Clashes of Cavalry

Thom Hatch

Description

The story of two remarkable men, both natural-born cavalry leaders of great courage, who shared similar traits. Their Civil War legacies were destined to be connected in a series of battles—beginning with Brady Station where Custer’s star rose rapidly, at Gettysburg where Stuart’s star became tarnished, and continuing to Yellow Tavern where Stuart was Killed.

Unlike most standard biographies, Clashes of Cavalry takes an innovative approach to chronicling the lives of these two Civil War giants by not only depicting their lives and exploits individually, but also by examining the role of each in specific battles in which both participated.

Author Thom Hatch first sets the stage with in-depth portrayals of “Beauty” Stuart and “Fanny” Custer, exploring how the early years of the two future cavaliers shaped their eventual military careers. Both born to conservative rural families, educated at West Point, and with sensitive yet outgoing personalities, Custer and Stuart shared some remarkable similarities. The early chapters follow the two young cavaliers through the first two years of the war, leading up to the largest cavalry engagement of the century at Brandy Station in 1863. Both Custer and Stuart participated in the action that day, with the twenty-three-year-old Custer faring far better than Stuart. Custer’s performance earned him the attention and respect of his superiors and started him down the path that would eventually lead to his promotion. Stuart, However, was blamed for the needless slaughter of his men by the Union’s surprise attack and faulted for his overconfidence.

Both Custer and Stuart’s careers continued through battles at Gettysburg, the Bristoe Campaign, and the Wilderness. While Stuart was destined to fall at Yellow Tavern, Custer went on to even greater success, culminating with an assault on the Confederates at Appomattox Court House that essentially ended the war.

Clashes of Cavalry paints a vivid portrait of these brilliant cavalrymen. Although Custer never enjoyed the same level of command as Stuart, there is reason to believe that given the same opportunity he would have been equal to the task. History has remembered both as gifted horsemen and inspired leaders, truly among the most celebrated heroes of the Civil War.

Sujets

• horses
• Historical
• Lettres et linguistique
• Biography
• History of the United States
• J.E.B. Stuart
• American Civil War
• Autobiography
• Jeb Stuart
• Gettysburg
• Guerre de Sécession

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 28 janvier 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781684424580
• Langue: English

Extrait

CLASHES of CAVALRY
CLASHES of CAVALRY
T HE C IVIL W AR C AREERS OF GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER and JEB STUART
by
THOM HATCH
TURNER PUBLISHING COMPANY
For my wife, Lynn, and daughter, Cimarron, who make each day truly joyous
Turner Publishing Company
Nashville, Tennessee
www.turnerpublishing.com
Copyright 2019 Thom Hatch
Clashes of Cavalry: The Civil War Careers of George Armstrong Custer and JEB Stuart
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone]. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to Turner Publishing Company, 4507 Charlotte Avenue, Suite 100, Nashville, Tennessee, [phone], fax [phone], E-mail: [e-mail] .
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Cover design: Bruce
Gore Book design: Tim Holtz
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hatch, Thom, 1946- author.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019047996
(print)
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019047996
9781684424566 paperback
9781684424573 hardcover
9781684424580 ebook
Printed in the United States of America
17 18 19 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Table of Contents
Introduction
CHAPTER 1 Beauty
CHAPTER 2 Fanny
CHAPTER 3 Opening Salvos of the War
CHAPTER 4 The Cavalier and the Aide-de-Camp
CHAPTER 5 Brandy Station
CHAPTER 6 On to Gettysburg
CHAPTER 7 East of Gettysburg
CHAPTER 8 Withdrawal and Pursuit
CHAPTER 9 The Bristoe Campaign
CHAPTER 10 The Winter of 1863-64
CHAPTER 11 The Wilderness Campaign
CHAPTER 12 The Shenandoah
CHAPTER 13 Appomattox
CHAPTER 14 The Boy General and the Knight of the Golden Spurs
Bibliography
Index
If you want to have a good time, jine the cavalry Jine the cavalry! Jine the cavalry! If you want to catch the Devil, if you want to have fun, If you want to smell Hell, jine the cavalry!
Introduction
T HE QUESTION MAY BE ASKED : Why a dual Civil War biography of George Armstrong Custer and James Ewell Brown Stuart? The answer is quite simple: Two famous, flamboyant, swashbuckling cavaliers in one book means twice the fun-and twice the understanding of the mindset and strategies from both sides of the conflict. Most importantly, Custer and Stuart were destined to meet on the field in a series of significant battles, a couple of which had a huge impact on the war and on their lives.
Jeb Stuart had been a thorn in the side of the North throughout the first two years of the war. As commander of the Army of Northern Virginia s elite cavalry, he had redefined the role of horsemen as an independent arm capable of wreaking havoc upon his enemy and had not come close to being challenged by the outclassed Yankee cavalry.
Stuart s bold raids into enemy territory had disrupted communication and supply lines, gathered vital intelligence, and destroyed millions of dollars worth of property-in addition to bloodying his enemy at will. His spectacular ride around McClellan s army had embarrassed the North and instilled confidence in the South s belief that it could prevail in this bitter conflict.
Stuart had been elevated to a lofty position in the hearts of his Southern admirers which rivaled that of a knight of King Arthur s court, and had gained at least grudging respect from his Northern opponents. Now he had been called upon to play a significant role in the Gettysburg battle.
The historic image and reputation of George Armstrong Custer has been unfairly established from the events of one day in his life-the day he died. Every other aspect of his career has been overshadowed by that lone Indian fight on the frontier. In his time, however, Custer was not a symbol of defeat but a national hero on a grand scale for his heroic achievements in the Civil War.
Just three days out of West Point, Custer had been cited for bravery for his actions during the Union retreat from Bull Run. His career as a cavalry officer was temporarily interrupted when he was assigned as an aide-de-camp to a succession of generals, including George B. McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac. But even in this noncombatant role, Custer could not be deterred from upon occasion joining the fray on the battlefield and distinguishing himself.
His propensity for a more active role eventually earned him the cavalry command that he so craved. He would time and again prove his leadership ability, personally leading electrifying cavalry charges in key Union victories, which would result in his accepting the Confederate white flag of surrender at Appomattox.
And much of Custer s glory would come at the expense of Jeb Stuart-beginning with the bloody skirmish east of Gettysburg that would have a consequential impact on the course of that battle, if not history. Gettysburg was, however, only the first in a series of engagements between these two remarkable cavalry generals who shared numerous similar personal traits and whose Civil War legacies were destined to be intertwined.
The early chapters of this book will familiarize the reader with the backgrounds and accomplishments of both Custer and Stuart through the first two years of the war, leading up to the largest cavalry engagement of the century at Brandy Station.
Then, the stage has been set to mount up and ride alongside the blue and gray horsemen into the sanguinary fields of saber strokes and pistol fire, witnessing events through the eyes and actions of Jeb Stuart and Armstrong Custer as they engage each other in clashes of cavalry.
CHAPTER ONE

B EAUTY
T HE S OUTH S MOST CELEBRATED CAVALRYMAN , James Ewell Brown Stuart, was born at eleven thirty on the morning of February 6, 1833, at Laurel Hill, the family farm located in southwestern Patrick County, Virginia, on the fringes of the Blue Ridge Mountains. James, who was named after a paternal uncle, was the seventh child and youngest son born to Archibald and Elizabeth Stuart in a family that would eventually include ten children-four boys and six girls.
His father, Archibald, was of Scotch-Presbyterian heritage whose ancestors had departed Londonderry, Ireland, in 1726 to escape religious persecution. Archibald had served as an officer in the War of 1812 and was a lawyer who had embraced the political arena. He had been a delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-30, would be elected by the Whig Party to a term in the United States House of Representatives (1837-39), and would later serve in the Virginia Senate (1852-54). Archibald, for whatever the reasons and in spite of his connections and reputation for possessing more than his share of wit and good humor, which made him the center of attention at social gatherings, would never prosper materially.
In June 1817, Archibald married Elizabeth Letcher Pannill, whose Welsh ancestors had immigrated to Virginia from Ireland some time before the Revolutionary War. The growing family would be raised on the fertile soil of the Laurel Hill plantation that Elizabeth had inherited from her grandfather. Archibald often traveled, and the responsibility of managing the place fell upon the shoulders of Elizabeth, which perhaps contributed to her being somewhat ill-tempered and judgmental from a Biblical standpoint. Elizabeth taught the children basic school subjects at home, with special emphasis on religious virtues. She made all her sons promise to never touch a drop of liquor, a pledge to which James remained faithful throughout his life.
Patrick County was an isolated rural community where the farmers grew tobacco and corn, and raised livestock, but many, including the Stuarts, also provided for themselves by subsistence farming with as many as twenty-eight slaves. James and his siblings were assigned chores around the farm but were also afforded ample time for play.
James spent many days in the saddle and considered his relationship with horses to be equal with that of friends or relatives. He enjoyed roaming the rolling hills that surrounded Laurel Hill and, perhaps through his love and appreciation of the outdoors, developed a sensitive side to the extent that he wrote poetry about nature. That trait, which included a love of flowers, was rarely displayed around his siblings or other boys for fear of appearing unmanly. Make no mistake about it, however, James was a rough-and-tumble youngster who would upon occasion demonstrate his youthful pluck.
His older brother, William Alexander, told the story about an encounter that he and nine-year-old James had with a hornet s nest. The boys had happened upon the nest one summer day and decided to dislodge it. The nest was located too high in the tree for sticks to reach it, so they climbed up the branches with intentions of knocking it free. The hornets, however, instinctively protected their nest and attacked in force. William prudently leaped