Who is jeb stuart

Soil exhaustion pushed most farms into bankruptcy. The population moved west. The intellectual life was dulled by a defense of slavery, an indefensible institution in a free country. Except for one thing: out of this intellectual and moral lethargy, Virginia spawned the most remarkable group of military leaders in American history. Their success and, yes, bravery made them legends in their time. Once the War began, he resigned his commission and headed south. In , at the tender age of 27, the Confederacy commissioned him a general at Munson Hill, just a mile from the high school that today bears his name.

Unlike the taciturn Stonewall Jackson or the aristocratic Robert E. Lee, Stuart had a flair for the dramatic. He dressed like a 17th century cavalier and endlessly promoted himself in the media, north and south. He also loved to taunt his opponents. During an raid on a Union telegraph office in Fairfax County, he captured a dozen horses — then sent a wire to the Union War Office in D.

Stuart had some significant triumphs, especially early in the War when his cavalry corps literally rode rings around the Union Army. But as the war entered its third summer, that perception would begin to change. At Brandy Station, despite holding the field for the South, Stuart failed to detect the movements of the Union cavalry that would eventually instigate the attack.

Stuart finally arrived late on the second day and the following day was repulsed by Union cavalry gaining no ground there. Stuart fought his final battle on the outskirts of Richmond on May 11, The Confederate cavalry was working feverishly to deny Gen.

Philip Sheridan 's Federal horsemen from gaining entry into the Confederate capital. Stuart's men were able to check the Yankee advance but at a terrible cost. The Confederate cavalry chief was shot by a dismounted Michigan trooper with a pistol, and the wound proved fatal. He died the day after the battle, May 12, and was buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.

Breadcrumb Home Learn Biographies J. After graduating from West Point in , Stuart was briefly assigned to a U. Army regiment in Texas before being transferred to the 1st Cavalry Regiment at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas Territory, in While at Leavenworth, Stuart met Flora Cooke, the daughter of a cavalry officer, and the two were married after a whirlwind courtship.

Stuart served as a quartermaster and commissary officer during the Bleeding Kansas affair, a period of intense violence between pro- and anti-slavery groups along the Missouri-Kansas border. In , he participated in U. In , Stuart served under Robert E.

Lee during the U. After Virginia seceded from the Union in April , Stuart—a slaveholder who had long stated his loyalty to his home state over the Union—resigned his post in the U. Army and moved his family back to the South. Stuart wasted no time in proving his value as a cavalry commander. After the Battle of 1st Bull Run in July , his unit pursued retreating Union troops as far north as the Potomac River and captured a huge bounty of supplies and prisoners.

In September , Stuart was promoted to brigadier general and placed in charge of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia.

His most famous exploit would come in June during the build-up to the Seven Days Battles. Robert E. Lee—who had recently taken control of Confederate forces—sent Stuart on a mission to determine if Union General George B. In the ensuing Battle of Brandy Station—the largest cavalry battle of the Civil War—Stuart was initially caught unprepared, but responded with characteristic verve to rebuff the Union advance.

Still, his reputation had suffered, as it was the first time Stuart had failed to dominate his opposition. As the Confederate army marched north, Stuart was given instructions to screen their advance and gather intelligence on enemy troop positions. Instead, Stuart set off on a raiding mission on Union positions along the outskirts of Washington , D.