The National tribune., 1910-05-19

he possessed this hard grain and real
military ability there is no doubt. Gen.
Sedgwick said of him that he was the
| best cavalry officer ever foaled in North
America. When Stuart took command
at Charlottesville and went to jack
son, lying wounded at Wilderness Tav-
| ern, for instructions, Jackson's reply
was: Tell Gen. Stuart to act upon his
own judgment. 1 have implicit conf
4 dence in him.
! ION the 18th the cavalry leaders
mood and personal demeanor suddenly
underwent a great change. The gayety
which everyone had noticed on the day
| before had disappeared, and tho he had
not lost any portion of the high cOur-
/ age which had always characterized
| him, he was serious and silent. He had
sent a dispatch from Ashland to Rich
mond, as before stated, and it was a
very unusual circumstance that he
should have lost his good spirits as he
seemed to have done. He was riding at
the head of his column, looking straight
| forward, apparently in deep thought
and seemed to be anxious and a little
feverish. For some miles he went on in
perfect silence. Those near him then
heard him begin to sing in low tone
| the line of a song:
soon with angels I'll be marching
| 'It is said to have produced a deep
effect upon those who caught the words
and was afterwards remembered and
construed into Dresentiment that his
death was near"
Gen. Morris Schaff, in his interesting
story, THE Battle in the Wilderness"
| which has recently appeared in the At
| lantic Monthly Magazine, paints with a
| gifted pen this picture of Stuart:
Everything l hear or read of Stuart
| is accompanied with sense of near
xI~& l..
| his manly figure, his dazzling, boyish
blue eyes, his flowing. brownly-auburn
beard, and hear his voice ringing with
either command or glee. 1t is said that
rarely was his campfire lit that he did
not make it joyous, his voice leading in
chorus and song. Nature made him
cavalry leader by instinct and a very
sweet character. All of his Old Army
and West Point friends never wearied
in testifying to their affection for him.
When told that death was very near he
asked that Rock of Ages Cleft for Me-
might be sung, and with his falling
breath Joined as they sang around his
bed. When in the field he always wore
yellow cavalry sash and a felt hat
with black plume"
Yellow Tavern.
We are again indebted to ]. Esten
Cooke for the following description of
tne pidce Wnlcn Studr. nau selected to
give Sheridan decisive battle:
The command reached Yellow Tay-
ern early on the morning of May H.
The place took it's name from a dis
mantled wooden building formerly used
as wayside inn, standing near the
junction of the telegraph and noun
tain roads, about six miles north of
Richmond. The tavern was a dreary
object, with its rotten floors and pane
less windows, but the surroundings were
cheerful. The woods were bright with
May foliage, and the green fields were
pleasant sight. To understand the
ground it is only necessary to open the
left hand with the palm upward, the
index finger pointing north. The thumb
is the mountain road over which Gen.
Sheridan was advancing, and the index
finger is the telegraph road, Stuart's
route to the spot Where the thumb
joins the hand is the old tavern, of a |
FADED yellow, standing in an open space |
east of the forks, and Richmond is at |
the wrist Stuart rapidly made his dis |
positions to meet the enemy, who were |
known to be near. Gen. Wickham was |,
placed on the right. near a wood, his !
line facing the mountain road, to strike |
the Federal flank, and Gen. Lomax was |
drawn up on the telegraph road, his left |
extending to the tavern, the two lines |
thus forming an obtuse angle. On ele-
waited ground on Lomax's right-that is. |
at the center-was posted a battery of |
the Stuart Horse Artillery, under COM |
mand of the 5ravest and best artillerist |
of the Confederate army, Maj. James |
Breathed, Marylander, well known for |
his dash and bulldog obstinacy Their
were excellent to meet the
attack or an enemy advancing by the |
mountain or road, and as Stuart had
sent his Adjutant, Maj. Mcclellan, to
Richmond to urge an advance of any
force there it seemed probable that
Gen. Sheridan would be repulsed."