Life of J. E. B. StuartWilliamson, Mary L. (Mary Lynn)
History
Life of J. E. B. Stuart
Williamson, Mary L. (Mary Lynn)
Stuart, Jeb, 1833-1864
Colonel A. K. McClure of the Philadelphia _Times_, then a colonel in the
Federal army and a resident of Chambersburg, gives the following account
of Stuart as he was preparing to leave Chambersburg: “General Stuart sat
on his horse in the center of the town, surrounded by his staff, and his
command was coming in from the country in large squads, leading their
old horses and riding the new ones which they had found in the stables
hereabout. General Stuart is of medium stature, has a keen eye, and wore
immense sandy whiskers and mustache. His demeanor to our people is that
of a humane soldier. In several instances his soldiers began to take
property from stores, but they were arrested by Stuart’s provost guard.”
This evidence as to the discipline of Stuart’s men comes from a Federal
officer, and shows fully the control that the general exercised over his
command.
The wounded in the Chambersburg hospital were paroled, the telegraph
wires were cut, and the ordnance storehouse was blown up by brave
Captain M. C. Butler of South Carolina, who now commanded the rear
guard. He notified the people near the ordnance storehouse that he was
about to set fire to it and then applied a slow fuse. There was a loud
explosion and then the flames burst forth. Satisfied that his work was
well done, Colonel Butler and his escort set out at a trot to rejoin the
command.
[Illustration: STUART’S PISTOL
From Original in Confederate Museum, Richmond, Va.]
[Illustration: STUART’s CARBINE
From Original in Confederate Museum, Richmond, Va.]
On the outskirts of the town, there came galloping up from the rear a
young soldier in gray, riding a big black horse. He wore no hat and one
boot was gone. He was covered with mud and was soaking wet, for he had
come into town with the rear guard about midnight in the darkness and
pouring rain. The command had halted for a few hours in a quiet side
street and had set out at break of day as the advance guard.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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