The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-06-15
sTUART,s FIRST RAID.
How He Inspired His SoIdiers-Its Eff
feet ON the North.
From the Compile de Paris's History Of the Civil

Meanwhile bold reconnaissance had
revealed TO Gen. Lee the weak points of
his adversary. aOn the morning of the
18th of june, a brigade of cavalry, nun.
boring 1920 strong, and accompanied
by few pieces of artillery, left Rich
mond under command of Gen. Stuart.
Following the road to Louisa Court
house, as if on his way to reinforce
jackson, Stuart encamped in the even
ing at the. railway bridge of Aqua
Greek, on the South Anna Before day
lie hit on the 14th he turned suddenly to
the right in the direction of
HANOVER COURTHOUSE,
where two squadrons of the Fifth Regu-
lar Cavalry were performing picket
duty. The first squadron, surprised BY
the appearance of The Confederates, was
quickly dispersed The second, taxing
advantage of the narrowness of the
road, which compelled the eneu,y's
troopers TO march by fours, charged
them vigorously without concern as to
their Numerical superiority. Being
Closely packed within this narrow defile,
the two attachments were mingled, and
fought with sabers. The Federal conf
mander, Capt. Royal, killed the CON-
maRder of the first squadron of the en-
envy with his own hand, and was him
self severely wounded moment after.
The weight of the Confederate column
soon swept before it the handful Of reg
ulars who had attempted to check its
progress, The Fifth Regiment of
Cavalry, which before the war was
numbered the second, had long been
commanded by General Lee, and his
nephew, Colonel Lee, who led one of
the Virginia regiments under Stuart;
had also served in it. He thus fosnd
himself called upon, as Z sad result of
the civil war. to draw his sword against
officers VINO had been his comrades the
preceding year-perhaps even against
some of.his soldiers whom he had CON-
manded in the garrisons of the far
West. Far from feeling any secret re-
morse in their presence, and carried
away by the passion that inspired him
for the cause of the South, he solicited
of his chief the privilege of measuring
swords with his, late companionst In
arms. But there were no longer any
enemies to Ifightia the tBo Equations
which had alone guarded the flank of
the Federal army seR-that side were dis.
persed; ard proceeding down the
Parmuhky, Stuart led his brigade as far
as Old Church, at an Funbroken trot
The task assignedto him BY his chief was
accomplished; he had turned the1'ieht
wing of the Federals; he had made a
Survey, before reaching Old Church, CT
the course of a swAmpy stream called
the Tolopatan,ui, a tributary of the
Pamunky, which could easily have been
covered with defensive works, and thus
marked out the route which " ~,T
JACKSON WAS 70 FOLLOW Esq.
few days. after with his army. no rrl
The Confederate column was about
sixteen miles from Hanover Court
house. 1t seemed natural thatit should
retrace its steps and go back to Rich
mond but Stuart, who possessed all the
instincts of a Light Cavalry General, de
termined, to carry out a plan much more
hazarduusiB appearance, but less dan
gerous in reality-tO make a complete
circuit of the Federal Army, SO as to
enter Richmond on the south, which he
had left by the north. By this move
ment he expected to throw the rear of
the enemy into great confusion, so that,
amid the contradictory rumors, he
would have good chance to battle the
pursuit of his adversaries. None of the
officers TO whom he communicated his
plan dared approve Of Iii but he knew
that all would obey him with courage
and intelligence. After giving his
brigade moment of rest, and making
careful inquiries concerning the Hano-
yer Court house road, which he pre-
tended to wish to follow, Stuart order
ed the bugles to sound. - 10 g..sr-
"Bo0Ts AND SADDLES r-s g
silently placed himself at the head OF
the column, and directed his horse
toward New Kent Courthouse. The
soldiers followed with astonishment,
but without hesitation, a chief who
inspired them with blind confidence.
Yet every step they took seemed to in
lterpOse an additional barrier against
all chances of return. On the right lay
the whole army of the Potomac on the
left the immense depot of White House;
in front of them the railway and the
turnpike, along which the enemy's
troops were necessarily passing to and
fro.Vs The small band drew closer to-
gether, for there was danger on every
side; this danger, however, was cOnsid-
erably lessened through the conniYance
of all the inhabitants. At each house
Stuart received the minutest informa-
ton concerning the Federal corps to be
avoided and the magazines which might
| be destroyed. Two boats on the Pa
munky were burned, but Stuart did not
90 as far as the White House, notwith-
standing the temptation which SO rich a
prize offered him. He struck the rail
road at Tunstalrs station, and after
putting small Federal outpost to flight,
he went into ambuscade in order to
capture the first train which might hap
pen to pass by. An instant after a
srain of cars, loaded with sick and
wounded, bound for the White House,
arrived at full speed; but instead of
stopping to water, as usual, continued
right on, while the pieces of timber
placed across the track for the purpose
of throwing off the cars were scattered
right and left by the locomotive. 7as.
THE SURPRISED CoNFEDERATEs
merely fred a YOlley into the train,
which wounded many of the sick and
frightened the passengers, some of
whom jumped out of the cars; the dan
ger, however, was of short duration,
and the train, disappearing among the
woods, spread the alarm along the whole
line. Stuart, thus disappointed, had
not even time to destroy the railway
track, for he learned that McCall's Di-
vision, on its way to join Mcclellan,
was encamped in the neighborhood !;
that it was under arms and would soon
make its appearance. He drew off, still
pursuing his onward course, after hav-
ling burned few cars loaded with pro-
visions and several camps, and after
feeding his soldiers, at the, expense of
the frightened suffers whom he had
stopped on the road. But night had
come, and the fires kindled by his
hand, flashing above the forests, were SO
many signals which drew the Federals
1 IL L. o.