Okla-homey
10/11/2006, 06:09 AM
October 11, 1862 : Stuart hits Pennsylvania
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/6513/wwwwwwww149oa0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
J.E.B. Stuart
144 years ago today, the thirty-five year old Confederate cavalry leader Major General James Ewell Brown ("Jeb") Stuart loots Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on a daring raid in the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg.
Stuart left Virginia on October 9 with 1,800 cavalry troopers. At the time, the Federal "Army of the Potomac" was still camped in western Maryland. Its commander, George McClellan, was reluctant to pursue General Robert E. Lee's "Army of Northern Virginia" back across the Potomac after Antietam on September 17.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3239/wwwwwwwwwwstuart1bax9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Stuart's jacket seen here is in the collection of the Virginia Historical Society
Stuart was trying to gather information on McClellan's army and harass or interdict his lines of supply. As the Rebels rode through Maryland, they captured any male travelers they saw in order to keep their activities secret, though Stuart refused to detain women.
http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/2920/wwwwwwwwwwwww38199912jp9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Stuart's monument in Richmond, VA.
On the evening of October 10, the Confederate troopers entered Chambersburg, PA. About half of the supplies for the Union army came through the rail center, and Stuart planned to destroy a railway bridge in the town.
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/7240/wwwwwwwwwwwwwwchambersburgun6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Chambersburg before Stuart
Local officials fled, and there were no Federal troops to be found when Stuart's men rode in on the evening of October 10. On the morning of October 11, they began cutting telegraph lines, seizing horses and any supplies they could carry, and destroying everything else. Stuart also destroyed many machine shops at the rail center in Chambersburg.
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/4993/wwwwwwwwwwwwwwrebelschambersburgnp5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
(Left) Stuart's guys exchanging their dirty duds for new clothes in Chambersburg. (Right) Chambersburg in flames.
The railway bridge proved to be more than the Rebels could handle. Attempts to destroy the steel structure failed, and Stuart ordered his men to turn back to Virginia by the afternoon of October 11.
Stuart's men headed back through Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he learned that a Federal cavalry force was waiting for him at Frederick, 20 miles south. Stuart used backroads and wove between two Union forces before crossing the Potomac River on October 12.
The three-day raid covered nearly 130 miles, netted 1,200 horses, and captured 30 local officials to be exchanged for Confederate civilian prisoners being held without trial by the Lincoln government in U.S. jails for various alleged "acts of sedition."
Stuart also destroyed many machine shops at the rail center in Chambersburg. His force suffered just one man wounded and two missing.
http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/2198/wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwfr2137ao6.gif (http://imageshack.us)
The dashing Stuart would live on to ride to eternal Confederate martial glory until his untimely death during the last full year of the war.
Stuart's only misstep during his career as a Confderate cavalry leader occurred the following summer when he left Lee tactically blind by failing to provide him vital information needed on Federal troop dispositions during the Gettysburg campaign.
See, the principle role of cavalry in the 19th century was to perform armed reconnaisance and to screen friendly forces from enemy observation -- not raiding or "joy-riding". The result was the epic meeting engagement that ensued on July 2-4 1863, that ended in a Federal victory. When Stuart finally showed up at headquarters after the battle had already been joined, he apologized and offered to resign, but Lee forgave him and would not accept Stuart's resignation.
Subsequently, during Grant's drive on Richmond in the spring of 1864, Stuart halted U.S. Major General Phil Sheridan's cavalry at Yellow Tavern on the outskirts of Richmond on May 11. In that fight Stuart was mortally wounded and died the next day at his physician brother-in-law's home in the rebel capital.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/7066/wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwjebsignkz0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
He was thirty-seven at his death. Stuart is buried in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6426/wwwwwwwwwwwww422ja0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Stuart's gravesite during the period
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/2238/wwwwwwwwwwwwwjebgraveax0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Stuart's gravesite now...they've fixed it up a bit.
Stuart's death marked the beginning of the decline of the superiority which the Confederate horse had enjoyed over that of the Union for much of the war.
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8703/insane7zocy5.jpg
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/6513/wwwwwwww149oa0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
J.E.B. Stuart
144 years ago today, the thirty-five year old Confederate cavalry leader Major General James Ewell Brown ("Jeb") Stuart loots Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on a daring raid in the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg.
Stuart left Virginia on October 9 with 1,800 cavalry troopers. At the time, the Federal "Army of the Potomac" was still camped in western Maryland. Its commander, George McClellan, was reluctant to pursue General Robert E. Lee's "Army of Northern Virginia" back across the Potomac after Antietam on September 17.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3239/wwwwwwwwwwstuart1bax9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Stuart's jacket seen here is in the collection of the Virginia Historical Society
Stuart was trying to gather information on McClellan's army and harass or interdict his lines of supply. As the Rebels rode through Maryland, they captured any male travelers they saw in order to keep their activities secret, though Stuart refused to detain women.
http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/2920/wwwwwwwwwwwww38199912jp9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Stuart's monument in Richmond, VA.
On the evening of October 10, the Confederate troopers entered Chambersburg, PA. About half of the supplies for the Union army came through the rail center, and Stuart planned to destroy a railway bridge in the town.
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/7240/wwwwwwwwwwwwwwchambersburgun6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Chambersburg before Stuart
Local officials fled, and there were no Federal troops to be found when Stuart's men rode in on the evening of October 10. On the morning of October 11, they began cutting telegraph lines, seizing horses and any supplies they could carry, and destroying everything else. Stuart also destroyed many machine shops at the rail center in Chambersburg.
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/4993/wwwwwwwwwwwwwwrebelschambersburgnp5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
(Left) Stuart's guys exchanging their dirty duds for new clothes in Chambersburg. (Right) Chambersburg in flames.
The railway bridge proved to be more than the Rebels could handle. Attempts to destroy the steel structure failed, and Stuart ordered his men to turn back to Virginia by the afternoon of October 11.
Stuart's men headed back through Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he learned that a Federal cavalry force was waiting for him at Frederick, 20 miles south. Stuart used backroads and wove between two Union forces before crossing the Potomac River on October 12.
The three-day raid covered nearly 130 miles, netted 1,200 horses, and captured 30 local officials to be exchanged for Confederate civilian prisoners being held without trial by the Lincoln government in U.S. jails for various alleged "acts of sedition."
Stuart also destroyed many machine shops at the rail center in Chambersburg. His force suffered just one man wounded and two missing.
http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/2198/wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwfr2137ao6.gif (http://imageshack.us)
The dashing Stuart would live on to ride to eternal Confederate martial glory until his untimely death during the last full year of the war.
Stuart's only misstep during his career as a Confderate cavalry leader occurred the following summer when he left Lee tactically blind by failing to provide him vital information needed on Federal troop dispositions during the Gettysburg campaign.
See, the principle role of cavalry in the 19th century was to perform armed reconnaisance and to screen friendly forces from enemy observation -- not raiding or "joy-riding". The result was the epic meeting engagement that ensued on July 2-4 1863, that ended in a Federal victory. When Stuart finally showed up at headquarters after the battle had already been joined, he apologized and offered to resign, but Lee forgave him and would not accept Stuart's resignation.
Subsequently, during Grant's drive on Richmond in the spring of 1864, Stuart halted U.S. Major General Phil Sheridan's cavalry at Yellow Tavern on the outskirts of Richmond on May 11. In that fight Stuart was mortally wounded and died the next day at his physician brother-in-law's home in the rebel capital.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/7066/wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwjebsignkz0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
He was thirty-seven at his death. Stuart is buried in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6426/wwwwwwwwwwwww422ja0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Stuart's gravesite during the period
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/2238/wwwwwwwwwwwwwjebgraveax0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Stuart's gravesite now...they've fixed it up a bit.
Stuart's death marked the beginning of the decline of the superiority which the Confederate horse had enjoyed over that of the Union for much of the war.
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8703/insane7zocy5.jpg