Life span: 02/06/1833 to 05/12/1864TabsLife SummaryFull name: James Ewell Brown StuartPlace of Birth: Patrick County, VABurial Place: Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, VABirth Date Certainty: ExactDeath Date Certainty: ExactGender: MaleRace: WhiteSectional choice: SouthOrigins: Slave StateEducation: West Point (US Military Academy)Occupation: MilitaryMilitary: US military (Pre-Civil War)Confederate Army Note Cards J. E. B. Stuart (American National Biography) ScholarshipStuart left a singular reputation. His fondness for display and frivolity is well known. He assiduously cultivated a public image that anticipated by many decades the media-minded generals of later wars. Stuart was "as ambitious as Caesar," admitted one of his officers. Fellow general James Longstreet contended somewhat smugly after the war that Stuart was "of the best material for the cavalry service, but needing an older head to instruct and regulate him. By our indulgence," wrote Longstreet, "he became too large for his position." Despite those failings, real or imagined, Stuart clearly enjoyed contemporary respect and popularity at all levels, both military and civilian. His chivalric "gay cavalier" reputation concealed and only rarely subdued his many talents as a Civil War cavalryman. He had no peer at gathering intelligence; he discovered and developed such talents as John S. Mosby, Pelham, and Thomas L. Rosser; and he transferred his personality to the Confederate cavalry in a fashion that improved its morale and military efficiency. His name must appear near the top on any list of significant Civil War figures. Robert E. L. Krick, "Stuart, J. E. B.," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/04/04-00966.html. Events Date span begin Life span End Event 07/21/1861 07/22/1861 The first pitched battle of the war between armies results in a Union disaster at Bull Run 12/20/1861 12/20/1861 Pennsylvania troops push back Confederate units in a small battle near Dranesville, Virginia 03/29/1862 03/29/1862 In Loudon County, Virginia, Pennsylvania infantry storm the streets of Middleburg and take the town 05/05/1862 05/05/1862 Near Williamsburg, Virginia, forty-thousand pursuing Union troops clash with the Confederate rearguard 04/27/1863 04/30/1863 The Army of the Potomac concentrates on Chancellorsville in preparation for an attack on Lee 05/01/1863 05/01/1863 Union and Confederate armies collide near Chancellorsville in Spotsylvania County, Virginia 05/02/1863 05/02/1863 "Stonewall" Jackson's flanking movement seizes the initiative in the Battle of Chancellorsville 05/03/1863 05/03/1863 Lee's Army of Northern Virginia forces back entrenched Union forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville 05/05/1863 05/06/1863 The beaten Union Army retreats across the Rappahannock, ending the Battle of Chancellorsville 05/22/1863 05/22/1863 In Virginia, General J.E.B. Stuart holds the first of several "Grand Reviews" of his entire cavalry force 06/05/1863 06/05/1863 General J.E.B. Stuart parades his entire cavalry force at a second "Grand Review" in Virginia 06/09/1863 06/09/1863 Thousands of cavalrymen clash at Brandy Station, Virginia, in the largest cavalry battle of the war 06/21/1863 06/21/1863 Near Upperville, Virginia, Union cavalry again clashes with the Confederate cavalry screen 06/30/1863 06/30/1863 Heavy fighting with Union cavalry at Hanover, Pennsylvania again delays Stuart's Confederate cavalry 07/01/1863 07/03/1863 Battle of Gettysburg 07/01/1863 07/01/1863 Shells from General J.E.B. Stuart's horse artillery rain down on Carlisle in an evening bombardment 07/01/1863 07/01/1863 Stuart's cavalrymen destroy the U.S. Army's Cavalry School at Carlisle Barracks 07/02/1863 07/02/1863 After midnight outside Carlisle, General J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry is ordered to concentrate on Gettysburg 09/13/1863 09/13/1863 Union cavalry capture Culpeper, Virginia after a sharp mounted action through the town 09/14/1863 09/15/1863 Moving out from newly captured Culpeper, Virginia, Union cavalry units probe Confederate positions 05/11/1864 05/11/1864 Famed Confederate cavalry leader J.E.B. Stuart is mortally wounded in the stomach at Yellow Tavern 05/12/1864 05/12/1864 At a private house in Richmond, Confederate cavalry commander General J.E.B. Stuart dies of his wounds 05/13/1864 05/13/1864 General J.E.B. Stuart is buried with full honors at the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia Major TopicsHarpers Ferry RaidGettysburg Campaign Documents Subject Docs Date Title 11/27/1861 Colonel George D. Bayard, First Pennsylvania Cavalry, Report on Expedition to Dranesville, Virginia, November 27, 1861 12/28/1861 Secretary of War Simon Cameron to Brigadier-General George A. McCall, December 28, 1861 07/01/1863 Charles P. Noyes, 22nd New York, diary entry on opening of bombardment at Carlisle, July 1, 1863 07/01/1863 Letter from Theodore S. Garnett to George W. Wingate, May 31, 1892 on the Shelling of Carlisle, July 1, 1863 07/01/1863 Recollection by C. Stuart Patterson of the Union defense of Carlisle, July 1, 1863 07/01/1863 to 07/04/1863 Recollection in 1864 of the Shelling of Carlisle, July 1, 1863 by George Wood Wingate Images James Ewell Brown Stuart James Ewell Brown Stuart, detail General J.E.B. Stuart's winter headquarters, Rapidan River, Virginia, January 1864, British artist's impression, zoomable image Bibliography Chicago Style Entry Link Thomas, Emory M. "'The Greatest Service I Rendered the State': J. E. B. Stuart's Account of the Capture of John Brown." Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 94, no. 3 (1986): 345-357. View Record Thomas, Emory M. Bold Dragoon: The Life of J. E. B. Stuart. New York: Harper & Row, 1986. View Record Stuart, Jeb and Adele H. Mitchell. The Letters of Major General James E. B. Stuart. Alexandria, VA: Stuart-Mosby Historical Society, 1990. View Record
J. E. B. Stuart (American National Biography) ScholarshipStuart left a singular reputation. His fondness for display and frivolity is well known. He assiduously cultivated a public image that anticipated by many decades the media-minded generals of later wars. Stuart was "as ambitious as Caesar," admitted one of his officers. Fellow general James Longstreet contended somewhat smugly after the war that Stuart was "of the best material for the cavalry service, but needing an older head to instruct and regulate him. By our indulgence," wrote Longstreet, "he became too large for his position." Despite those failings, real or imagined, Stuart clearly enjoyed contemporary respect and popularity at all levels, both military and civilian. His chivalric "gay cavalier" reputation concealed and only rarely subdued his many talents as a Civil War cavalryman. He had no peer at gathering intelligence; he discovered and developed such talents as John S. Mosby, Pelham, and Thomas L. Rosser; and he transferred his personality to the Confederate cavalry in a fashion that improved its morale and military efficiency. His name must appear near the top on any list of significant Civil War figures. Robert E. L. Krick, "Stuart, J. E. B.," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/04/04-00966.html.
General J.E.B. Stuart's winter headquarters, Rapidan River, Virginia, January 1864, British artist's impression, zoomable image
