Life of J. E. B. Stuart

by Mary L. Williamson

General Wade Hampton’s order to his cavalry corps was also an eloquent tribute to the great cavalry leader. It was as follows:

“In the midst of rejoicing over the success of our arms, the sad tidings come to us from Richmond of the death of our distinguished Chief of Cavalry. Death has at last accepted the offering of a life, which before the admiring eyes of the Army, has been so often, so freely and so nobly offered, on almost every battlefield of Virginia. In the death of Major-General J. E. B. Stuart the Army of Northern Virginia has lost one of its most brilliant, enthusiastic and zealous military leaders, the Southern cause one of its earliest, most untiring and devoted supporters, and the Cavalry arm of the service a chieftain who first gave it prominence and value, and whose dazzling achievements have attracted the wonder and applause of distant nations. His spirit shone as bright and brave in the still chamber of death, as amid the storm of the battlefield, and he passed out of life the same buoyant hero he had lived. Blessed through a short but glorious career with many instances of almost miraculous good fortune, it was his great privilege to die with the consciousness of having performed his whole duty to his country. To his children he leaves the rich legacy of a name which has become identified with the brightest acts of our military history and, when the panorama of our battles shall be unfolded to posterity, in almost every picture will be seen the form of our gallant leader. His name will be associated with almost every scene of danger and of glory, in which the Cavalry of the Virginia Army has borne a part, and they will recount the exploits of Stuart with the pride which men feel in their own honorable records.

“The Major General commanding hopes that this division will show by their own noble conduct their high appreciation of the character of their lost commander, and when the danger thickens around them and the cause of their country calls for heroic efforts they will remember the example of Stuart. No leader ever set a more glorious example to his soldiers on the battlefield than he did, and it becomes the men he has so often led, while they mourn his fall, to emulate his courage, to imitate his heroic devotion to duty and to avenge his death.”

While General Lee and his army continued to wrestle with the hosts of Grant, the city of Richmond was in deep gloom and mourning. Once more the tide of battle had come near her gates; and this time the beloved and gallant Stuart had fallen. He had been the pride of her heart, her brave and chivalrous defender. But Stuart was to sleep his last long sleep upon her bosom, in beautiful Hollywood around whose promontories sweep the waters of the James as they rush onward to the Chesapeake and where the tall pine trees whisper of the life eternal. The city aroused herself from her grief to do homage to the noble dead.

The City Council of Richmond passed resolutions of respect and sympathy for the family of General Stuart and asked that the body of him who “yielded up his heroic spirit in the immediate defense of their city, and the successful effort to purchase their safety by the sacrifice of his own life,” might “be permitted to rest under the eye and guardianship of the people of Richmond and that they might be allowed to commemorate by a suitable monument their gratitude and his services.”

At five o’clock on the afternoon of May 13, the funeral of General Stuart took place from old St. James Church in Richmond. The coffin containing the remains of the brave soldier was carried up the aisle and, covered with wreaths and flowers, was placed before the altar.

The funeral service was conducted by Reverend Dr. Peterkin who had been with General Stuart during his last hours. The church was filled with officials of the Confederate government and citizens of Richmond. President Davis sat near the front, with a look of great sadness upon his careworn face. His cabinet officers were around him and on either side of the church were the senators and representatives of the Confederate Congress. But the cavalry officers and soldiers who loved and followed Stuart were all absent. They were on the firing line, either in the Wilderness or on the Chickahominy,—fighting in defense of Richmond which he had died to save.

MONUMENT
Marking Stuart’s grave in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Va.

No military escort could be spared from the front to accompany the funeral procession to Hollywood or to fire the usual parting salute to the dead commander. But as the body was lowered into the grave, the earth trembled with the roar of artillery from the battlefield where his old troops were obeying his last command and driving back the Federals. No better salute could have been given the gallant leader.