Stuart on day three at Gettysburg.

[major bill]

In the latest America's Civil War magazine is D. Scott Hartwig's "An Enduring Myth" Hartwig goes into J. E. B. Stuart's intention on the 3rd day at Gettysburg. Hartwig does not believe that Stuart had been ordered to attack the rear of the Army of the Potomac or to attack in coordination with Pickett's Charge. Is this now the consensus?

There are plenty of books that state this was Lee's plans for day 3. Some of these books are older books.

Is there any proof one way or the other? This impacts whether or not Stuart was very successful on the 3rd day at Gettysburg. If all Stuart was expected to do was to protect the left flank of the Confederate Army, then Stuart performed excellently.

 

[Kurt G]

Check out Eric Wittenberg's book "Protecting the Flank at Gettysburg." It is the definitive work . There is no proof of any orders for Stuart to attack the rear of the Union line.

 

[John S. Carter]

Check out Eric Wittenberg's book "Protecting the Flank at Gettysburg." It is the definitive work . There is no proof of any orders for Stuart to attack the rear of the Union line.

If Stuart was not ordered to do this, then would he have done this on his own ? I vote yes. If he did do this then he must have thought that he could do what he had done before , a little trip around the rear of McClean forces in Va. Did he have orders to do that or was this on his own? Luckly there was no Union cavalry to meet his as at Gettysburg [Custer and his cavalry] What would cause him to think that he could do this without orders? As for the Pickett's Charge , I have not read of any cav. being involved in this. Then I can see Start with his sword high in the air and his feather in his cap in full gallop across the open terrain coming behind Pickett and Armistead to bring victory and glory to his cav. Were was he on the 4th? I know that he did cover the retreat the next day. Did he bring back his wagons which he had captured or did he leave them there? One last; Could Stuart have faced court martial at any time during the war or was it because he was so popular with the public that no charges were brought? His failure to remain in contact with Lee after crossing into Pa, and if he had performed his swing around the Union at Gettysburg , are two in mind. There are possible others. Last, I do favor Nathan B. Forrest over this Romantic Knight.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

By the end of the second day, Stuart's cavalry was preparing east of Gettysburg, behind Ewell's Second Corps.

According to Stephen W. Sears in 'Gettysburg' (at page 391), Stuart and Lee worked out a contingency plan to apply in conjunction with the proposed July 3 infantry offensive. If the infantry assault broke through onto the Cemetery Ridge line, the plan was for Stuart to launch a simultaneous attack on the perceived weakened Union rear. Sears adds that there were a range of outcomes hoped for by successfully executing this cavalry plan. These possibilities included: causing havoc and netting prisoners; merely creating a diversion; or just perhaps threatening the Federal supply line.

From this information, it seems that any such cavalry plan lacked specific definite objectives and any significant real benefits and gains (if any of the intended outcomes were attained) to realize.

Whatever the plan was, the sudden presence of Federal cavalry interposed between Stuart's cavalry and the main Federal line, interfered with its implementation.

 

[WScott]

To me, Stuart is an enigma when it comes to the battle of Gettysburg. He shows up late on Day 2 after his big swing around the Union Army and then makes a feeble attempt to scare the Union rear on Day 3. I don't think this movement was Stuarts idea and I have no idea what Lee was expecting of him.

If Stuart was supposed to upset the communications and supply lines of Meade he was at the wrong end of the battlefield and if he was supposed to make a coordinated assault with Pickets Charge that didn't happen either. For all of his skills, swager and chutzpa I think Stuart was a non factor at Gettysburg.

 

[Tom Elmore]

If Stuart was not ordered to do this, then would he have done this on his own ? I vote yes. If he did do this then he must have thought that he could do what he had done before , a little trip around the rear of McClean forces in Va. Did he have orders to do that or was this on his own? Luckly there was no Union cavalry to meet his as at Gettysburg [Custer and his cavalry] What would cause him to think that he could do this without orders? As for the Pickett's Charge , I have not read of any cav. being involved in this. Then I can see Start with his sword high in the air and his feather in his cap in full gallop across the open terrain coming behind Pickett and Armistead to bring victory and glory to his cav. Were was he on the 4th? I know that he did cover the retreat the next day. Did he bring back his wagons which he had captured or did he leave them there? One last; Could Stuart have faced court martial at any time during the war or was it because he was so popular with the public that no charges were brought? His failure to remain in contact with Lee after crossing into Pa, and if he had performed his swing around the Union at Gettysburg , are two in mind. There are possible others. Last, I do favor Nathan B. Forrest over this Romantic Knight.

As for the capacious wagons captured by Stuart, they were a welcome addition to the wagon train that transported the wounded back to Virginia:

-"July 4, Dr. Warren ordered us to get up a list of the wounded and pack as many as possible into wagons captured by Stuart on a raid, and send them to Winchester." (A Johnny Reb Band from Salem, by Henry H. Hall (26th North Carolina), p. 53)

-"When the army retreated from Gettysburg, the wounded were sent off in long trains chiefly of the wagons which Gen. Stuart had captured in his raid around Meade's army." (Assistant Surgeon George C. Underwood, 26th North Carolina, Southern Historical Society Papers and History of Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina)

 

[John S. Carter]

As for the capacious wagons captured by Stuart, they were a welcome addition to the wagon train that transported the wounded back to Virginia:

-"July 4, Dr. Warren ordered us to get up a list of the wounded and pack as many as possible into wagons captured by Stuart on a raid, and send them to Winchester." (A Johnny Reb Band from Salem, by Henry H. Hall (26th North Carolina), p. 53)

-"When the army retreated from Gettysburg, the wounded were sent off in long trains chiefly of the wagons which Gen. Stuart had captured in his raid around Meade's army." (Assistant Surgeon George C. Underwood, 26th North Carolina, Southern Historical Society Papers and History of Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina)

One major benefit that did come from Stuart's failure to follow Lee's orders.

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

For what it's worth, Scott echoes precisely what I have said in Protecting the Flank. Obviously, I strongly agree with him.

 

[Belfoured]

Check out Eric Wittenberg's book "Protecting the Flank at Gettysburg." It is the definitive work . There is no proof of any orders for Stuart to attack the rear of the Union line.

The Appendix in Eric's book leaves only smoldering embers of the Carhart theory.

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

Were was he on the 4th?

Operating south of Gettysburg, including in Emmitsburg, MD, where he captured a Union signal detachment.

 

[John S. Carter]

Operating south of Gettysburg, including in Emmitsburg, MD, where he captured a Union signal detachment.

Was he and his cal. suppose to be covering the retreat from Gettysburg as a rear guard ? What was Lee to do with a signal detachment? Stuart was a excellent calvary officer but was one who was better suited for a freelance type of operation as was Mosby or other Grey Ghost calvary. Is there a bio. that renders a objective view of this romantic Cavalier?

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

Jeff Wert's bio is very objective.

He was doing what cavalry is supposed to do--scouting, screening, and reconnaissance.