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

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ID his cape, and resting against the trunk
II tree, and then mount again, as fresl
ne apparently, as II he had slumbered frol
m sunset 10 dawn.
v As his physical energies thus new
he seemed to dfOop, or sprung with r
A. bound from the weight on them, 80 1
D. never desponded. A stOuter heart ir u
!, darkest hour, / have never seen. n
d clouds could depress him, or disarnl h
courage. He metill fortune with asmii'
sr and drove it before him with his gallaI
e laughter. Gloom could not live in n
fe presence, and the whole race of ''croai
" ers'' were shamed into hopefulness b
IL his inspiring words and demeanor. Dt
II feat and disaster seemed to make hiI
IS stronger and more resolute, and he ros
h under pressure. In momentsOf the mos
imminent peril TO the very existence Z
If his command, ] have seen him throw
!. carelessly, with his fingers on the knee
g thrown over the pummel Of hi
d saddle, reflect for an instant, withou
3 any trace of excitement, and thel
y give the order TO cut path through tn
; enemy, without the change of a muscle
q At such moments, it was plain that Stu
i art coolly made up his mind to do hi
/ best, aud leave the rest to the chances o
4 arms. His manner said as plainly a!
3 any word, E" 1 am going to make my way
f out or die game-the thing is decided
upon-Why make tO-do aboutit@ 81
/ perfect was his equanimity upon such oc'
: casions, that persons ignorant of the ex'
! tent Of the peril could not realize that
r any existed. 1t was hard TO believe, in
2 the presence of this Sheart of OAK, /" with
! his cool and Indifferent man
ner, his composed tones, and
10
, eanture stared the command in the face.
And vet these were just the occasions
when Stuart's face of bronze was most
, unmoved. Peril brought out his strength.
: The heaviest clouds must obscure the
? landscape before his splendid bCUyancy
, and ''heart of hopen were fully revealed.
, That stout heart seemed inVincible, and
impending ruin could not shake it. L
have seen him strong, aroused, his eye
flaming, his voice hOarse with the min
gled ioy and passion of battle; but have
never seen him flurried or east down,
much less paralyzed by disaster, in
my life. When not rejoicing like the
! hunter on the traces of game, he
was cool, resolute and determined,
evidently to ''do or die" The mems
eGild ia drlI3fis shone in the piercing blue
eve. and his undaunted bearing betrayed
I a
which might be crushed but would not
bend. When pushed hard and hunted
down by u swarm of foes, he was more
than once, Stuart presented a splendid
sDeetacle He met the assault like an
athlete Of the Roman amphitheater, and
fought with the ferocity Of tiger, and
the obstinaey of bull dog. He looked
isdaarerous1 at such moments, and those
adversaries who knew him best, adj
yanced upon their great opponent thus
standing at bay, with a caution which
was born of experience.
These observations apply with especial
! Justice TO the various occasions when
| Stuart held with his cavalry Gordon, the
/ the country north Of the RappahannOck,
/ and east of the Blue Ridge, while Gen.
! Lee. either advanced or retired through
| the gaps of the mountains, the work
which he did here will remain among his
most important services. He is best
/ known to the world as a mere "raider'
I-bv his circuit of McCleilan's army
! in Virginia and in Maryland, and
other movements of similar
/ character. This, however, was not his
/ great work. He will live in history as
/ the commander of Lees cavalry, and for
/ the great part he played in that leaders
/ most important movements. What Lee
was after'' whenhe moved Northward,
1 or fell back from the valley, il was a
/ matter of the utmost interest to the
| enemy TO know and persistent efforts
were made by them 10 strike the Con-
/ federate flank and discover. Stuart was,
/ however, in the way with his cavalry.
! The road TO the Blue Ridge was obstructed; ;
/ and somewhere near AIiddleburg, Upper
I vile. or Paris, the advancing column would
4 find the wary cavalier. Then took place
/ an obstinate, often desperate struggle
on Stuart's part to hold his ground on
the enemy's part to break through the
/ Gordon. Crack troops-infantry, cavalry,
and artillerv--were sent upon this inn
portant work, and the most determined
| officers commanded them. Then came
/ the tug of war Stuart must meet what
ever force was brought against him, in
fantry as well as cavalry, and match
! himself with the best brains of the Fed
eral army in command of them. 1t
was often diamond cut diamond. y
In the fields around Upperville, and
everywhere along the road to Ashby's
| Gap, RACED a war of giants. The infaD-
trv on both sides heard the distant roar
of the artillery crowning every hill, and
thought their pet-cOntempt, the cav
aIry,u was skirmishing a little. The
guns were only the signal of hand to
/ hand struggle. Desperate charges were
made upon them, sabers clashed, ear
bines banged-in one great hurlyburly of
rushing horses, ringing sabers, cracking
pistols, and shouts which deafened, the
/ opposing. columns clashed together II
Stuart broke them, he pressed them hotly
and never rested until he swept them
back for miles, If they broke Stuart, he
r a rl,sa OH OF of a
bull dog. fought with his sharpshoOters
in every field, with his horse artillery
upon every knoll and if they " crowded
him too close, he took command of his
column, and went at them with the sa-
ber, resolved 10 repulse them or die. II
was upon this great theater that he dis
| played all his splendid faculties of nerve,
Judgment dash and Obstinacy-his
quickness of conception, rapidity of de-
cision, and that fire of onset, before
which few opponents could stand.
The infantry did not know much about
these hot engagements and cherished
the flattering view that they did all the
fighting. Gen. Lee, howeVer, knew ac-
curately what was done, and what was
not done. In Spotsylvania, after Stuart's
fall, he exclaimed, ''If Stuart only were
here! l can scarcely think of him with
out weeping" The great cavalier had
protected the Southern fiapks upon a
hundred movements guarded the wings
upon many battle fields, penetrated the
11siieuIy5s designs, and given Gen. Lee in
formation i'll every campaign and now
when the tireless brain was still, and the
piercing eyes were dimmed, the country
, began To comprehend the full extent OF
the calamity at Yellow Tavern, and to
realize the irreparable loss sustained BY
the cause, when this bulwark fall.
Ihave noticed STARTS stubbornness,
! nerve ana eoolness. His dash and i'm
petuosity In the charge have scarcely
been alluded to, and yet It was these
characteristics of the man which chiefly
impressed the public mind. On former
page he has been compared TO Rupert.
: the darling of love and war, who was
never so well satisfied a. when dashing
, against the Roundhead pixies and
riding down his foes. Stuart seemed
10 have inherited thai traft OF the
flmily hlool-for il seems t0lerahly
well established that he and Rupert
were descended from the same stock,
and scions Of that family which has
given to the world men of brain and cour-
age, as well as fdinednts and iibertines.
, To notice briefly this uninteresting point,
the "family nkeBess,i .n 5lie traits Of
t Stuart aad Prince Rupert, are very curl
Gus Both were utterly devoted 10 q
, principal which was their life blOOd-in
2 Rupert it was the love of royalty, in
; Stuart, the love of Virginia. Roth were
: men of impetuous tanper, chatting at
opposition, and ready at an instant to
! match themselves against their adversn-
ries, and conquer or die, Both were de-
| voted to the Move of ladies'" gallant to
: the echo Of proud and splendid 10y
} atty to their word of unshrinking cour-
5 age kind, and compassionate in temper
gay and smiling in address sander o.
{ lighting than pf loSkiug to the com
n.issafiat, adored by their men
} who approached them without fear of 9
{ repulse cavalrymen in eEeIE dFoI
Of their blood fond Of brilliant colors
} splendid pageants, the notes of the bugle
! the glitter Of arms; Rupert with hi
5 snowy plume, Stuart with his black one
! both throwing over their shoulders capes
; of dazzling scerlat uuWoTn BY men whS
. are not attached to gay colors; hotl
taking a white dog for a pet; both proud
5 gay, unswecyihg, inaomitRhle, disdainfu
Of low thiAgs, passionately devoted Il
2 glory; both men In brain and characte
D at an age when others are mep
:, boys; both famous before thirty-suel