysburg.
Final campaign and death[]
In 1864, Stuart fought his last campaign when Ulysses S. Grant ordered a massive offensive into northern Virginia, the Overland Campaign. Philip Sheridan ordered his cavalry to whip Stuart's command, and the Confederate and Union cavalry met near an abandoned inn called "Yellow Tavern" on 11 May 1864. Stuart shouted encouragement to his troops while firing his pistol at Union troops, but a Michigan cavalryman under the command of Brigadier-General George Armstrong Custer, shot him through his stomach, mortally wounding him. Stuart died of his wounds the next day, and his wife was unable to see him before he died. The M5 Stuart tank was named for him.
Gallery[]
