GDG- Stuart and the historians II

[Richard M Kadas]

In examining the causes of the relatively poor showing of Confederate forces at Brandy Station, how much do y'all rank the aftermath of three grand reviews in comparison to the fumbling of Beverly Robertson and his command?
  Dick

Tom Ryan <pennmardel at mchsi.com> wrote:
  Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:


<
What effect did the three grand reviews have on the combat readiness of
Stuart's troopers?

Was Stuart overconfident about the ability of his troopers to handle the
growing capabilities of the Federal cavalry?>>

Dennis,

Good questions. Oddly enough, I do not detect any major changes in Stuart
as a person or a cavalry leader after the battle at Brandy Station.
Although he took heat from the Southern newspapers for being surprised and
almost losing the battle, the person whose opinion counted the most to
Stuart, General Lee, seemed almost totally unfazed by the whole affair.
Lee, of course, was primarily concerned about results of performances, and,
since the Union cavalry withdrew and Stuart held the ground after the
battle, that apparently in Lee's mind was tantamount to victory. There was
little if any sign of criticism of Stuart on the part of Lee. As a matter
of fact, Lee started the invasion of the North the next day after the
battle, June 10, as if nothing unusual had taken place.

I think by this stage of the war, mid-1863, Stuart had formulated his
mental approach to combat, and had adopted certain principles in commanding
his cavalry units that did not change despite what could be considered a
setback at Brandy Station. It is true, I believe, that Stuart became a
little overwhelmed with his sudden elevation from command of a three brigade
5,000-man force to five brigades with about 10,000 men. And he wanted to
display this new found notoriety to the public with the grand reviews he
staged. But even that was not unusual, because reviews were a standard part
of his training and discipline of the troops. So it was not that much out
of the ordinary. There is also no evidence that the reviews caused any
degradation of the division. On the contrary, there is some evidence that
it lifted the morale of his cavarymen to some degree.

With regard to whether Stuart was overconfident with regard to the growing
capabilities of the Union cavalry, I do not believe there is any evidence of
that either. I do not think there is any question that Stuart was well
aware of the change that taken place in the organization and ability of the
Union cavalry, but he seemed to adapt to this new challenge remarkably well.
An example is the battles in the Loudoun Valley over a five-day period in
June during the northward march. Stuart, who preferred to go on the
offensive when confronting the enemy, realized that his job of screening
Lee's army required him to stay on the defensive, and that is what he did --
despite criticism from some quarters.

It appears, if anything, caution became the watchword with Stuart as a
result of the improved performance of the enemy cavalry. An example of this
was his collision with Ki;patrick's cavalry division at Hanover. Normally
Stuart would have enjoyed taking apart what was essentially an isolated
Union force. However, realizing he was late in reaching Lee's army, he
instead circled Kilpatrick (after an initial period of skirmishing) in order
to avoid further delay.

While Brandy Station had a lasting effect on the Union cavalry, in that it
had gained considerable confidence in its ability to stand and compete with
the heralded Rebel cavalry, I do not think it had much if any effect on
Stuart and his troops. They learned that they were now going to have to
face a force that no longer would just cut and run as in the past, and they
adjusted accordingly.

Regards, Tom Ryan



----------------------------------------------------------------
You may unsubscribe by going to http://mailman.arthes.com/mailman/listinfo/gettysburg

You can add yourself to the GDG map at: http://www.frappr.com/gettysburgdiscussiongroup

View archived posts from May 2004 - present at http://mailman.arthes.com/pipermail/gettysburg/