A COLONEL OF CONFEDERATE CAVALRY
1861
There seems to have been no doubt in the mind of Lieutenant Stuart as to
what he should do in the event of Virginia’s withdrawal from the Union.
As soon as he heard that the Old Dominion had seceded, he forwarded to
the War Department his resignation as an officer in the United States
army, and hastening to Richmond, he enlisted in the militia of his
native state. Like most other southerners, he preferred poverty and
hardships in defense of the South to all the honors and wealth which the
United States government could bestow.
On May 10, 1861, Stuart was commissioned as lieutenant colonel of
infantry, and was ordered to report to Colonel T. J. Jackson at Harper’s
Ferry. While he was at Harper’s Ferry, Stuart organized several troops
of cavalry to assist the infantry and he was soon transferred to this
branch of the service.
On May 15, General Joseph E. Johnston was sent by the Confederate
government to take command of all the forces at Harper’s Ferry; while
Colonel Jackson, who had previously been in command of the place, was
assigned charge of the Virginia regiments afterwards famous as the
“Stonewall Brigade.” General Johnston found that he was unable to hold
the town against the advancing Federal force; so he destroyed the
railway bridge and retired with his guns and stores to Bunker Hill,
twelve miles from Winchester, where he offered battle to the Federals.
They declined to fight and withdrew to the north bank of the Potomac
river.
When the Federals under General Patterson again crossed the river,
General Jackson with his brigade was sent forward to support the cavalry
under Stuart and to destroy the railway engines and cars at Martinsburg.
Jackson then remained with his brigade near Martinsburg, while his front
was protected by Colonel Stuart with a regiment of cavalry.
On July 1, General Patterson advanced toward General Jackson, who went
forward to meet him, with only the Fifth Regiment, several companies of
cavalry, and one piece of artillery. The Confederate general posted his
men behind a farm house and barn, and held back Patterson so well that
he threw forward an entire division to overpower the small force of
Jackson. The latter then fell back slowly to the main body of his
troops, with the trifling loss of two men wounded and nine missing.
While supporting Jackson in this first battle in the Shenandoah valley,
known as the battle of Haines’ Farm or Falling Waters, Colonel Stuart
had a remarkable adventure. Riding alone in advance of his men, he came
suddenly out of a piece of woods at a point where he could see a force
of Federal infantry on the other side of the fence. Without a moment’s
hesitation, he rode boldly forward and ordered the Federal soldiers to
pull down the bars.
They obeyed and he immediately rode through to the other side, and in
peremptory tones said, “Throw down your arms or you are dead men.”
The raw troops were so overcome by Stuart’s boldness and commanding
tones that they obeyed at once and then marched as he directed through
the gap in the fence. Before they recovered from their astonishment,
Stuart had them surrounded by his own force which had come up in the
meantime, thus capturing over forty men—almost an entire company.
After some marching backward and forward, General Johnston retired to
Winchester; while General Patterson moved farther south to Smithfield as
if he intended to attack in that direction. Stuart with his small force
was now compelled to watch a front of over fifty miles, in order to
report promptly the movements of the Federals, yet he did this so
efficiently that later on when General Johnston was ordered west, he
wrote to Stuart:
“How can I eat, sleep, or rest in peace, without you upon the outpost?”
General Johnston now received a call for help from General Beauregard
who commanded a Confederate army of twenty thousand men at Manassas
Junction. Beauregard was confronted by a Federal army of thirty-five
thousand men, including nearly all of the United States regulars east of
the Rocky Mountains. This army, commanded by General McDowell, was
equipped with improved firearms and had fine uniforms, good tents, and
everything that money could buy to make good soldiers. The North was
very proud of this fine army and fully expected it to crush Beauregard
and to sweep on to Richmond.
Beauregard was indeed in danger. He had a smaller army and his infantry
was armed, for the most part, with old-fashioned smooth-bore muskets,
and his cavalry with sabers and shotguns. One company of cavalry was
armed only with the pikes of John Brown, which had been stored at
Harper’s Ferry. Beauregard stationed his forces in line of battle along
the banks of Bull Run from the Stone Bridge to Union Mills, a distance
of eight miles. On July 18, the Federals tried to force Blackburn’s Ford
on Bull Run, but were repulsed with heavy loss. Beauregard, knowing that
the attack would be renewed the next day, sent a message to Johnston at
Winchester, sixty miles away.
“If you are going to help me, now is the time,” was Beauregard’s
message.
Two days before, Stuart had been transferred to the cavalry, with a
commission as colonel, and he entered at once upon his arduous labors.
At first he had in his command only twenty-one officers and three
hundred and thirteen men, raw to military discipline and poorly armed
with the guns they had used in hunting, but all were fine horsemen and
good shots.
General Johnston, leaving Stuart with a little band of troopers to
conceal his movements, immediately commenced his march from Winchester
to Manassas. So skillfully did Colonel Stuart do his work that General
Patterson was not aware of General Johnston’s departure until Sunday,
July 21, when the great battle of Manassas was fought. Owing to a
collision which had blocked the railway, some of the infantry did not
reach Manassas until near the close of the battle, but the cavalry and
the artillery marched all the way and arrived in time to render
effective service during the entire battle.
It was at Manassas that General Jackson won his name of “Stonewall”
because of the wonderful stand that his brigade made, just when it
seemed that the Federals were about to overcome the Confederates. But we
are concerned particularly with the movements of the cavalry which
rendered fine service, protecting each flank of the army. Colonel
Stuart, with only two companies of cavalry, protected the left flank
from assault after assault. At one time Stuart boldly charged the
Federal right and drove back a company of Zouaves resplendent in their
blue and scarlet uniforms and white turbans.
General Early, who arrived on the field about three o’clock in the
afternoon and assisted in holding the left flank, said, “But for
Stuart’s presence there, I am of the opinion that my brigade would have
arrived too late to be of any use. Stuart did as much toward saving the
First Manassas as any subordinate who participated in it.”
General Jackson, in his report of the battle, said: “Apprehensive lest
my flanks be turned, I sent orders to Colonels Stuart and Radford of the
cavalry to secure them. Colonel Stuart and that part of his command with
him deserve great praise for the promptness with which they moved to my
left and secured my flank from the enemy, and by driving them back.”
Thus we see at the very crisis of the battle, Stuart with only a small
force aided largely in gaining the great victory. When he saw the
Federals fleeing from all parts of the field, he pursued them for twelve
miles, taking many prisoners and securing much booty.
After the battle of First Manassas, the main armies were inactive for
many months; but the Confederate cavalry was kept busy in frequent
skirmishes with the Federal pickets and in raids toward the Potomac
river. Stuart took possession of Munson’s Hill, near Washington, and for
several weeks sent out his pickets within sight of the dome of the
Capitol.
In a letter from General F. E. Paxton, of the Stonewall Brigade, we find
this interesting mention of Colonel Stuart and his life at the outpost:
“Yesterday I was down the road about ten miles, and, from a hill in the
possession of our troops, had a good view of the dome of the Capitol,
some five or six miles distant. The city was not visible, because of the
woods coming between. I saw the sentinel of the enemy in the field below
me, and about half a mile off and not far on this side, our own
sentinels. They fire sometimes at each other. Mrs. Stuart, wife of the
colonel who has charge of our outpost, visits him occasionally—having a
room with friends a few miles inside the outpost. Whilst there looking
at the Capitol, I saw two of his little children playing as carelessly
as if they were at home. A dangerous place, you will think, for women
and children.”
[Illustration: PICKETED CAVALRY HORSE]
Mrs. Stuart, however, was a soldier’s daughter and a soldier’s wife, and
she took advantage of every opportunity to be with her husband at his
headquarters. During the beginning of the war, before the engagements
with the Federals became frequent, she was often able to be with her
husband or to board at some home near which he was stationed. Although
he was a favorite with women, there was no woman who, in General
Stuart’s eyes, could compare with his wife, and he was never happier
than when with her and his children. When the general’s duties compelled
him to be away from her, two days seldom passed that Mrs. Stuart did not
hear from him by letter or telegram.
On September 11, Stuart’s forces encountered a raiding party which was
forced to retire with a loss of two killed and thirteen wounded, while
Stuart lost neither man nor horse.
During the summer, Stuart had been ordered to report to General James
Longstreet who commanded the advance of the Confederate army.
General Longstreet in a letter to President Davis said of Stuart: “He is
a rare man, wonderfully endowed by nature with the qualities necessary
for an officer of light cavalry. Calm, firm, acute, active, and
enterprising, I know no one more competent than he to estimate events at
their true value. If you add a brigade of cavalry to this army, you will
find no better brigadier general to command it.”