"The Black Knight"

[CSA Today]

By John Paul Strain

 

[NFB22]

I'm still curious what kind of impact he'd have had later in the war. I know many believe he was at his height when he fell but I'm not so sure.

 

[diane]

Great pictures! Turner Ashby gets overlooked like most of those who died early in the war. Think he was on that learning curve just about everyone had at the beginning - only he didn't survive long enough to realize his potential.

 

[Frederick14Va]

There are some that are of the opinion that if he had lived longer he would have equaled if not bypassed the fame that Stuart obtained during the war....

There is a lone marker atop Chestnut Ridge near Harrisonburg Va, indicating the location he was killed..... took a little bit of searching to find it..... a rather spooky place also...

 

[CSA Today]

My paternal grandmother had a brother name for Turner Ashby. Her father didn't serve under him (19th Virginia instead) but Ashby was something of a folk hero in his part of Virginia.

 

[James N.]

There are some that are of the opinion that if he had lived longer he would have equaled if not bypassed the fame that Stuart obtained during the war...

Probably not, because from all accounts Ashby lacked the discipline necessary, both over himself and his men, to be a really effective cavalryman in the sense Stuart was. He might more likely have been a raider in the mold of John Hunt Morgan, but as a unit commander he was already well over his head with his own 9th Virginia. It was an unconventional command, twice as large as a normal cavalry regiment, and made up of his neighbors and kinsmen who were all fiercely loyal to him - admirable for a raider or guerrilla like Mosby or Quantrell but virtually useless at a higher command level. He continually clashed with Jackson.

 

[donna]

Really like the prints.

 

[donna]

He has memorial on Find A Grave. He is buried at Stonewall Confederate Cemetery in Winchester, Va.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8336

 

[Rebforever]

Probably not, because from all accounts Ashby lacked the discipline necessary, both over himself and his men, to be a really effective cavalryman in the sense Stuart was. He might more likely have been a raider in the mold of John Hunt Morgan, but as a unit commander he was already well over his head with his own 9th Virginia. It was an unconventional command, twice as large as a normal cavalry regiment, and made up of his neighbors and kinsmen who were all fiercely loyal to him - admirable for a raider or guerrilla like Mosby or Quantrell but virtually useless at a higher command level. He continually clashed with Jackson.

Stonewall Jackson had a lot of respect for him. Projecting something that may or may not have been is quite unfair to
a soldier that was an early riser to fight and die.

http://www.shenandoahatwar.org/The-History/The-People/Turner-Ashby

 

[Rebforever]

Although there were some problems he really was a young Stuart.

 

[ErnieMac]

Although there were some problems he really was a young Stuart.

He was actually 4 years older than Stuart. (Edit - changed 5 to 4)

 

[diane]

Ashby's record wasn't too bad but he did have a couple very serious blunders, which made Jackson hesitate to endorse his promotion to brigadier general. One was at Kernstown, where Jackson was nearly captured and the other at Winchester. In the former case, he reported the Union in retreat when they weren't; the second was a disciplinary problem when his men became more interested in plundering than in cutting off the Union retreat. He did a fine job of screening Johnston at First Manassas and was overall a charismatic and effective commander. There was plenty of room for improvement - under Jackson that might well have happened. Jackson did find him valuable despite some bad mistakes. He came into Jackson's command via Harpers Ferry. His men had been absorbed into the Virginia militia and he was one of the many soon-to-be noticables of the CW who were present when John Brown's trial and hanging took place. He wasn't personally present at either, but was keeping order while those two events took place.

 

[Rebforever]

Ashby's record wasn't too bad but he did have a couple very serious blunders, which made Jackson hesitate to endorse his promotion to brigadier general. One was at Kernstown, where Jackson was nearly captured and the other at Winchester. In the former case, he reported the Union in retreat when they weren't; the second was a disciplinary problem when his men became more interested in plundering than in cutting off the Union retreat. He did a fine job of screening Johnston at First Manassas and was overall a charismatic and effective commander. There was plenty of room for improvement - under Jackson that might well have happened. Jackson did find him valuable despite some bad mistakes. He came into Jackson's command via Harpers Ferry. His men had been absorbed into the Virginia militia and he was one of the many soon-to-be noticables of the CW who were present when John Brown's trial and hanging took place. He wasn't personally present at either, but was keeping order while those two events took place.

Even Stuart made some mistakes.

 

[dlofting]

There weren't many cavalry commanders better than Stuart (maybe none, although Hampton and Buford came close). Ashby was personally very brave and charismatic, but could he have equalled Stuart....I doubt it.

 

[K Hale]

Although there were some problems he really was a young Stuart.

Not so much.

 

[NFB22]

There weren't many cavalry commanders better than Stuart (maybe none, although Hampton and Buford came close). Ashby was personally very brave and charismatic, but could he have equalled Stuart....I doubt it.

In his defense, would anyone have looked at Nathan Bedford Forrest in the 1850's and thought within the next decade he would become not only a general but a pretty gosh darn good one at that? It's a what if, war causes both the best, and the worst to come out in men.

 

[ErnieMac]

IMO Jackson recognized Ashby for what he was - ""As a partisan officer I never knew his superior." I don't see Ashby as the cavalry commander assigned to a Confederate army. I could see him as the Forrest of western Virginia and West Virginia. Had he lived Ashby might have been the one raiding deep into West Virginia, burning Chambersburg or harassing Sigel and Hunter as they advanced up the Valley.

 

[dlofting]

In his defense, would anyone have looked at Nathan Bedford Forrest in the 1850's and thought within the next decade he would become not only a general but a pretty gosh darn good one at that? It's a what if, war causes both the best, and the worst to come out in men.

As an independent commander of mounted forces Forrest was great.....as a cavalry commander attached to an army of infantry and artillery, not so great. Stuart was good at both.

 

[NFB22]

As an independent commander of mounted forces Forrest was great.....as a cavalry commander attached to an army of infantry and artillery, not so great. Stuart was good at both.

I'm not implying Forrest was like the greatest general of the war but for a guy that had zero experience he didn't fair to badly. I'm just saying you never know.

 

[JerseyBart]

I wish I could draw or paint. Those paintings are beautiful.