Twenty

Jeb Stuart

 

At daylight on May 9, Sheridan’s cavalry—seven brigades, six batteries, and a wagon train—ten thousand men strong—saddled up and rode out in a column of fours that stretched for thirteen miles and required four hours to pass any given point.

Custer’s Michigan Brigade led the impressive procession, which proceeded east of the infantry battle raging at Spotsylvania, then south on the Telegraph Road. Sheridan moved them at an easy pace that would conserve both man and horse in the event of an engagement, and, perhaps more importantly, would make them quite conspicuous to Jeb Stuart’s scouts.1

This bold move by the Union cavalry to pass around the farthest of Stuart’s outposts was immediately detected by Williams Wickham’s brigade. Wickham dispatched a courier to inform Stuart, and then dashed off in pursuit. The Confederate cavalry reached the Union rear guard, the Sixth Ohio Cavalry, and engaged in a running battle. The Sixth Ohio was quickly reinforced by the First New Jersey, and made a determined stand near Mitchell’s Shop, which succeeded in temporarily fighting off the Rebels. By this time, Stuart had mounted three brigades (Fitz Lee, Lomax, and Gordon)—about forty-five hundred men—and took up the chase.2

Sheridan turned his column and took the route toward Beaver Dam Station on the Virginia Central Railroad. With so many troops on the move, this would indicate to Stuart that Beaver Dam was not his enemy’s final destination, but the march would proceed toward Richmond. Stuart had to interpose his cavalry between Sheridan and the capital. Another factor, however, likely affected Jeb Stuart. His family had established a residence in Beaver Dam Station, and were now placed in imminent danger.3

Sheridan did not intend to ignore the railroad town. Shortly before sunset, Custer’s Wolverines approached Beaver Dam Station to observe a detachment of the enemy escorting about four hundred Union prisoners, captured in the Wilderness battle, toward the railroad depot for transport to Richmond. One battalion of the First Michigan was ordered to charge the Rebels, and succeeded in liberating the prisoners as well as capturing a number of the enemy. The freed soldiers included one colonel, two lieutenant colonels, and many other officers, who were most grateful to their rescuers.

That fortuitous timing was further evidenced when the piercing shriek of locomotive whistles reached their ears from the direction of the depot. The impatient engineers were waiting for delivery of their human cargo, but were also there to restock Lee’s advance supply base.4

Custer’s First and Sixth Michigan dashed into town and easily seized two locomotives and three trains laden with several million dollars’ worth of supplies that had been destined for the Confederate army. Custer reported that the boxcars were full of “bacon (200,000 pounds), flour, meal, sugar, molasses, liquor (confiscated by provost guards), and medical stores; also several hundred stand of arms, a large number of hospital tents.” In all, supplies composing 1,500,000 rations had been waylaid.5

Custer distributed all the rations that his men could carry, and then burned what remained. He also ordered the one hundred railroad cars and depot put to the torch, disabled the locomotives by firing artillery shells through the boilers, tore up the tracks in the vicinity, and cut ten miles of telegraph line. The Wolverines then departed to bivouac south of the South Anna River.6

Jeb Stuart rode through the night, crossed the North Anna at Davenport’s Bridge, and reached Beaver Dam Station on the morning of May 10. He must have approached with some anxiousness, which heightened as he viewed the destruction that Custer’s troops had left in their wake. His wife and children were staying at Beaver Dam, the town’s namesake plantation, owned by Colonel Edmund Fontaine, located a mile and a half outside of town. To his profound relief, his family had not been harmed. Without taking the time to dismount, Jeb visited briefly in private with Flora, affectionately kissed her good-bye, and rode off with one of his staff, Major Reid Venable.

Stuart was strangely somber upon departing, and rode for some distance in contemplation before speaking. In a step out of character, he confided to Venable that he never expected to outlive the war and, further, that he did not want to survive if the South was defeated.7

Sheridan had roused his men early on May 10, and angled toward Hanover Junction on a pace more leisurely than on the previous day. Several miles before reaching that depot, the column crossed the South Anna River and headed northeastward toward Ashland Station. Sheridan’s troops would cover eighteen miles to Ground-Squirrel Bridge before resting for the night.8

Stuart, however, could not afford to tarry in his pursuit of the Union cavalry. It would be far more advantageous for his troops to fight with their backs to the home front than it would be if Sheridan succeeded in threatening Richmond before Stuart could interpose his cavalry between the enemy and the capital. He dispatched Gordon’s brigade to nip at Sheridan’s heels, and led the three other brigades (Fitz Lee, Lomax, and Wickham) on an alternate route in an effort to get ahead of the Yankees.

Stuart reached Hanover Junction after dark and, at the request of Fitz Lee, reluctantly agreed to rest the weary men. Adjutant Henry McClellan was directed to remain awake, and ascertain that Lee’s troops were back in the saddle by 1:00 A.M. Stuart rode ahead to Taylorsville, two and a half miles south, where he and Venable slept for several hours.9

At the same hour that Fitz Lee resumed the march, Sheridan had his cavalrymen, with Merritt’s division in front, on the move down Mountain Road toward its junction with Telegraph Road. Sheridan was confident that this was the area where Jeb Stuart would make his stand.10

Stuart led his cavalrymen down the Telegraph Road through familiar country. On the left side of the road they passed the Winston farm, the place where Jeb had camped twenty-three months earlier on the night before his ride around the Army of the Potomac. Stuart came upon the road that led to Ashland—the area where he had met Stonewall Jackson at the beginning of the Seven Days’ Campaign—and learned that a squadron of the Second Virginia had earlier driven part of the First Massachusetts out of town, but not before the enemy had destroyed a train and a storehouse of supplies. McClellan reported that as they rode along Stuart “conversed on many matters of personal interest. He was more quiet than usual, softer, and more communicative.”11

At 10:00 A.M., after nine hours of steady riding, Stuart and his troopers arrived at the intersection of Telegraph and Old Mountain roads. These two roads merged into Brook Turnpike, which led to Richmond—only six miles beyond. The place was known as the Yellow Tavern, named for a nearby abandoned, ramshackle inn whose bright color had by now faded to gray.

Stuart had succeeded in placing his men ahead of the Union cavalry’s drive toward Richmond, and mulled his defensive options. He could assume a position directly in front of Sheridan’s approach, or remain on the flank, where he could attack his enemy as they rode toward the capital. With the numerical odds stacked against him by at least three to one—ten thousand Yanks as opposed to three thousand Rebs—he decided that it would be more prudent to strike the enemy’s flanks rather than attempt to absorb a frontal assault.

With that in mind, Jeb dispatched Henry McClellan to Richmond to inform General Braxton Bragg, who commanded the city’s defense force, about his disposition. The eventual strategy would depend on Bragg’s ability to defend the capital. Stuart, however, was unaware that Sheridan’s primary objective was not Richmond but to destroy once and for all the legend of invincibility possessed by the Confederate cavalry and its bold commander.12

Without knowing Sheridan’s intentions or how many troops were at Bragg’s disposal—and with Gordon’s brigade at the enemy’s rear—Stuart finally compromised between his two defensive options. He deployed Wickham’s brigade along a ridge line on the right, parallel to Telegraph Road facing south-southwest. Lomax was placed on the left along another ridge at right angles to the road. Stuart’s dismounted cavalrymen maintained an excellent defensive position, supported by several artillery pieces, but nonetheless were greatly outnumbered.13

Within an hour, the Union cavalry had advanced to the vicinity of the Yellow Tavern and observed the line of gray-clad defenders. One detachment was dispatched across country to seize the Brook Turnpike and effectively cut off Stuart from Richmond. Merritt sent Gibbs and Devin to feel out Stuart’s lines, while General Custer’s Wolverines waited in reserve. The Union troops were met with intense fire from the woods where Lomax’s right connected with Wickham’s left. This threat compelled the entire Confederate line to open up, and the Federals answered in kind. Full-scale combat ensued, much of it hand to hand at close quarters, as the Union force attempted to assert its will upon its unyielding opponent.

Custer’s brigade was finally ordered to the front, and at once came under blistering fire from the woods directly ahead. Old Curly ordered the Fifth and Sixth Michigan forward to silence the Rebel riflemen. Before the Sixth could dismount, an eager Colonel Alger led his Fifth ahead on foot into an open field that stretched for some four hundred yards to a ridge where Lomax’s men waited. Alger’s troops immediately came under a vicious cross fire as scores of Southerners materialized from the timber to draw a bead on the exposed Yankees. In the words of Sergeant E. L. Tripp, “We were trying to return the fire, shooting in three directions.”

Custer galloped up in clear view of enemy sharpshooters, and shouted to Alger’s men, “Lie down, men—lie down! We’ll fix them!” He ordered Major Kidd’s Sixth Michigan to contend with the flank and, joining that unit with the Fifth, formed a skirmisher line and moved steadily forward. Custer’s brazen maneuver—not to mention the firepower produced by the seven-shot Spencer repeaters—drove the surprised Virginians up the slope to their original position. The Wolverines remained in a swale, and exchanged fire with the enemy for about two hours while Custer went off to reconnoiter and consult with Merritt.14

Stuart was not concerned for the moment with the fact that his enemy had gained a position between his troops and Richmond. More significant was holding the flank on Telegraph Road, and his troops had responded to the initial Union challenge with unflinching determination. He was most impressed with the grit displayed by the Fifth Virginia, whose position was crucial to the overall defense of the line. This unit was commanded by Colonel Henry C. Pate, an officer whom Stuart had assisted in freeing from John Brown in Kansas. That good relationship, however, had deteriorated into a bitter feud when Stuart had sided with Tom Rosser rather than Pate in a dispute that had led to Pate standing a court-martial.

Now, during the heat of the battle, Stuart rode over to Colonel Pate and told him how much he was needed, asking him to hold off the enemy at all costs. Pate regarded Stuart, and then firmly said, “I will do it.” Stuart thanked him for his resoluteness. After a moment, the colonel extended his hand, and Stuart warmly accepted this gesture of conciliation.

Stuart returned to his headquarters, and resumed the direction of his men as Sheridan’s cavalry pressed the issue. Casualties on both sides mounted as the Yankees probed every inch of the line in an effort to detect any vulnerability. One of the areas most contended was the position of Colonel Pate’s Fifth Virginia, which time and again repelled the earnest assailment. Although the Virginians had thus far successfully held their ground, word reached Stuart that their commander, Henry Pate, was killed in the process.15

At about 2:00 P.M., Henry McClellan returned from Richmond. Due to the presence of the enemy, the adjutant had been obliged to detour across fields adjacent to Brook Turnpike in order to avoid capture. McClellan’s message from General Bragg, however, greatly relieved Stuart’s concern for the security of the capital. Richmond was defended by four thousand irregular troops supported by artillery, and three brigades from Petersburg were presently en route to bolster the fortifications. Bragg was confident that his force could withstand an enemy assault.

During a lull in the fighting, Stuart relaxed near one of the batteries on the right of his line and conversed for more than an hour with McClellan, Venable, and other staff members. He expressed his intention to maintain his present position, and speculated that if reinforced by infantry coming up from Richmond he could assume the offensive and cripple the Yankee cavalry. “I cannot see how they can escape,” he observed.

Perhaps that was wishful thinking, but certainly in keeping with Stuart’s usual optimism. Apparently Jeb had not as yet arrived at the realization that Sheridan’s true mission was annihilation of the Confederate cavalry. Stuart, in Sheridan’s position, without question would have deployed a rear guard to occupy his enemy, then made a mad dash for the capital with his main force. For that reason, Stuart was of the opinion that the worst was over, and that Sheridan would at some point break contact and head south.16

The idea of withdrawing when his quarry was at bay never entered Phil Sheridan’s mind. In fact, Little Phil was in the process of finalizing a plan designed to strike the entire length of the Confederate line with one massive assault. This concentrated thrust would deny Stuart the opportunity to shore up his defenses in any one place by moving reinforcements from another. But, at about four o’clock, before Sheridan could launch the attack, Stuart opened up with an artillery barrage from the south end of his line that wreaked havoc on Custer’s horse holders and the ranks of the First and Seventh Michigan.17

“From a personal examination of the ground,” Custer wrote in his official report, “I discovered that a successful charge might be made upon the battery of the enemy by keeping well to the right.” Custer informed Merritt that he had detected a weakness that he could exploit with a mounted charge. Merritt approved, saying, “Go in, General. I will give you all the support in my power.” Custer rode off to form his command as Sheridan joined Merritt and was briefed about the plan. “Bully for Custer!” Sheridan exclaimed. “I’ll wait and see it.”18

Custer formed Lieutenant Colonel Peter Stagg’s veteran First Michigan in a mounted column of squadrons out of sight in the trees, and ordered Russell Alger’s Fifth Michigan and James Kidd’s Sixth Michigan to move forward on foot as a diversion to confuse the enemy. He was concerned about his left, and borrowed—with Sheridan’s permission over the objections of the brigade commander—the First Vermont from Wilson’s Third Division to guard that flank.19

Lieutenant Asa B. Isham of the Seventh Michigan, who had been nicked by a shell fragment from the offending Rebel battery, described the appearance of his comrades, “My attention was diverted by what appeared to be a tornado sweeping in the rear. It was the First Michigan Cavalry, in a column of squadrons, moving at the trot. It wheeled upon my flank as a pivot with beautiful precision, and it came to a halt a little in advance of me, squarely in front and in full view of the Rebel guns. This splendid body of horsemen was halted but for a moment, when General Custer reined in at the head of it with an order to ‘charge,’ and away it went toward the guns. It was swallowed up in dust and smoke, a volume of exulting shouts smote the air, the earth shook and it was evident that a besom of destruction was sweeping over the face of nature.”20

One of Merritt’s staff remembered, “His [Custer’s] headquarters flag—of the gayest colors—was flying in advance of the moving mass of glittering blades. The shrill blast of one hundred bugles and the familiar air of ‘Yankee Doodle’ rang out upon the battlefield while brave men of the Michigan brigade rode boot to boot into what seemed the very jaws of death.”21

The Confederate battery intensified its shell and canister barrage directed at both the diversionary force and the riders as they entered the clearing. To make matters worse, the terrain that Custer and the First Michigan would be required to traverse was rife with obstacles. The horsemen anxiously waited while five fences were opened to permit passage, and temporarily broke formation to cross a narrow bridge that only three at a time could pass over. Advancing to within two hundred yards of the battery on the bluff, the troopers dug their spurs into their horses’ flanks and charged with what Custer termed “a yell that spread terror before them.”

The Rebel battery was obliged to contend with the carbine and cannon fire from the advancing Fifth and Sixth Michigan, which enabled the charging horsemen to gain momentum and sweep into the position before any effective resistance against them could be mounted. The Confederate gunners were overwhelmed. Many fell under the sabers of the Wolverines, while two cannon, two limbers of ammunition, and a large number of prisoners were captured.22

Jeb Stuart mounted, and hurried with his staff to the scene of this breach in his line to encourage Lomax’s regiments, which had fallen back about four hundred yards to a ravine and re-formed at right angles with Wickham to halt the Yankee advance for the time being. Stuart sat in the saddle, exposed to the enemy fire as he directed his men. Reid Venable was concerned for Jeb’s safety, and remarked that men behind trees and other cover were being hit, perhaps Stuart should be more cautious. The Knight of the Golden Spurs, who had managed to elude enemy bullets during countless battles, laughingly replied, “I don’t reckon there is any danger!”23

General Phil Sheridan was elated by Custer’s audacious actions, and jubilantly ordered Merritt to “send a staff officer to General Custer and give him my compliments. The conduct of himself and his brigade deserves the most honorable mention.”24

But Custer’s job was far from finished. The First Michigan was exhausted and required reinforcement to dislodge the Rebels who had withdrawn to the ravine. He dispatched the mounted Seventh Michigan toward the enemy line, but the terrain impeded progress and the troopers became bunched up and easy targets for Rebel sharpshooters.25

Stuart decided that the best defense was an offensive. To that end, he ordered Venable to prepare Lomax’s brigade for a counterattack. Meanwhile, Jeb rode to the left flank to join the First Virginia just as a combined force of blue-clad cavalrymen assailed that position.

To relieve the pressure on the First Michigan, Custer had assembled every available man from his four brigades of Wolverines and, reinforced by the First Vermont, threw them all at once against the tenuous Confederate position.

Stuart calmly advised, “Steady, men, steady; give it to them!” He emptied his pistol at the onrushing Union troopers, but his line virtually dissolved from the might of Custer’s charge. Stuart shouted for them to rally, but the retreat was in full stride.26

Nearby, forty-four-year-old Private John A. Huff of Company E, Fifth Michigan, a veteran of the Second U.S. Sharpshooters, steadied his .44-caliber Colt pistol upon a fence rail. He peered through the sights to observe an officer wearing a plumed hat who sat astride his horse—only ten to fifteen yards distant—while firing his own pistol in the midst of the confusion. Huff took careful aim, and squeezed the trigger.27

Jeb Stuart was about to shout a command when a sudden, stabbing pain in his right side knocked him off balance. He reeled in the saddle, his head dropping, his hat tumbling to the ground, but remained astride his horse. Concerned troopers noticed, and rushed to Stuart’s side to inquire about the seriousness of his wound. “Go tell General (Fitzhugh) Lee and Doctor Fontaine to come here,” Jeb rasped.28

Captain Gus W. Dorsey, who commanded Company K, understood the danger of an incapacitated Jeb Stuart lingering in the line of fire. He led Jeb’s horse toward the rear, but the animal resisted and became unmanageable. Stuart was incapable of controlling his mount, and asked Dorsey to help him down. Although fearing that the enemy would appear at any moment, Dorsey grudgingly obliged. The fierce battle still raged, and Stuart ordered Dorsey to gather his men and engage the enemy, but the captain refused to leave until Stuart was safely aboard another horse and headed for the rear.

Private Fred Pitts soon arrived with his horse, and Jeb was helped into the saddle. At about this time, a greatly distressed Fitz Lee, upon hearing the news, had raced along the entire length of the line to reach Stuart. Lee was the senior officer on the field now that Stuart was out of action, and was told by his commander, “Go ahead, Fitz, old fellow. I know you will do what is right!”29

Dorsey, Pitts, and others helped balance Stuart atop this mount and led him beyond the limits of another Union charge. All the while, Stuart implored that his men must repel the enemy and protect Richmond from Sheridan. An ambulance was provided, and Jeb was placed in the bed. Major Venable ordered the vehicle moved to the low land near the bridge, which would assure that they were completely out of range.

During this short jaunt, Stuart noticed numbers of his cavalrymen running away in a disorganized retreat. The angry commander shouted as loudly as possible in his condition, “Go back, go back and do your duty, as I have done mine, and our country will be safe. Go back, go back! I had rather die than be whipped!”30

Dr. John B. Fontaine and a staff member, Lieutenant W. Q. Hullihen, turned Stuart over on his side to allow the doctor to examine the wound.

Fontaine could not readily determine the extent of the wound, only that Stuart had a bullet lodged in his lower abdomen, which, if it had pierced the liver, would be fatal. Stuart’s immediate danger, however, was going into shock, and the doctor prescribed whisky as a stimulant. Stuart at first declined, citing the pledge of abstinence that he had made to his mother. After some coaxing by Venable, Stuart reluctantly consented. By this time a large number of men had gathered around their commander. Stuart noticed them, and said, “Go back to the front, I will be well taken care of. I want you to do your duty to your country as I always have through my life.”31

The next order of business would be to transport Stuart to Richmond. Union cavalry held Brook Pike, which compelled the ambulance and escort to make a series of wide detours. Jeb Stuart would endure great pain, apparently caused by peritonitis—an abdominal inflammation—on this jostling journey over seven miles of unfamiliar, winding, and bumpy roads before reaching his destination.32

Phil Sheridan permitted his men several hours of rest and celebration before resuming his march down Brook Pike toward Richmond. The Rebels had mined the road, and Sheridan ordered twenty-five prisoners to crawl on hands and knees in front of the column to alleviate this threat. But that was not the end of Sheridan’s obstacles to taking Richmond. A Rebel spy had managed to appoint himself guide for the march into Richmond, and led Wilson’s division directly into the city’s defenses. Wilson’s troops were taking a beating from the Home Guard, and were pinned down. Sheridan wisely called a halt to bivouac for the night and assess his situation in the daylight.33

Long after dark, Jeb Stuart arrived at the home of his brother-in-law, Dr. Charles Brewer, on Grace Street in Richmond. Word of his wounding had spread, and the foremost medical men of the city were waiting to attend to the famous cavalry general. After examinations had concluded, however, the consensus opinion was that nothing could be done but apply ice to the wound. Stuart would remain in intense pain, his disposition in the hands of the Almighty.

Major Heros Von Borcke, who was convalescing in the city, attempted to telegraph Stuart’s wife, but the wires had been cut by the Union cavalry. The message was finally relayed by a circuitous route, and would not reach his wife until about noon on the following day. According to Von Borcke, after he left the telegraph office the operator heard that Stuart was getting better, and changed the wording of his message from “the General is dangerously wounded” to “slightly wounded.”34

May 12 dawned with rain pouring down, and Phil Sheridan could now fully comprehend the ticklishness of his situation on the outskirts of Richmond. His cavalry was caught between the enemy earthworks and the swollen Chickahominy. The Confederates gave every indication that rather than remaining in a defensive posture they would mount an attack.

In addition, Stuart’s cavalry under Fitz Lee were engaged with Gregg in the rear. Sheridan remained confident that, in spite of his present circumstances, he could take Richmond, but realized that he could not hold it. Therefore, he must fight his way out before becoming trapped by Rebel reinforcements. He ordered George Armstrong Custer to secure a crossing for his command five miles above the city on the north side of the Chickahominy River at Meadow Bridge.35

Custer reached the swollen river to discover that the planks had been removed from the bridge, which made it impassable. The only other way across was a railroad trestle that was too hazardous for horses to cross. On the north bank, Confederate cavalrymen lay in wait with artillery and rifles at the ready. Custer dismounted Alger’s and Kidd’s regiments, and ordered them to move across the railroad trestle as quickly as possible. The Rebels instantly opened up with artillery in an effort to destroy the trestle.36

Major James Kidd described the precarious crossing, “One man, or at the most two or three, at a time, they tiptoed from tie to tie, watching the chance to make it in the intervals between the shells.”

Alger’s men were the first across, and fanned out toward the left to lay down a base of fire to cover the movement of the Sixth. Custer was observing the crossing when a shell exploded in a ditch near him, splattering him with mud. He remarked to Major Charles Deane, “Well, that is pretty hot for us, Major, but we will get them out of that pretty soon.”

True to his word, before long, Kidd’s Sixth Michigan had joined Alger on the other side, and they successfully kept the Rebels at bay while engineer and pioneer teams laid a floor across the rails utilizing cut timber and lumber from nearby houses.37

By mid-morning, the trestle was deemed negotiable. Custer led the Seventh Michigan and elements of the Fifth and Sixth across, while the First Michigan was dispatched to rout the Rebels. The Wolverines chased their enemy for two miles, capturing several prisoners.

General Sheridan was so impressed with Custer’s initiative that he remarked to Colonel Alger, “Custer is the ablest man in the Cavalry Corps.” The actions of Brigadier General James H. Wilson, however, were less than acceptable. His blunder the previous evening had nearly cost Sheridan the Cavalry Corps. The First Vermont, which had been on detached duty with Custer and now returned to Wilson, sent a message to the Michigan Brigade requesting “a pair of Custer’s old boots” to lead their division.38

While the Union cavalry crossed the Chickahominy, Jeb Stuart’s wife, Flora, was receiving the first word of her husband’s wounding. The telegram finally arrived in Beaver Dam Station while she was at the station assisting wounded troops sent from the fighting at Spotsylvania. Edmund Fontaine had accepted the message, but inexplicably neglected to show it to Flora until they had returned home.

Fontaine, president of the Virginia Central Railroad, secured a locomotive and car for Flora and her children, which took them as far as Ashland before they were compelled to transfer to an ambulance because the tracks between that point and Richmond had been destroyed. The party traveled on their difficult journey through a blinding thunderstorm along treacherous roads. Each time soldiers were encountered, Flora would inquire about her husband’s condition. At one point, she was informed that the wound had not been that serious, which raised her hopes of finding him alive when she arrived.39

An alert Jeb Stuart was visited by Von Borcke in the morning; later Henry McClellan, who had delivered messages from Fitz Lee to General Bragg, arrived at his bedside. Between spasms of pain, Stuart dictated his final wishes to his trusted adjutant. Personal effects would go to his wife. Venable was to receive his gray horse, McClellan the bay. “You will find in my hat a small Confederate flag,” Stuart related, “which a lady of Columbia, South Carolina, sent me, with the request that I would wear it upon my horse in a battle and return it to her. Send it to her. My spurs, which I have always worn in battle, I promised to give to Mrs. Lilly Lee of Shepherdstown, Virginia. My sword I leave to my son.”40

Stuart was interrupted by the sound of distant artillery fire, and inquired about its origin. McClellan explained that Fitz Lee was attempting to trap Sheridan down the Chickahominy. “God grant that he be successful,” Jeb fervently answered; then, with a sigh, “But I must be prepared for another world.” After a moment, Stuart said, “Major, Fitz Lee may need you.” McClellan understood that it was time for him to leave. He pressed his commander’s hand before heading to the door, where he encountered President Jefferson Davis, who had entered.41

“General,” Davis asked, taking Stuart’s hand, “how do you feel?”

“Easy, but willing to die, if God and my country think I have fulfilled my destiny and done my duty.”

The president departed after a brief visit. Stuart’s condition worsened throughout the afternoon. He suffered painful seizures, and passed in and out of consciousness, occasionally shouting orders, and often asking about Flora. According to Von Borcke, Stuart’s final connected words were spoken to him. “My dear Von,” Stuart said, “I am sinking fast now, but before I die I want you to know that I never loved a man as much as yourself. I pray your life may be long and happy; look after my family after I’m gone, and be the same true friend to my wife and children that you have been to me.”

He asked Dr. Brewer whether he might survive the night. When told that death was near, Jeb nodded, and said, “I am resigned if it be God’s will; but I would like to see my wife … But God’s will be done.”42

At seven o’clock, everyone in the house gathered around Jeb’s bed. Reverend Joshua Peterkin, an Episcopal minister, led them in prayers and the singing of “Rock of Ages,” Stuart’s favorite hymn. Jeb made a feeble effort to sing along, then turned to Brewer, and said, “I am going fast now. I am resigned; God’s will be done.” He then drifted into unconsciousness.43

At 7:38 P.M., James Ewell Brown Stuart passed into the hands of his God, whom he had trusted throughout his life.44

Jeb Stuart, the Knight of the Golden Spurs, a true Southern patriot who had given the Southern people hope and pride when he had ridden around McClellan’s army and when he made his forays into the North to wreak havoc on the infrastructure, was not invincible after all. Few officers in either army were as capable in the role of leadership, as he had proved when he assumed command at Chancellorsville, but a chance encounter with a random bullet had cut short a brilliant career. His death was quite a shock, not only to his cavalry and every soldier in the Confederate army but to every Southerner—man, woman, and child—each of whom must have experienced a dark shroud of doom gradually descending over their prospects for a positive outcome of the war.