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James Ewell Brown Stuart And The Civil War Essay

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It was a dark and wet June evening in 1863 when Major General James Ewell Brown Stuart (J.E.B. Stuart) received the order. Maintain contact with the enemy, harass and impeded the northerners if they attempt to cross the Potomac River, and guard the Blue Ridge’s mountain passes. If the enemy attempts to cross the river, cross first and stay on the Confederate’s right flank. The orders were clear enough for execution. General Robert E. Lee often issued orders that gave his trusted subordinates the leeway to conduct operations as they saw fit. Only this time, not even the strategically talented General Lee could predict the necessity of having Stuart’s Cavalry support the Army of Northern Virginia’s advance from the front and flank while maneuvering into Gettysburg.
J.E.B. Stuarts rise to a top Cavalry commander happened remarkably fast. He was appointed into West Point in 1850, and progressed quickly through the cadet ranks. He graduated in the middle of his class, a mere thirteenth of forty-six classmates. His first interactions with General Lee were as a student to a mentor. Lee’s role as the Superintendent of West Point from 1852 to 1854 allowed him to educate and mold the nation’s next generation of military commanders. Eventually, Stuart commissioned into the Texas Mounted Riflemen on the first of July 1854. In 1860 he had the opportunity to reunite with his mentor General Lee, during the John Brown raid, further strengthening their relationship. Like all men of the

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