In patriotism, in bravery, and in military skill, says Dr. Dabney, these two men were kindred spirits, but Stuart’s cheerfulness and humor were the opposites of Jackson’s serious and diffident temper.
Though bitter cold weather had now set in, General Burnside resolved to make an effort to turn the right of General Lee’s army and drive him from his winter quarters at Fredericksburg. This attempt, however, was unsuccessful, and General Burnside’s failure at Fredericksburg caused him to be replaced by General Joseph Hooker, called “Fighting Joe Hooker.”
Hooker reorganized the army into corps; and made one corps of the cavalry, with tried and skillful officers. He also provided the cavalry with the best horses and equipments that money could procure. He realized that the Federal cavalry had never been fit to contend successfully with Stuart and the forces under his command, and so now did all in his power to strengthen this branch of the Federal service. By the early spring, Hooker had his army completely reorganized and ready to begin a campaign against General Lee.
CHAPTER IX
CHANCELLORSVILLE
1863
In the meanwhile, General Lee’s soldiers across the Rappahannock river suffered greatly for want of proper food and clothing during the long cold winter. The appeals of their beloved commander to the Confederate government were not heeded; but the soldiers endured their privations with great fortitude and when spring arrived, they were ready for the coming great battle with the army of “Fighting Joe Hooker.”
On March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, there was a cavalry engagement at Kelly’s Ford, near Culpeper, where General Fitz Lee won a remarkable victory over a large force of Federal cavalry under Brigadier-General Averell. Lee, who was stationed at Culpeper, had only about 800 men to meet more than 2,000 Federals, but he disposed his forces with such skill and fought so stubbornly that Averell, in spite of the fact that he had a large force in reserve, was unable to break Lee’s thin lines and retreated across the river.
General Stuart happened to be at Culpeper, attending a court martial, when this engagement occurred. He saw how skillfully Lee was handling the situation and unselfishly refused to assume command, wishing his able brigadier general to win all the glory of repulsing such a large force.
In this battle, John Pelham, Stuart’s young chief of artillery of whom we have so often spoken, was killed. He had accompanied Stuart to Culpeper, merely on a visit of pleasure, but when he heard the call of Confederate artillery, even though it was not his own guns, he immediately went forward to take part in the engagement. Borrowing a horse from Bob Sweeny, he hurried to the battle ground. He rushed into the thickest of the fray, to rally a regiment that was beginning to waver.
Just as he shouted, “Forward, boys! forward to victory and glory!” he was mortally wounded by a fragment of a shell.
The whole South mourned the death of this young hero. James R. Randall, the author of “Maryland, My Maryland,” said of him: