For me, as a huge student of Cavalry and things equestrian related; the use and care/abuse of horses is something I look at; along with other qualities.
Where General JEB Stuart disappoints me to the point of disfavor; is that Stuart thrived on attention and not thrived on success of mission; e.g. team player. The 'dandy' in him; causing attention to himself at the annoyance of some other officers; humored Lee but; not others.
But where Stuart's respect fails for me personally speaking; is the let down of his 'guard' per se; when he nearly was destroyed at Brandy Station; which happened right before Gettysburg. Playing to bad press; he went off way ahead of Lee and was put in papers once again, stirring up a bit of a fuss but, nothing that is profound. Having the advantage of these manuals; the thought on ''pattern'' of deployment of cavalry; by not moving with stealth; General Stuart's modus operandi known from previous raid a few month earlier; failed to supply good maps to Lee on his secret movement into Maryland, into Pennsylvania. To draw attention; there is no doubt that the telegraph wires were hot with messages; then transmitted to the Corps Commanders and traveled by signal flag and or wires; where Stuart was; thus provoking Union Cavalry to start a sweep; to which General Pleasonton and General Buford worked on previous Stuart travel patterns--which Gettysburg was where Stuart had been before months prior. So, when Stuart did not relay positions of the Union and any skirmishes to General Lee; that to me--is a huge let down. And, cavalry by it's nature is the eyes of the Army; via vedettes, scouting parties and flankers--to be so grossly out of communication with General Lee is for me inexcusable and, feel that this was brought on by the papers holding Stuart responsibile at Brandy Station; in which the papers said home boys not knowing the ground letting the enemy sneak up on him was inexcusable for them. Stuart had to get out of the dog house so he needed some 'win' to bedazzle the Richmond papers and citizens' judgment. When, in my opinion--the only opinion that really mattered was General Lee's.
General Lee did not want a major engagement of troops until all of his army was together and not strung out behind the mountain's mask. The 'mission' was to report where the Union army was--not raiding. To me, referring to these manuals I have; Stuart needed to be doing what Buford was doing--flanking as well as point guard for the Army and; most of all feeding Lee with information and sending good maps to Lee.
That said--there are 'stories.' There are stories that Major Marshall; General Lee's aide that worked along side Major Taylor; drew up court martial papers. Now, in reading Shaara's book Killer Angels; he supports these stories. Lee wouldn't have it. However, General Lee--the ultimate judge of character, handling the duel issue between Longstreet and another General, the one who was the 'peace maker' and wise--he hurt Stuart much worse than a court-martial; he hurt Stuart's feelings. And, thus got the results without the negative paperwork and Stuart's time in 'arrest' and or 'out of action.' And, we're aware after the fact and much study; that General Lee was not well served by General Ewell who did not take the heights of the Little Round Top and Big Round Top when there was a wonderful opportunity. Unlike Stuart, Ewell took responsibility for his errors in judgment in regard to those rocky heights that would be defended later by those of Colonel Vincent's command.
If Stuart didn't leave Lee blind, hurting the trust of Lee--only with other scouts reports through Longstreet's command; did the Confederates have any warning at all. But, again--Stuart's need for self stroking put himself in an 'red flag waving at the Bull' per se; alerting the Union to start into their seek mode--if he was sneaky; they might not have collided at Gettysburg but, further East and perhaps--as General Longstreet had hoped; a ground of their choosing.
Although Lee had other cavalry commanders at his disposal; it is baffling to me why Lee did not send them out as flankers and such. They certainly gave the Union Cavalry a good tussle on Cavalry field near the major battlefield at Gettysburg.
I believe the word and the associated meaning of 're-deploy' was something that would become a new means of fighting for the future but, with Lee--he was comfortable in his ways. Regardless, I still admire them all and respect them all, regardless of my disagreement on the behavior of some. I have the luxury of hindsight as well as the knowledge what others were doing at the same moment as to see how things collided and giving advantages and disadvantages.
Just some thoughts.
Respectfully submitted for consideration,
M. E. Wolf
They certainly gave the Union Cavalry a good tussle on Cavalry field near the major battlefield at Gettysburg.
Slight adjustment here. I believe the boys in gray on that field were Stuart's. We hear nothing of Imboden until the retreat where, as I'm given to understand, he performed brilliantly.
It remains that Lee had cavalry aplenty. He just didn't use them. The whole idea of blaming Stuart is a bad excuse for a poor idea.
ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
There is plenty of 'blame' to go around on both sides in regard to Gettysburg and or any other battle.
CAVALRY.
STUART'S DIVISION.
Maj. Gen. J. E. B. STUART.
Hampton's Brigade.
Brig. Gen. WADE HAMPTON.
Col. L. S. BAKER.
1st North Carolina,
Col. L. S. Baker.
1st South Carolina.
2d South Carolina.
Cobb's (Georgia) Legion.
Jeff. Davis Legion.
Phillips (Georgia) Legion.
Robertson' s Brigade.
Brig. Gen. BEVERLY H. ROBERTSON.
4th North Carolina,
Col. D. D. Ferebee.
5th North Carolina.
Fitz. Lee's Brigade.
Brig. Gen. FITZ. LEE.
1st Maryland Battalion:
Maj. Harry Gilmor.
Maj. Ridgely Brown.
1st Virginia,
Col. James H. Drake.
2d Virginia.
Col. T. T. Munford.
3d Virginia,
Col. Thomas H. Owen.
4th Virginia,
Col. Williams C. Wickham.
5th Virginia,
Col. T. L. Rosser.
Jenkins' Brigade.
Brig. Gen. A. G. JENKINS.
Col. M. J. FERGUSON.
14th Virginia.
16th Virginia.
17th Virginia.
34th Virginia Battalion,
Lieut. Col. V. A. Witcher.
36th Virginia Battalion.
Jackson's (Virginia) Battery,
Capt. Thomas E. Jackson.
Jones' Brigade.
Brig. Gen. WILLIAM E. JONES.
6th Virginia,
Maj. C. E. Flournoy.
7th Virginia,
Lieut. Col. Thomas Marshall.
11th Virginia,
Col. L. L. Lomax.
W. H. F. Lee's Brigade.
Col. J. R. CHAMBLISS, Jr.
2d North Carolina.
9th Virginia,
Col. R. L. T. Beale.
10th Virginia,
Col. J. Lucius Davis
13th Virginia.
Stuart Horse Artillery.
Maj. R. F. BECKHAM.
Breathed's (Virginia) Battery,
Capt. James Breathed.
Chew's (Virginia) Battery,
Capt. R. P. Chew.
Griffin's (Maryland) Battery,
Capt. W. H. Griffin.
Hart's (South Carolina) Battery,
Capt. J. F. Hart.
McGregor's (Virginia) Battery,
Capt. W. M. McGregor.
Moorman's (Virginia) Battery,
Capt. M. N. Moorman.
IMBODEN'S COMMAND.
Brig. Gen. J. D. IMBODEN.
18th Virginia Cavalry,
Col. George W. Imboden.
62d Virginia Infantry,
Col. George H. Smith.
Virginia Partisan Rangers,
Capt. John H. McNeill.
Virginia Battery,
Capt. J. H. McClanahan.
The afore listed is just the Confederate Cavalry at Gettysburg.
Just some thoughts.
Respectfully submitted for consideration,
M. E. Wolf
BG J. H. Morgan's Christmas Raid was /is textbook stuff.
Rosecrans knew he was coming. We was waiting for him and still he could not do anything about him. Morgan was a great cavalry commander.
Even though it coincided with Stone's River, Morgan's Christmas Raid effectively reduced the Union contingent by upwards of four or five times his own composition.
The whole idea of blaming Stuart is a bad excuse for a poor idea.
I agree, Lee finds the Union Army just fine, at Gettysburg, its not like they chopped off a corps unexpectedly. Lee pulls off the concentration without suffering a 'defeat in detail'
I just want to bring up a minor point that many have over looked.
Gen. Grant only ever single out one cavalry man for death. It was not Morgan, or Forrest, or Hampton. It was Stuart that Gen. Grant single out for death.
If Gen. Lee admired Stuart and Gen. Grant single him out for death, would this not make him the greatest cavalier of the Civil war? The two greatest generals of the war had him on their A-list...
If we go by what the two greatest generals of the Civil war thought then J.E.B. Stuart was greatest cavalier of the Civil War......YEH!!
So you Forrest, Morgan, and Hampton fans was your guy on Grant's death-wish list.....NO!
__________________
"States Rights are about States Wrongs" - Jesse Jackson
I just want to bring up a minor point that many have over looked.
Gen. Grant only ever single out one cavalry man for death. It was not Morgan, or Forrest, or Hampton. It was Stuart that Gen. Grant single out for death.
If Gen. Lee admired Stuart and Gen. Grant single him out for death, would this not make him the greatest cavalier of the Civil war? The two greatest generals of the war had him on their A-list...
If we go by what the two greatest generals of the Civil war thought then J.E.B. Stuart was greatest cavalier of the Civil War......YEH!!
So you Forrest, Morgan, and Hampton fans was your guy on Grant's death-wish list.....NO!
I thought there was a reward out for Mosby for a while.
Always thought Stuart died in combat, a risk shared by AS Johnston, James McPherson, and others.
Also, Stuart was a cavalry officer. A "Cavalier" was a small car made by Chevrolet, although in Europe it once meant a Royalist in the English Civil War. In neither case was it a comment on qualities of leadership, logistics, and politicking (the three pillars of generalship). Calling myself a duck doesn't give me feathers.
I believe Forrest had a whole Corps (XV?) or something like it tied up chasing him out of GA. Not sure Stuart ever got that kind of attention.
Last edited by Baggage Handler #2; 06-22-2008 at 09:23 PM.
Well... for starters, when your CO intends you not to cross the Ohio, you don't cross it.
Aaahhh! My personal favorite, The Great Raid!
God Bless General Morgan. He carried the fight to the enemy. Stuart may have rode around Little Mac and Shelby may have rode around Missouri, but General Morgan crossed the Ohio River and raided Indiana and Ohio all the way to Lake Erie.
He is most certainly one of the heros of the Confederacy and perphaps the War of Northern Aggression's greatest cavalry officer.
Did Morgan not get most his men capture at one river crossing then he got caught at another river crossing. I remember, it was the local militia that end up capturing him and his men.
As I see, it the great raid ended in a fissile or whimper.
OldGrayWolf, Stuart never got capture but was singled out for death by Grant. Morgan just not in Stuart league..
__________________
"States Rights are about States Wrongs" - Jesse Jackson
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