Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1865-12-31

/. and press on TO those WIKI
q were Before. That was the enen
in front: and to ride over, and cut rig
r and left among them with the saber W
; the work before hiIn. At such momen
g there was something grand in the ma
e nificent fire and rush of the soldier. +
o seemed strong enough TO ride down
: world. Only glance was needed to te
!, you that this man had made up his mir
{ 10 break through and trample under f0'
8 what opposed him, or "die trying,
: His men knew this; and when he too
' personal command Of the column, as /
: most often die, prepared for toug
! work His occasional roughness
: address to both officers and men ha
/ made him bitter enemies, but the adm
T ration which he aroused was unbounde,
, The men were often heard to saw. in cri
zeal places, "There goes old .Jeb TO th
, front boys, it'sall right.n And an Office
whom he had offended, and who hate
him bitterly, declared with an oath this
, he was the greatest cavalry commando
that had ever lived The reported word
of Gen. Sedgwick, of the United State
Army, may be added here: "Stuar
: is the greatest cavalry officer eve
JoGled in North America Tn
impetuosity above noted was un
doubtedly one of the most strikin:
traits of the man. In n charge Stuar
seemed on fire, and was more the Chic
of Squadron than the Corps Commander
/ He estimated Justly his value as a figtint
man, when he said one day, my propei
place would be Major of artillery - anC
It is certain that in command of a bat
talon of field pieces, he would hav,
fought until the enemy were at the very
nuzzies Of his guns. But in the cavalry
he had even better field for his love 81
i close fighting. To come to thesaber best
suited his fiery organization, and ht
did come TO it, personally, on many oc.
casiOns He preferred saying, "Come
onU to AGO on.n The men said he wa.
reckless, but no one could say that he
had ever sent his column where he was
not ready to go himself If he made q
headlong and desperate attack upon sn
/ overpowering force-a thing common
with him--he was in front himself. or
( fighting among the men. He never
/ seemed to feel, as far as my observation
went, that his life was any more valuable
than that of the humblest private sol
dier. After one of these occasions OF
reckless exposure of himself, [ said TO
him, General, you ought not to put
yourself in the way OF the bullets
sO-some day you will be killed. He
laughed and replied, "Oh, reckon not,
but if | am, they will find somebody to
fill my place" He had evidently deter
mined to spend and be spent in the
Southern struggle, which had aroused
his most passionate sympathies. This
love OF native land came TO add a mag
nificent fervor to the natural eombative-
ness of the man. As a "free lancer
Stuart would have been careless of his
person; but In the Southern struggle he
was utterly reckless. His indifference co
danger was evidently trait of blood and
wholly unatee ted. Nor, for a long time,
did his incessInt exposure of himself
bring him so much as a scratch. On
all the great battlefields OF Virginia, Ma
ryland, and Pennsylvania, as well as in
the close and bitter conflicts of his cav
airy at Fleetwood, Auburn, Upperville,
Middleburg, South Mountain, MOnocacy,
WilhamspOrt, Paris, Barbee's, Jefferson
ton, Culpepper c. H., Brandy Station,
Kelly's Ford-in these, and a hundred
other hOtly contested actions, he was in
the very thickest of the fight, cheering
ON the sharpshOoters, directing his artil-
leFy, or leading his column in the echarge,
but was never hurt. Horses were shot un-
der him. bullets struck his equipments,
pierced his clothes, or cut off curls of his
hair, but none ever wounded him. In
the closest melee of elashing sabers the
plume of Stuart was unscathed no
swords edge ever touched him. He
seemed to possess a charmed life, and to
be invulnerable, like Achilles. Shell,
canister, and round shot tare their
way through the ranks around
him, overthrowing men and horses
many brave fellow at his side fell,
pierced by the Kissing bullets of Fed
eral carbines-but Stuart, like Rupert.
never received a wound. The ball which
struck and laid him low at the Yellow
Tavern, in May, eighteen hundred and
sixty-four, was the first which touched
him in the war. In u hundred battles
they had passed to the left and right of
him sparing him. But on that black day
of May, the greatest of the Southern
cavaliers passed from the wide arena of
his glory.
The foregoing presents as accurate an
idea of Stuart, ~ The present writer,
after close association with him for two
or three years could draw. No trait is
feigned or fanciful, and the picture is not
exaggerated, though IL may seem so to
some. The organization of this man was
exceptional and very remarkable. The
picture seems fancy piece, perhaps, but
tits the actual portrait The gayety nerve,
courage, dash, and stubborn resolution
of that man were as great as here des-
cribed. These were the actual trait
which made him fill so great space in
the public eye and as what he effected
was not "dune In a corner" so what he
1..4a ralafg 70 oil T. q
bitterly by some who had felt the weight
of his hot displeasure at their short com
ing, and some OF these people tried to
traduce and slanderhim. Theysaid he was
| idle and negligent of his duties-he, the
hardest worker and most wary comman-
| der ever saw. They said in whispers
behind his back-in that tone which has
been described as "giggle-gabble"-
| he thought moFe of dancing, laughing
and tYiJiing with young ladies', than OF
| ms military work, when these things
were only the relaxatiOns of the man
after toll. They said that ladies would
wheedle and eajole him-when he
/ arrested hundreds, remained in
exorable to their petitions, and
and meted out to the "fairest eyes that
ever have shone" the styiotest military
! justice, and no more. They said that he
! had wreaths of flowers around his horse,
and was Irolicking with bis staff at Gull
! 1epper Court House, so that his head
| quarters on Fleetwood Hill were sur
prised and captured in June, eighteen
! hundred and siXty-three, when he had
not been at the Court House for days
sent off every trace of his headquarters
at dawn, six hours before the enemy
! advanced, and was ready for them at
/ every point, and drove them back with
] heavy loss beyond the river. In like
manner the Sleeks sneered at his banjo,
sneered at his gay laughter, sneered al
his plume, his bright colors, and his
merry songs. The same good friends
invented stories of rebukes he had in
Cured nom Gen. Lee, when he uniformly
received from that great friend and com.
mander the highest evidences of regarC
and confidence. Those winged ar.
rows, shot in secret by the hand o.
calumny, which in plain Saxon are
called lies, accompanied Stuart every
where at one period of his career; bu
the Southern people could not be brought
to believe them. They flushed the face
of the proud and honest cavalier, some
times, and made the blue eyes flash; bu
what could he dQ2 The calumnies were
| na440st17f til6lf dutnOTs SUNK l0U(
shadow, and shrunk from him. So he
ended by laughing at them, as the cOan
try did, and going on his way
unmindful of them, He answered
SANDER by brave action calumny
by harder work, more reckless ex
pospre of himself, and by grander achieve
ments. Those secret enemies NIGH
originate the falsehoods aimed at hin
from helr safe refuge in some newspapel
office, or behind some other "boGnb
proof" shelter-he would fight Tha
was his reply to them, and the scorn ex
tinguished them, For an instant onl,
did the mist of lalsehood blur the splen
don of that bright shield in the publ,
eye. II was not long that the iackal
drowned the lions roar with their howl
ing, The bats and toads disappeared
in the darkness from which they came
and the eagle spread his wings for highe
flights sunward.
| Does the reader call thaS rhetoric an,
bomhgste 3 Under the lame metaphor
is the. statement of an historical faet-fo
everything that concerns such men a
Stuart belongs to history. l mean to So,
that this honest gentleman and afea
soldier was slandered, and he IiveddoWl
the slander-fghting l. Wisk bis sgY~'.
and his irreprQgehaEle life, apt ;,,i,h -
tongue, That splendid caraer a /
whteh he woA h'-s n,,ra fam
and sileneed hll his enaroias hos hea