Cavalryman of the Lost Cause: A Biography of J. E. B. Stuart

Chapter Twelve "The Hardest Cavalry Fight" Robert E. Lee, thought a clerk at the War Department in Richmond, "looked thinner, and a little pale" when the general visited on May 15, 1863. The army commander had arrived in the capital the day before and would stay until May 18, sequestered much of the time in meetings with President Jefferson Davis and cabinet members. Although Chancellorsville had been a tactically brilliant victory, it had not resulted in the decisive defeat of the Union army that Lee sought. He knew that with time the Yankees would advance once more against his army.1 Lee had come to the city with a bold proposal. The recent victory had given him the strategic initiative in the region, and he wanted to exploit it by carrying the war beyond the Potomac into Pennsylvania. In the meetings with Davis and the department heads, Lee argued that such an offensive would garner vital supplies, spare Virginia for a time from the conflict's ravages, and disrupt enemy campaign plans for the summer. After much discussion, the president and cabinet approved the operation. Secretary of War James A. Seddon confided later that Lee's opinion "naturally had great effect in the decisions of the Executive."2 Upon his return to the army, Lee began preparations for the movement. He wrote to Davis on May 20: "I have for the past year felt that the corps of the army were too large for one commander. Nothing prevented my proposing to you to reduce their size and increase their number but my inability to recommend commanders." With the death of Stonewall Jackson, Lee suggested that the infantry be reorganized into three corps instead of the present two. The plan necessitated a reshuffling of divisions and brigades, with each corps consisting of three divisions.3 A rumor or "a great deal of talk" persisted that Jeb Stuart would replace Jackson. Stuart believed otherwise, telling Flora that such speculation was "I think without any foundation in fact." At cavalry headquarters, a story circulated that on his deathbed Jackson expressed a desire that his friend should succeed him in command of the Second Corps. When told of this, Stuart allegedly remarked, "I would rather know that Jackson said that, than have the appointment."4 As Stuart surmised, it was not to be. Instead, Lee recommended Richard S. Ewell, who had had a leg amputated from a wound at Second Manassas, as Jackson's successor, and A. P. "Powell" Hill as commander of the newly created Third Corps. Each man was promoted to lieutenant general. Both Ewell and Hill were Virginians, which rekindled "no little discontent," in the words of First Corps commander James Longstreet, a non-Virginian. Although a majority of the regiments hailed from outside the Old Dominion, Virginians dominated the army's senior leadership at corps and division levels. It was a resentment similar to that expressed by Wade Hampton against Stuart and his preference for fellow Virginians.5 If Lee were to undertake an offensive strike into Pennsylvania, he had to increase the size of Stuart's command. The problems that had plagued the cavalry during the winter had persisted to some extent into the spring. Hundreds of men remained at home on horse details, their efforts to secure another mount hampered by the steeply rising price of horseflesh. Regimental officers were absent on recruiting duty. While horses fed on spring grasses, shortages of forage continued. Lieutenant Robert Hubard, Jr., of the 3rd Virginia blamed government quartermaster and commissary officers for the lack of grain, calling them "the white livered sons of bitches."6 Lee and Stuart tried to address the issues. Lee asked the administration to consider the formation of a second cavalry division and sent Stuart to Richmond to plead the case. When this effort brought no results, Lee refused to add new brigades to the cavalry division before increasing the strengths of tWert, Jeffry D. is the author of 'Cavalryman of the Lost Cause: A Biography of J. E. B. Stuart', published 2008 under ISBN 9780743278195 and ISBN 0743278194.