While General Lee was awaiting the movements of the Federal army, an event happened which changed the entire aspect of military affairs. General McClellan was removed from command and General Burnside was put in his place. General McClellan had been too slow and cautious to suit the authorities at Washington; so, much to the delight of the Confederate government, this able general was removed just as his campaign had begun.
General Burnside remained at Warrenton ten days in order to reorganize his army into three divisions. Then he began to move his forces toward Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock river. This movement was at once observed by Stuart and reported to General Lee who immediately began to move troops toward Fredericksburg. When Burnside’s forces reached the northern bank of the river, they found the town in Lee’s possession and the heights to the south of it crowned by his artillery.
General Lee now ordered General Jackson to come from the Valley to join him. While waiting for this reenforcement, he began to construct earthworks for his artillery and to dig rifle-pits for his infantry on the range of hills extending in a semicircle for five miles south of the river. Here with Hampton guarding the left wing of the army and Stuart the right, the Confederates camped in comparative quiet until early in December.
During this period, there were several heavy snowstorms which the soldiers enjoyed like so many schoolboys. Major Von Borcke tells of a snow battle when several hundred men of McLaws’ division charged across a snow-covered plain half a mile wide, on the quarters of Hood’s division. Suddenly Hood’s whole division, led by its officers with colors flying, advanced against the attacking party which was driven back some distance. Then receiving reenforcements from their own division, the men rallied and threw up entrenchments behind which they made a stand. The air was white with flying snowballs, and the contest waxed hottest just at Stuart’s headquarters where he stood on a box and cheered the contestants. Hood’s men finally drove their opponents from the snow entrenchments, and would have routed them utterly, had not Anderson’s division come up to assist their fleeing comrades. With these reenforcements, McLaws’ men suddenly turned and drove Hood’s division back home. From these sham battles, the army turned soon to real warfare.
General Burnside had posted guns on Stafford Heights opposite Fredericksburg and on December 10, he shelled the town. Then his splendid army of 116,000 men crossed the river on pontoon bridges, and on the morning of December 13, it stormed Lee’s position. The battle raged all day, but the Federals were repulsed at all points and when night closed, the Confederates were still holding their position.
This battle of Fredericksburg offered little opportunity for cavalry charges, but General Fitz Lee kept watch over the fords on the Confederate left, while General W. H. F. Lee was posted on the right. Stuart also remained on the right as it was the weakest part of the line, and was in constant conference with Lee and Jackson.
As the Federals made their first advance against the troops of Jackson at Hamilton’s Crossing near the extreme right, Major Pelham of the Stuart Horse Artillery in an exposed position opened a cross fire with one gun and caused them to halt for over an hour. Five Federal batteries opened upon him, but he continued to fire until withdrawn by Stuart.
Both General Lee and General Jackson were on the extreme right and witnessed the wonderful work done by Major Pelham’s gun. Both of them in their reports of this battle mentioned the genius and bravery of the young Alabamian.
General Jackson asked General Stuart, “Have you another Pelham, general? If so, I wish that you would give him to me.”
General Lee expected the battle to be renewed the next morning, but Burnside remained quiet, and, on the night of December 15, in a violent storm of wind and rain, he withdrew to the opposite bank.
It soon became evident that Burnside had no intention of renewing the combat, but was preparing to pass the winter on the Stafford hills on the northern side of the river. General Lee’s army, therefore, went into winter quarters along the south bank of the Rappahannock. The infantry and artillery built snug log huts, and began, in spite of the want of good rations and warm clothes, to enjoy the rest from marching and fighting.
The cavalry, however, had no rest, for upon its vigilance depended the safety of the army. It observed the Federal movements, watched the fords of the river, and made continual raids to the rear of Burnside’s army.
On December 20, General Stuart set out with 1,800 men under the command of his tried and true generals, Hampton, Fitz Lee, and W. H. F. Lee, on what is known as the “Dumfries Raid.” They were to pass by different routes to the rear of Burnside’s army, to cut his line of communication with Washington city, and to destroy all wagons and stores that they could not bring off.
From a war-time photographCONFEDERATES DESTROYING RAILROAD
From a war-time photographCONFEDERATES DESTROYING RAILROAD
Stuart led his forces between various army-posts that guarded the rear of Burnside’s army, avoiding the strongest and attacking others which he knew to be weak or ignorant of his approach. He at last marched north to Burke’s Station, where his keen sense of humor caused him to play a joke on the authorities at Washington.
He surprised the telegraph operator at the instrument, just as he was receiving a message from headquarters at the capital, telling of measures which were being taken to capture Stuart’s command. Having thus gained important information, Stuart put one of his own men in the operator’s place and sent a message to Meigs, the quartermaster general at Washington.
“I am much satisfied with the transport of mules lately sent, which I have taken possession of, and request that you send me a fresh supply.J. E. B. Stuart.”
“I am much satisfied with the transport of mules lately sent, which I have taken possession of, and request that you send me a fresh supply.
J. E. B. Stuart.”
This message produced great consternation in Washington, where the people were as afraid of Stuart and his cavalry as they were of the whole Confederate army.
After thus revealing his whereabouts, Stuart marched quickly back to Culpeper Courthouse, which he reached on December 30, having lost on the raid, one killed, thirteen wounded, and fourteen missing. About twenty wagons and some stores had been captured. This was the fourth raid that Stuart had made around or to the rear of the Federals, without capture or serious loss.
From a war-time photographFEDERALS REPAIRING RAILROAD WHICH CONFEDERATES HAD DESTROYED
From a war-time photographFEDERALS REPAIRING RAILROAD WHICH CONFEDERATES HAD DESTROYED
The Rev. Dr. Dabney in hisLife of Stonewall Jacksontells us that during this winter, General Jackson had for his headquarters a hunting lodge near Moss Neck. Here he was often visited by General Stuart on his rounds of official duty. These visits were always welcome to Jackson who admired and loved the young cavalry leader and they were the signal of fun for the young men of the staff. While Stuart poured out “quips and cranks,” often at Jackson’s expense, the latter sat by, silent and blushing, but enjoying the jests with a quiet laugh.
The walls of the lodge were ornamented with pictures which gave Stuart many a topic for jokes. Pretending to believe that they had been selected by Jackson himself, he would point now to the portrait of a famous race horse and now to the print of a dog noted for his hunting feats, and remark that they showed queer taste for a devout Presbyterian. Once Jackson, with a smile, replied that perhaps in his youth he had been fonder of race horses than his friends suspected.
One day, in the midst of a gay conversation, dinner was announced and the two generals with their aides passed to the mess table. The center of the table was graced by a print of butter upon which was impressed the image of a rooster. It had been presented to Jackson by a lady of the neighborhood and had been placed upon the table in honor of Stuart.
As the eyes of the gay young general fell upon it, they sparkled with glee and he exclaimed, “See there, gentlemen! We have the crowning evidence of our host’s sporting tastes. He even puts his favorite gamecock upon his butter!”
The dinner, of course, began with merry laughter in which General Jackson joined with much zest.
In patriotism, in bravery, and in military skill, says Dr. Dabney, these two men were kindred spirits, but Stuart’s cheerfulness and humor were the opposites of Jackson’s serious and diffident temper.
Though bitter cold weather had now set in, General Burnside resolved to make an effort to turn the right of General Lee’s army and drive him from his winter quarters at Fredericksburg. This attempt, however, was unsuccessful, and General Burnside’s failure at Fredericksburg caused him to be replaced by General Joseph Hooker, called “Fighting Joe Hooker.”
Hooker reorganized the army into corps; and made one corps of the cavalry, with tried and skillful officers. He also provided the cavalry with the best horses and equipments that money could procure. He realized that the Federal cavalry had never been fit to contend successfully with Stuart and the forces under his command, and so now did all in his power to strengthen this branch of the Federal service. By the early spring, Hooker had his army completely reorganized and ready to begin a campaign against General Lee.
In the meanwhile, General Lee’s soldiers across the Rappahannock river suffered greatly for want of proper food and clothing during the long cold winter. The appeals of their beloved commander to the Confederate government were not heeded; but the soldiers endured their privations with great fortitude and when spring arrived, they were ready for the coming great battle with the army of “Fighting Joe Hooker.”
On March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, there was a cavalry engagement at Kelly’s Ford, near Culpeper, where General Fitz Lee won a remarkable victory over a large force of Federal cavalry under Brigadier-General Averell. Lee, who was stationed at Culpeper, had only about 800 men to meet more than 2,000 Federals, but he disposed his forces with such skill and fought so stubbornly that Averell, in spite of the fact that he had a large force in reserve, was unable to break Lee’s thin lines and retreated across the river.
General Stuart happened to be at Culpeper, attending a court martial, when this engagement occurred. He saw how skillfully Lee was handling the situation and unselfishly refused to assume command, wishing his able brigadier general to win all the glory of repulsing such a large force.
In this battle, John Pelham, Stuart’s young chief of artillery of whom we have so often spoken, was killed. He had accompanied Stuart to Culpeper, merely on a visit of pleasure, but when he heard the call of Confederate artillery, even though it was not his own guns, he immediately went forward to take part in the engagement. Borrowing a horse from Bob Sweeny, he hurried to the battle ground. He rushed into the thickest of the fray, to rally a regiment that was beginning to waver.
Just as he shouted, “Forward, boys! forward to victory and glory!” he was mortally wounded by a fragment of a shell.
The whole South mourned the death of this young hero. James R. Randall, the author of “Maryland, My Maryland,” said of him:
“Gentlest and bravest in the battle brunt,The Champion of the Truth,He bore the banner to the very frontOf our immortal youth.”
“Gentlest and bravest in the battle brunt,
The Champion of the Truth,
He bore the banner to the very front
Of our immortal youth.”
His body was carried to Richmond and lay in state in the Capitol, until it could be borne under proper military escort to his native state, Alabama. Stuart, who loved Pelham like a son, went to Richmond to be present at the funeral.
When he wrote Mrs. Stuart of the young hero’s death, he said, “His record is complete and it is spotless and noble. His character pure and his disposition as sweet and innocent as our child.” The general had a strong personal affection for the young men of his staff and the death of Pelham was as great a grief to Stuart as it was a loss to the army.
Stuart’s men and horses were greatly weakened by the heavy and almost constant skirmishes, picket duty, and raids in which they had been engaged since the fall. On the other hand, the Federal cavalry, just reorganized into one splendid corps under the command of Major-General George Stoneman, was in better condition than ever before. General Hooker depended upon this large and finely-equipped force to open a campaign which would prove fatal to General Lee’s army.
General Stoneman was ordered to cross the Rappahannock river at one of the fords in Culpeper county and, after dispersing the small force of Confederate cavalry in that vicinity, to proceed toward Richmond, destroying the Central Railroad, capturing all supply stations, and doing all possible damage along the Pamunkey river. He was then to proceed to the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroad, and by breaking up that road and burning certain bridges, to cut General Lee’s army off from Richmond. As soon as Stoneman started on his raid, the “Grand Army,” as it was called, under General Hooker himself, was to move to Chancellorsville about ten miles southwest of Fredericksburg. Thus General Lee was to be forced to come out of his entrenched position and to give battle on ground of Hooker’s own choosing.
Several bodies of Federal cavalry tried to cross at various fords on the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers, but were repulsed by small bodies of watchful Confederate pickets. The rivers were now rising rapidly from the usual spring rains, and the Rappahannock became so swollen that the advance of Stoneman was checked for two weeks. Many of Stuart’s troopers were absent for various reasons and he had only about two thousand men with whom to guard the fords and to cover a front of more than fifty miles.
On the afternoon of April 24, three corps of Federal infantry appeared at Kelly’s Ford. A strong party crossed in boats and drove the pickets from the ford. They then laid a pontoon bridge; and during the night, the Twelfth Army Corps passed to the southern shore. The next morning, Stuart learned that the entire Grand Army was on the move. He telegraphed this information to General Lee who ordered Stuart at once to swing around the Federal divisions that had crossed the river and join him at Fredericksburg. General W. H. F. Lee with only two regiments—a small force but all that could be spared—was sent to protect the Central Railroad from Stoneman’s cavalry.
From a war-time photographA PONTOON BRIDGEMade by laying timbers on wooden or canvas boats
From a war-time photographA PONTOON BRIDGEMade by laying timbers on wooden or canvas boats
Stuart, skirmishing day and night with the Federal cavalry, marched rapidly to the help of Lee. As the cavalry passed at night through the dark forest lighted only by the faint rays of a crescent moon, they had frequent alarms and several encounters with small forces of the Federal cavalry already posted in the woods.
At one time, Stuart, accompanied by only a few officers of his staff, was riding some distance ahead of his brigade, and met such a large Federal force that he was compelled to take flight. Later, when riding at the head of a regiment that he had called up as an advance guard, he suddenly encountered several regiments of hostile cavalry drawn up across a field in line of battle. Stuart’s small force became panic-stricken. All efforts of the general to rally his men were in vain and he was compelled a second time to retreat hastily. It seemed for a time that he would be cut off from his forces, but Colonel Munford came up with his regiment, charged gallantly, captured most of the attacking Federals, and left the road again open. Several such skirmishes occurred and the troops were rendered almost panic-stricken by these unlooked-for attacks. In the darkness, they often fired on each other instead of on their foe, and they feared an ambush at each turn of the road. Altogether, it was a march of doubt and danger, but they finally reached Lee’s army without serious loss.
Chancellorsville, to which place the main army of General Hooker was being moved, was not a town, but merely a large farmhouse surrounded by the usual outbuildings. Toward Fredericksburg ten miles distant, the country was somewhat open; but in every other direction it was covered with tall pines and with dense thickets of scrub oaks and many other kinds of trees and flowering plants. This forest, called “the Wilderness,” was about twenty miles long and fifteen broad. It was traversed by two good roads, the Plank road and the old Turnpike; it was along these roads, the possession of which would, of course, be hotly contested by the Federal troops, that General Lee would have to send his forces to attack General Hooker in his strong position at Chancellorsville.
But on the night of the first of May, just after the first skirmishing had occurred along these two roads, Stuart brought information that changed the situation decidedly. He rode up about eleven o’clock to an old fallen tree where Lee and Jackson were talking over the plans for the next day, and reported that while Hooker had fortified his position at Chancellorsville on the east, the south, and the southwest, upon the north and the west he had no defences. At the same time, information had been secured concerning an old road by which a circuit could be made around Hooker’s army. Jackson at once conceived the idea of making a forced march by this road so as to attack Hooker in the rear on the next day. Lee agreed, as on this plan seemed to depend their one chance of success.
The next morning, General Lee with about 14,000 men remained in front of the Federals on the Plank and Turnpike roads, while Jackson with three divisions marched fifteen miles through the forest and about three o’clock in the afternoon reached the rear of Hooker’s army on the west. General Fitz Lee with the First Virginia cavalry led the advance while the other regiments of cavalry protected the right of Jackson’s line of march. Colonel Munford, commander of one of these regiments, was familiar with this part of the country and rendered valuable service as a guide to Jackson.
As Jackson’s command marched first directly south by the Furnace road, Federal scouts, who were spying from the tops of tall pine trees, thought that Lee’s army was in full retreat. They carried this report to Hooker who sent forward two divisions to attack the marching column. By that time, Jackson had turned to the west and, completely screened by trees and undergrowth, was marching rapidly along the old road. The rear of his column, however, was attacked near Catherine Furnace. This attack was soon checked by McLaws, whom Lee sent forward from his small force, and by two regiments sent back by Jackson when he heard the firing in his rear.
While the infantry was swinging along the forest road, the cavalry had reached the Plank road, near Chancellorsville, and was awaiting General Jackson. Fitz Lee, impatient at the delay, rode toward the Federal line, and found to his surprise that it was near at hand and in full view from his post of observation. The Federals did not dream that the Confederates could reach the road at this point and so had no guards stationed there.
Afterwards Fitz Lee thus described the scene: “Below and but a few hundred yards distant, ran the Federal line of battle. There was the line of defense and long lines of stacked arms in the rear. Two cannons were visible in the part of the line seen. The soldiers were in groups in the rear, laughing, chatting, smoking; probably engaged, here and there, in a game of cards and other amusements indulged in when feeling safe and awaiting orders. In the rear were other persons driving up and butchering beeves.”
Realizing the importance of his discovery, Lee rode back to meet Jackson and guided him to the same place of observation. Jackson immediately placed his troops in position on the turnpike and ordered them to advance and attack the unsuspecting enemy. As long as the dense growth and rough ground permitted, Stuart and his cavalry guarded the left flank. After a rapid march through the tangled thickets, the men rushed forward with wild cheers and dashed upon the unsuspecting Federals as they were cooking their suppers. The panic-stricken Federal soldiers rushed back upon their center, and as the terror spread, after them went horses, wagons, cannon, men—speeding to recross the Rappahannock. The officers tried in vain to stop the fleeing men. For a while, the panic was so great that the destruction of Hooker’s army seemed certain.
After pursuing the Federals for two hours until they were within half a mile of Hooker’s headquarters at the Chancellor house, the Confederates stopped in the darkness to reform. Just at this critical moment, General Hooker succeeded in bringing up reenforcements and posted fresh artillery in the edge of the woods on Hazel Grove, a small hill in front of General Jackson’s assaulting column. Still, however, the soldiers in gray advanced. General A. P. Hill’s division was now ordered to the front to take charge of the pursuit. While he was engaged in forming his lines, General Jackson with several aides and couriers rode down the Plank road nearly to the defenses around Chancellorsville. As they were returning, they were fired upon by some of their own men who had been posted in the thickets and who, in the moonlight, mistook Jackson and his escort for Federal cavalry.
General Jackson was wounded and was borne from the field. A little later, General Hill also was wounded. Jackson then sent for Stuart who had been ordered to hold the road to Ely’s Ford, one of the Federal lines of retreat.
As soon as Stuart received the sad news that Jackson had been wounded, he placed Fitz Lee in command of the force holding the road and hastened into the heart of the Wilderness. It was midnight when he arrived at the front and according to Jackson’s orders assumed command of the victorious but wearied corps.
GENERAL STONEWALL JACKSONFrom an original negative by Cooke, the last photograph made of General Jackson
GENERAL STONEWALL JACKSONFrom an original negative by Cooke, the last photograph made of General Jackson
Stuart, not knowing Jackson’s plans for completing the movement, sent an aide to Jackson to request instructions.
General Jackson replied, “Tell General Stuart to act upon his own judgment and do what he thinks best. I have implicit trust in him.”
Such a message from his loved chieftain must have meant much to the young general who found himself suddenly confronted with such a serious situation, and the next day he proved that Jackson had not trusted him in vain.
First of all, it was necessary that Stuart, who had been absent from the front sometime, should have a clear idea of the position of his men and of the Federals. He, therefore, at once called a meeting of the infantry commanders. As a result of this consultation, it was decided to defer until the next morning the attack upon the strong fortifications around Chancellorsville. The rest of the night was spent by the officers in preparations for the coming assault; the men lay upon their arms and took a brief rest.
When morning dawned, the guns of Lee, who was working his way along the two main roads to join Jackson, thundered on the east and the south, and those of Stuart answered on the west. In both wings of Lee’s army, the battle raged furiously. After many assaults, Hazel Grove where the Federal artillery and infantry were posted in force, was taken by Stuart. Then arose a mighty struggle for the clearing around the Chancellor house. Stuart ordered thirty pieces of artillery to be posted so as to sweep the clearing with canister and grapeshot. Under this fire, his own men advanced, Stuart himself leading two of the charges. One of his officers said that he “looked like a very god of battle.” As he rode forward at the head of his forces, he sang at the top of his clear voice which could be heard above the din of battle,
“Old Joe Hooker,Won’t you come out of the wilderness?”
“Old Joe Hooker,
Won’t you come out of the wilderness?”
At the third assault, the works were carried and connection was made with General Lee’s force. By ten o’clock, the Chancellor house and the woods around it, full of wounded men, were on fire from the bursting shells. The Confederate flag floated proudly in the clearing around the house and the Confederate army was again united, while Hooker’s forces in full retreat were swept back into the woods north of Chancellorsville.
A great southern historian and military critic, General Alexander, says “the promptness and boldness with which Stuart assumed command, and led the ranks of Jackson, thinned by their hard day’s march and fighting to not more than 20,000 men, against Hooker’s 80,000 soldiers was one of the most brilliant deeds of the war.”
While the battle of Chancellorsville was in progress, Stoneman, the Federal cavalry leader, had crossed the Rappahannock and was marching toward Richmond. General W. H. F. Lee followed him with two regiments and so hindered his line of march that the Federal general, in spite of his excellent cavalry, was forced to retire with few spoils and little glory. Stoneman was soon after relieved of his command, and Pleasanton was put in his place as major general of the Federal cavalry.
Soon after the battle of Chancellorsville, Lee’s army was reenforced by the return of Longstreet’s corps, which had been for some time at Suffolk, Va., and the cavalry was increased by the addition of new regiments from North Carolina and the Shenandoah Valley. Lee’s total forces were now about 80,000 and his men, encouraged by their recent victory, were in good fighting trim. Lee decided to carry the scene of war once more into northern territory. He hoped to form a line of battle near the Susquehanna river in the fertile fields of Pennsylvania, where he could force the Federals to fight on ground of his own choosing. The next weeks were spent in preparation for this northward movement.
On June 6, there was a cavalry review on the open plain between Culpeper Courthouse and Brandy Station. Great preparations had been made for this review. Each trooper had burnished his weapons and trappings and rubbed down his much-enduring charger, in order that they might make the best appearance possible. Visitors, especially many ladies, from all the country round attended the magnificent spectacle.
Stuart and his entire staff took their position on a little grassy knoll. Eight thousand troopers and sixteen pieces of horse artillery passed before him in columns of squadrons,—first at a walk, then at a gallop—while the guns of a battery on a hill opposite the reviewing stand fired at regular intervals.
An eyewitness of the scene tells us that Stuart “was superbly mounted. The trappings on his proud, prancing horse all looked bright and new and his sidearms gleamed in the morning sun like burnished silver. A long black ostrich plume waved gracefully from a drab slouch hat cocked up on one side and held by a clasp which also stayed the plume.”
The same authority, Gunner Neese, tells an amusing story about himself during this review. He says that, as acting first sergeant of his battery, he was riding at the head of the horse artillery, mounted on a mule with ears about a foot long. Just before the artillery arrived at the reviewing stand, the searching eye of General Stuart, who was very fastidious in all things, spied the waving ears of the mule and he quickly dispatched an aide to tell the captain to order the mule and his rider off the field. Neese says that he was not greatly surprised at the order, but that the mule was.
For sometime General Hooker had wanted to know what was going on behind the dense screen of cavalry that Stuart had collected at Culpeper, for it was evident that General Lee was planning an important movement. Just two days after the big review, Hooker sent to find out, and for once the Federal cavalry took Stuart by surprise. General Pleasanton marched cautiously to the north bank of the Rappahannock, at Beverly’s Ford, with three divisions of cavalry and five brigades of infantry. No fires were allowed in the Federal camp, and every precaution was taken to prevent the Confederate pickets on the south bank from discovering the presence of the large force.
Stuart’s brigades, under Fitz Lee, Robertson, W. H. F. Lee, and Jones, were encamped near the fords of the Rappahannock in readiness to cross the river the next morning and protect the flank of Lee’s army which was already beginning its northward movement. Four batteries of horse artillery were encamped in the edge of the woods, in advance of Jones’s brigade, near St. James Church. This church was about two hundred yards to the west of the direct road to Beverly’s Ford and was about two miles from the ford.
Stuart himself camped on Fleetwood Hill, half a mile east of Brandy Station and four miles from Beverly’s Ford. As an early start was ordered for the next morning, all of Stuart’s camp equipage was packed in wagons in readiness for the move. Pickets were placed at all fords and the weary men slept, unaware of the lurking enemy.
At dawn on June 9, General Pleasanton divided his command into two columns and sent one, under Brigadier-General Gregg, to cross the river at Kelly’s Ford, four miles below the railroad bridge, and to gain the road to Culpeper Courthouse. The other column, under General Buford, was ordered to cross at Beverly’s Ford and proceed toward Brandy Station. This advance was gallantly disputed by the Confederate pickets at the ford, but being greatly outnumbered they were retiring slowly toward St. James Church when Major Flournoy with about one hundred men charged down the road upon the advancing regiments. The colonel who was leading the Federal charge was killed and the troops were driven back.
But the skirmishes of the picket force and the charge of Major Flournoy had given General Jones time to draw up his men in line of battle and to withdraw the artillery from its exposed position. General Jones then charged to the support of Major Flournoy. This charge was repelled by the Federals, and Jones retired to his line of battle at St. James Church where he was soon joined by the brigades of Hampton and W. H. F. Lee.
MAP OF BATTLE OF BRANDY STATION
MAP OF BATTLE OF BRANDY STATION
From ten o’clock in the morning, the battle raged furiously. The Confederates advanced, but were met by Federal troops that charged gallantly across an open field up to the very muzzles of the cannon which were sending forth shell and canister into their midst. They advanced, however, too far beyond their guns and, being attacked on both flanks, they retreated with heavy loss.
Stuart, who had hastened to the front to dispute the march of Buford, was suddenly threatened by more serious danger in the rear.
The gallant Colonel Butler had been left with a regiment of South Carolina cavalry to guard Brandy Station, two miles in the rear of St. James Church and just half a mile from Fleetwood Hill where Stuart’s headquarters had been located for several weeks. While on duty at Brandy Station, Colonel Butler was informed by a scout that a body of Federal cavalry was moving toward Stevensburg. This was a part of the column that had been sent to Kelly’s Ford early in the morning. General Gregg had driven in the Confederate pickets at the ford, and although General Robertson moved at once to the help of his pickets, he was too late to prevent General Gregg from sending a considerable force toward Stevensburg which was on the direct road to Culpeper Courthouse where General Lee was encamped. General Gregg himself, with the remainder of his force, marched on toward Brandy Station.
THE BATTLE OF BRANDY STATION
THE BATTLE OF BRANDY STATION
Colonel Butler knew that it was most important to keep the Federals from finding out that Lee’s army was at Culpeper, and as soon as he heard that they were marching along the Stevensburg road, he advanced without orders down that road. After a fierce fight, he stopped the advance of the Federals who turned back to join Gregg at Brandy Station.
In the meantime, General Gregg had marched to the station where, Colonel Butler being absent, he met no opposing force. From this point, he immediately passed on to Fleetwood Hill which that morning had been vacated by General Stuart as headquarters. Stuart had left there Major H. B. McClellan and several couriers, with orders for all brigades and regiments to communicate with him at that place. These staff officers saw Gregg’s large forces approaching and knew that they must hold the hill at any cost, as it was the key to Stuart’s whole position.
In Major McClellan’sLife of Stuarthe gives us a very vivid and accurate account of the combats which raged up and down and over the crest of Fleetwood Hill. He says that every vestige of the camp had been removed and there remained upon the hill only McClellan and the couriers. A six-pound howitzer, which for want of ammunition had been sent back from the fight going on at St. James Church, was halted at the foot of the hill and later proved their salvation. As soon as the young major saw the long Federal columns approaching, he dispatched a courier to General Stuart with information of this movement. For fear that some accident might befall the first courier, he sent a second, praying for help lest the entire force be enclosed between the divisions of Buford and Gregg.
Finding some round shot and imperfect shells in the limber chest, Major McClellan ordered the howitzer to be brought up the hill and a slow fire to be opened upon the rapidly-advancing Federals. The fire caused surprise and a halt. It seemed to indicate the presence of a considerable force.
General Gregg, therefore, made preparations for a serious attack upon the hill, and opened fire with three rifled guns. But Major McClellan and the men with their one gun, held the hill until help came. Reenforcements promptly sent by General Stuart arrived just as the lieutenant in charge of the gun had fired his last cartridge and the Federal cavalry was advancing “in magnificent order of columns of squadrons, with flags and guidons flying.”
There now followed a number of combats which for dash and bravery have rarely been equaled. First the Confederates, then the Federals, seemed to have possession of the hill. Stuart himself soon arrived, bringing Hampton and Jones from the other firing line to help hold this important position. Back and forth swept the blue and the gray, each fighting stubbornly and well. For a brief space of time, the New Jersey cavalry held the hill. Soon they were repulsed by a charge led by the Virginia cavalry. There was a fierce contest at the foot of the hill over three Federal guns. The Confederates charged and took the guns, but were driven back by overwhelming numbers and forced to cut their way out. About this time, Hampton came up with his four regiments formed in columns of squadrons with a battery of four guns. As they advanced at a gallop, they saw the crest of Fleetwood Hill covered with Federal cavalry. Passing the eastern side of the hill, they struck the column just beyond the railroad and there followed a fierce hand-to-hand fight. When the smoke and dust of the conflict lifted, it was seen that Hampton had won. The Federals were retiring. At the same time, a charge had been made straight up the hill on the northeast side by Georgia and South Carolina cavalry. A saber charge was made and the hill was cleared of the opposing troops. As soon as the Confederates gained the summit of the hill, three batteries were placed in position there.
Fleetwood Hill was now in the possession of the Confederates, but the Federals still held Brandy Station. Stuart at once brought up a regiment which charged on both sides of the road to the station, drove out the Federals and pursued them for some distance.
While the battle was raging at Fleetwood Hill, W. H. F. Lee with a small force held the Confederate lines near St. James Church. There was a lull in the fighting while Buford was retiring some of his cavalry and bringing up fresh troops, and so Stuart was able to withdraw both Hampton and Jones, in order to repel the attack on Fleetwood Hill.
As soon as the Federals were driven from Brandy Station, Stuart formed a new line of battle between the church and the station, where he received a heavy Federal onset. This battle was waged with varied success, but at last Gregg joined Buford and late in the evening the Federals retired across the river,—defeated in spite of their superior numbers.
The losses in the battle of Brandy Station were heavy on both sides. The Federal loss was nearly 1,000 officers and men, while the Confederate loss was over 500. The Federals were forced to leave in the hands of the Confederates three cannon, six flags, and nearly 500 prisoners. Pleasanton was really driven back by Stuart and the cavalry, but he claimed that as he had found out that there was a force of infantry at Culpeper Courthouse, which was the information he had been sent to obtain, he retired as soon as possible after he had been joined by Gregg.
Gunner Neese tells us that several times during the day he saw General Stuart, when the battle raged fiercest, dash with his staff across the field and pass from point to point along the line, perfectly heedless of the surrounding danger. During the engagement, Neese fired his faithful gun one hundred and sixty times. Just before the battle closed in the evening he saw the fire flash from the cascabel of his gun and found that it was disabled forever—burnt out entirely at the breech.
We have described this battle at length because it is considered one of the greatest cavalry combats of the nineteenth century.
Stuart did not attempt to follow Pleasanton, because Lee’s plan for the invasion of the North would not allow the useless sacrifice of men and horses. Indeed, all of the cavalry was needed to screen his army as it marched through the Blue Ridge gaps into the Valley, from which point it was to cross the Potomac into Maryland.
While Longstreet’s corps, which was the last to move from Culpeper, was advancing to the Valley, Stuart and his cavalry had a hard time trying to protect Ashby’s and Snicker’s gaps, through which Longstreet’s forces would have to pass. The battles of Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville, severe cavalry engagements in which Stuart’s forces were slowly forced back to the foot of the Blue Ridge, were all fought to protect these gaps until Longstreet could pass through them on his northward march.
On June 22, General Pleasanton, who had forced General Stuart back from Upperville to Ashby’s Gap, withdrew, and Stuart moved forward to Rector’s Cross Roads, where he could better watch the Federal movements. On that same day, General Ewell, who commanded the advance division of General Lee’s army, crossed the Potomac. By June 27, Lee’s entire army had reached Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
In the meantime, Stuart was in Virginia watching the Federals, in order to report to Lee the moment that Hooker began to move. He wrote General Lee that he thought he could move with some of his cavalry around General Hooker’s rear into Maryland, thus throwing himself between the Federals and Washington, and so probably delay Hooker’s northward movement. General Lee wanted General Stuart and his cavalry to join General Early and guard his flank as he marched toward York, Pennsylvania; he thought that Stuart could reach him in this way just as easily as by crossing at Shepherdstown where the rest of the army crossed. Therefore, he gave Stuart permission to cross at one of the lower fords, telling him to annoy the Federals in the rear and collect all possible supplies for the army.
Major Von Borcke, the young Prussian officer, had been severely wounded and Major McClellan was now Stuart’s adjutant general. He tells us that on the night before General Stuart started, a cold drizzling rain was falling, but the general insisted on sleeping on the ground under a tree, because he said his men were exposed to the rain and he would not fare better than they. He could have had more comfortable quarters on the porch of a deserted house near by, where McClellan, by the light of a tallow “dip,” was receiving and writing dispatches. When General Lee’s letter, containing instructions for Stuart’s march, came, McClellan carried it to the general, who quietly read it, and then turned to go to sleep on his hard, cold bed.
It was by such an example as this, as well as by his bravery in battle, that Stuart won the undying love of his soldiers. I am going to quote for you a beautiful tribute paid him by Mosby, his chief scout, who guided Stuart past the Federal lines on the first part of this expedition.
Mosby says that when he went to the general for instructions before starting, “he was in his usual gay humor. I never saw him at any time in any other. Always buoyant in spirits, he inspired with his own high hopes all who came in contact with him. I felt the deepest affection for him. My chief ambition was to serve him. He was the rare combination of the Puritan and the knight-errant,—he felt intensely the joy of battle and he loved the praise of fair women and brave men.
“I served under him from the beginning of the war until he closed his life, like Sidney, leading a squadron on the field of honor. Yet I do not remember that he ever gave me an order. There was always so much sympathy between us and I felt so much affection for him that he had only to express a wish, that was an order for me.”
In making their plans, neither Lee nor Stuart had counted on an immediate northward movement of the Federal army. Yet when Stuart with three brigades passed eastward through a gap in Bull Run Mountain, he found Hooker’s army already moving northward. He at once sent General Lee a dispatch conveying this valuable information, but the courier bearing it never reached headquarters, and so Lee did not know of this important movement until Hooker’s whole army had crossed the Potomac and moved toward Frederick, Maryland.