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

" at some one who had entered the mll
le istry. StuaTt's face flushed he exhtbitt
le unmistakahle displeasure, and said: =
It regard the calling of a clergyman as Il
Is noblest in which any human being ca
= engage This was the frivolous, ire
Ie erent, hard drinking parsonage OF son
-e peoples faneies - the man who WI
,e sneered Mt as little better than q repri
Z. bate by those whom he had Furnishes
o and who therefore hated and siandere
, him
i such, in brief outline, was this fiowt
s of cavaliers" as he moved in private, b
d fore The eyes OF friends, and lived his hi
? Of gentleman. | shall now try 10 shO'
;, him in his character of Msjor-Generi
|. commanding, and indicate whai traits {
Y brain and nerve combined TO make tn
: man the first cavalry officer of his epOe
:, Il had nearly written of any epoch.
l have tried TO draw the outline {
n Stuart in his private character, wheI
e throwing off the cares of command, h
g gave his boyish instincts full swing, an
: in his tent, surrounded by his staff, wa
: the gay iJlsOaeidHt 'goOd companion.
r An estimate Of the military and intellec
2 tual caliber Of the man remains to b
{ made. Out of his peculiar sphere he di'
I not display marked ability. His min,
: was naturally shrewd, and, except il
! some marked instances, he appeared t
> possess an instructive knowledge O
? men. Bnt the processes of his brain
: on ordinary occasions, exhibited
rather activity and force than profound
ness of insight. His mental organization
!, seemed 50 be sound and practical rathel
. than deep and comprehensive. He reaC
! little when knew him, and betrayed NJ
evidences of wide eIiture. His educa
: ton was that of the gentleman rather
than the scholar. aNapoleon's Maxims, ,
translation of Jomini's treatise on war
and one or two similar works, were ali in
which he appeared to take pleasure. His
whole genius evidently lay in the direc-
ton of his profession, and even here many
persons doubted the versatility of his
faculties. Ii will remain an interesting
problem whether he would have made a
great infantry commander. He was con-
lident OF his own ability always sresented
the dictHHl that he was n mera cavalry
officer" and | believe, at ore time, il
was the purpose OF the Confederate au-
thorities TO place him in command of a
corps of infantry. Upon the question OF
his capacity, in this sphere, there will
probably be many opinions. AT Chan
cellorsviIIe, when he succeeded jackson,
the Unconstitutional quite enthusiastic
about thim-complainedt that he led them
too recklessIy against artillery; and it is
hard for those who knew the man to be-
lieve that, as an army commander, he
| would ever have consented to a strictly de-
fensive campaign Fighting was a neces-
sity of his blood, and the slow movements
of infantry did not suit his genius. With
an army under him, it is probable that
lac would either have achieved magnifi-
| cent successes, or sustained OveFwhelm-
| ing defeats. l confess, L thought him
equal TO anything in his profession; but
1 competent judges doubted it. What
| every one agreed about however, was
his supreme genius for lighting cavalry.
He alwaysseened to me to be intended
! bv nature for this branch Of the service.
/ Some men are born TO write great poems,
others to paint great pictures, others To
! rule over nations. Stuart was born to
| fight cavalry. 1t was only necessary TO
| be with him in important movements,
oron critical occasions, to realize this.
! His instinct was unfailing, his coup dell
] that of the master. He was trained
! soldier and had duly graduated at West
/ Point, but it looked like instinct rather
than calculation-that rapid and uner-
ring glance which took in at once
every tract ofthis ground upon which he
was operating, and anticipated every
| movement of his adversary. l never
/ knew him to blunder. His glance was as
quick, and reached its mark as surely as
| the lightning. Action followed like the
I thunder. In moments Of great emer-
gency, it was wonderful to see how
promptly he swept the whole field, and
I how quickly his mind was made up. He
seemed TO penetrate, as by a species Of
| intuition, every design of his opponent,
and his dispositions for attack or defense
were those of master who cannot err.
| Sometimes nothing but his uneonquer-
| able resolution, and sort of 0esperatiOn
saved him from destruction but in
/ almost every critical position which
| he was placed in during that long
and arduous career, it was his wonderful
acumen, no less than his Unshrinking
nerve which brought him out victorious.
| This nerve, had in it something splendid
and ehivalric. 1t never failed him for a
| moment on occasions which would have
paralyZed ordinary commanders. An
| Instance was given in October, eighteen
! hundred and siXty-three. Near Auburn
] his column was surrounded by the whole
of Gen. Meade's army, then retiring
! before Gen. Lee. Stuart massed
his command. kept cool, listened
hour after hour as the night passed on,
to the roll of the Federal artillery,
and the heavy tramp of their infantry
within q few hundred yards of him
and at daylight placed his own guns in
positjon, and made furious attack, I'M
der cover of which he safely Withdrew.
! An earlier Instance was his raid in rear of
Gen. Mcclellan, in June, eighteen hum
dred and sixty-two, when, on reaching
the lower ChickahOminy, he found the
stream swollen and uBfordable, while at
every moment an enraged enemy threat
/ ened TO fall upon his rear with an over
towering force of infantry, cavalry and
| artillery. The command were utterly
disheartened, and men who had never
shrunk in battle, now gave way to de-
spair at the certain fate which seemed
| 10 await them. Stuart alone remained
cool and assured. he intended
TO "die game" if attacked, but ne
believed he could eXtricate his command.
In fonr hours he had built n bridge, sing
ing as he worked with the men, and his
column. with the guns, detiled across just
as the enemy rushed on them. A third
instance was the second ride around Me
Clellan in Maryland, October, eighteen
hundred and siXty-twO; when coming
10 the Monocacy he found Pleasanton,
with a heavy force of cavalry, infantry,
and artillery, in his path, but unhesita-
tinglv attacked and cut his way through.
Still anothef, at Jacks Shop, where he
charged both ways-the column in
'front.', and that sent to cut him
off-apd broks through. Still another ai
Fleetwood Hill, where he was attacked
in front, flank and rear, by nearly seven
: teen thousand cavalry, but, charging
from the centre outward, swept them
back, and drove them beyond the Rap
/ pahannock. Upon these occasions and
twenty others, nothing but his stout
nerve saved him from destruction. This
quality, however, would not nave served
him without the quick military in
stinet of the born soldier. his great
merit as a commander was that his con-
ceptiop of "the SITUATION was as rapid
and lust as his nerve was steady. His
execution was unfaltering, but the brain
( had devised clearly what was TO be done
= before the arm WAS raised to strike. Ii
was this which distinguished Stuart from
others-the promptness and accuracy ol
his brain when "llnder pressure and al
= moments when delay was destruction
+ The faculty would have achieved great
, results in any department of arms, bu
! in cavalry, the most "sudden and dan
T gerous - branch of the service, where
/ everything is decided IN a momen
r as it were. il made Stuart one Of the frs
, soldiers Of hisepoen. With equal or no
. largely unequal-forces opposed to him
: he was never whipped. More than once
: he was driven back, and two or thret
,, times badly hurt;" but it was not the
1 superior genius of Buford, StOneman
/ Pleasantop, or other adversaries which
! achieyed these results. 1t was the pres
! ence Of an obstacle WHICH his weapon
: could not break The hammer was shat
, tered by the anvil. Numbtrs were toC
: much for brain and acumen and reckless
: igh ting.
Stuart was forced by the necessities o
/ / the struggle, the nature Of the country
ana the ali-VorE ne nad TO perform, t
, depend much upon sharpshooting. Bu
! be preferred pure cavalry fighting. lie
: fought his dismounted skirmishers will
> obstinacy, and was ever present viii
/ them, riding along the line, aeonspieuou
r target for the enemyis bullets, cheering
} them on. But II was in the Legitimate
e sphere Of cavalry that he was greatest
. The skirmishing was the ''hard work. y
/. He Rad thus to keep a. dangerou
!. enemy of Gen. Lees TANKS as the in
0 fantry moved through the gaps Of th,
!, Blue Ridge tesgard fennsyivAnla, or Z
' defend the line OF The Rappahannock