James Ewell Brown Stuart

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Stuart, Maj Gen James Ewell Brown (‘Jeb’) (1833-64). An inspirational Virginian cavalry leader and beau sabreur of the American civil war, Stuart served in the pre-war US cavalry and, like his mentor Lee, resigned to join the Confederate States Army when Virginia seceded. He distinguished himself at first Bull Run and was promoted brigadier general, emerging as a cavalry general of real ability. In June 1862 he rode around the Union army during the Jamestown peninsular campaign and was promoted major general to command all Army of Northern Virginia cavalry by Lee, who called him the ‘eyes of the army’. Those eyes found the open Union right flank at Chancellorsville, enabling Jackson to launch his crushing attack. In June 1863 he was surprised by a Union cavalry attack at Brandy Station and fought one of the war's few wholly cavalry battles to a finely balanced draw. Immediately afterwards, sent to raid around the Union army, he failed to maintain contact with Lee in the days before Gettysburg, depriving him of vital intelligence. In May 1864 he was mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern when blocking a move by Sheridan towards Richmond. Famously flamboyant in dress (nicknamed ‘Beauty’ by old friends and ‘Jeb’ by his men), his late arrival at Gettysburg must be balanced against the fact that it was largely thanks to him that the Union cavalry took so long to make its numbers felt.

— Richard Holmes

Stuart, J.E.B. (1833-64) Confederate army officer, born James Ewell Brown Stuart in Virginia. Stuart gained battlefield experience soon after his graduation from the U.S. Military Academy and participated in the capture of John Brown after the latter's raid on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Stuart resigned his army commission and enlisted in the Confederate army, where he served under Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, with whom he formed a close friendship. Stuart led a much-noticed charge at the Union flank at the First Battle of Bull Run (1861) and earned promotion to brigadier general. In 1862, he led a highly successful reconnaissance mission on the Virginia peninsula, during which his raids on Union troops established the Confederate army's dominance there. That July, he was promoted to major general and placed in charge of the Confederate cavalry. Stuart continued to distinguish himself, fighting at the Second Battle of Bull Run and at Antietam (both 1862) and taking over the Second Corps in 1862 when Jackson was killed in battle. He was criticized for failing to support Gen. Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg (1863), a failure that may have affected the outcome of the battle. Stuart was killed in battle outside Richmond while attempting to block the advance of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan toward the Confederate capital.

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James Ewell Brown Stuart (1833-1864), known as Jeb Stuart, ranks among the most effective cavalry officers in American military history for his exploits in the Civil War.

Jeb Stuart was born in Patrick County, Va., on Feb. 6, 1833. Educated at home and at Emory and Henry College, he entered the U.S. Military Academy in 1850 and graduated thirteenth in the class of 1854. On Nov. 14, 1855, he married Flora Cooke; they had three children.

Commissioned brevet second lieutenant in the Mounted Rifles, Stuart was transferred to the 1st U.S. Cavalry in 1855. In October 1859 he served as aide to Col. Robert E. Lee in capturing John Brown at Harpers Ferry, Va. He resigned his commission when Virginia seceded from the Union, and as the Civil War began he accepted appointment as colonel of the 1st Virginia Cavalry.

Assigned to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston in the Shenandoah Valley, Stuart quickly distinguished himself for daring. Gallantry at First Manassas (Bull Run) in July 1861 earned him a brigadier general's wreath. In June 1862 Gen. Lee ordered him to reconnoiter Gen. George B. McClellan's rear positions on the Virginia Peninsula. Leading 1,200 men, Stuart won lasting renown with his "Ride around McClellan." Promoted to major general in July 1862, he took command of the cavalry division of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

Stuart became one of the most skilled scouts and intelligence officers in the war. He distinguished himself in the campaign of Second Manassas, and in the invasion of Maryland he and his dismounted troopers proved stubborn fighters. In December 1862 Stuart's horse artillery helped stall the attack on Stonewall Jackson's corps at Fredericksburg. Perhaps his most decisive action came during Jackson's march to intercept Gen. Joseph Hooker in the Virginia Wilderness in April 1863. Assigned the task of discovering enemy plans and screening the Confederate advance, Stuart, plumed hat everywhere in evidence, his banjo-playing companion, "Sweeny," in tow, did superbly. When Jackson was mortally wounded in the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2, Stuart took temporary command of the II Corps and handled it well in the action of May 3.

At Brandy Station, Va., Stuart's cavalry was surprised and sorely tested for the first time. In the Gettysburg campaign, Stuart's love of adventure led him to his one glaring blunder; when Lee most needed him, Stuart was away on a raid toward Washington, D.C. Rejoining the army on July 2, Stuart's command had no decisive part in the Battle of Gettysburg.

Stuart did not disappoint Lee again. With dwindling manpower and scant forage, he managed Lee's cavalry adroitly through the winter and spring of 1863-1864. On May 11, 1864, Stuart halted Gen. Philip Sheridan's big corps heading for Richmond, but he was wounded at Yellow Tavern and died the next day. His death removed a quality of zeal from Lee's cavalry and left a permanent gap in Southern leadership.

Further Reading

The best biography of Stuart is John W. Thompson, Jr., Jeb Stuart (1930). More recent is Burke Davis, Jeb Stuart: The Last Cavalier (1957). See also W. W. Blackford, War Years with Jeb Stuart (1945). Stuart's relations with Lee are admirably treated in Douglas Southall Freeman, R. E. Lee (4 vols., 1934-1937) and Lee's Lieutenants (3 vols., 1942-1944).