GDG- Stuart and the historians II

[J. David Petruzzi]

Well said, Tom - and that's mine and Eric Wittenberg's take on it as well.
As you know, we discuss these passages (among many others in other works)
regarding Stuart in our book Plenty of Blame to Go Around.  We also take
Bowden and Ward to task for making such statements without documentation.
There is no documentation, of course, because it doesn't exist in anything
we know of.  They are instead the authors' opinions, and there should be
caveats as such.

J.D.


>>In rereading "Last Chance for Victory::  Robert E. Lee and the Gettysburg
Campaign" by Bowden and Ward, I came across another example of apparent
speculation about Stuart's ride around the Union army (in addition to the
previous unsupported references by McPherson, Commager, and Weigley).
Bowden and Ward characterize the situation this way:

	"Jeb Stuart was still seething over his surprise and near-defeat at Brandy
Station.  For the fame-seeking and vainglorious trooper, the lingering
humiliation of June 9 was but a thorn requiring extration." (page 101)

	"The possibilities of what might be accomplished by [passing around the
flank of the Federals] fanned Stuart's desire for fame and glory." (page
103)

	Since they provide no supporting evidence, the authors appear to be
retailing accepted dogma about Stuart's mindset.  Having established this
narrow basis for discussion, it is difficult to see how the authors could be
objective in relating the rest of the story about Stuart's ride.

Tom Ryan>>