Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 08.djvu/458

446 Brave boy! I directed him to the rear, where he no doubt soon met with skillful attention from our surgeons. I saw him no more, but I trust that his sturdy spirit sustained him and ensured his recovery. Such boys grow into men who are an honor to any country.

It has fallen to my lot on previous occasions, but in a different manner, to give the southern view of the cavalry battles at Fleetwood, at Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville, which occurred during the month of June, 1863, at the opening of the Gettysburg campaign. Some northern writers have persistently claimed notable victories in these engagements; but I have shown that the claim is without foundation. No amount of argument can convince the Virginia horsemen who rode down the enemy's cannon at Fleetwood, or the Cobb's Georgia legion who came out of the fight with bloody sabres, or the Stuart horse-artillery who fought the enemy with their sponge staffs, and even with their fists, that the 9th of June, at Brandy station, was aught but a day of glory to the southern cavalry. No repeated assertions can convince the survivors of Fitz Lee's old brigade that the enemy could ever have moved James Breckinridge from behind that stone wall at Aldie; and no amount of florid rhetoric can persuade the men who fought under Stuart between Middleburg and Upperville, on that memorable Sabbath, the 21st of June, that there was anything of shame or defeat in retiring all day before the enemy's cavalry, supported by a corps of infantry, and yet giving up hardly five miles of ground. I must not weary you with the story of those days; but I cannot refrain from again placing on record the main facts concerning the cavalry operations in the

Information received from his scouts, and especially from Mosby, led Stuart to believe that he could inflict serious damage upon the enemy, and perhaps derange his plans by passing around Meade's army, between it and Washington, rejoining General Lee in Pennsylvania. The plan was submitted to the Commanding-General, and Stuart was permitted to use his discretion in carrying it out.

The circumstances under which General Stuart received his orders well illustrate his spirit and hardihood as a soldier. The night of the 23d of June was most inclement. A pitiless rain poured without cessation from the clouds, and the land was drenched. Although the shelter of an old house was available, at bed-time Stuart ordered his blanket and oil cloths to be spread under a tree in the rear of the house, and directed me to sleep on the front porch where I could