Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 37.djvu/102

94 "* * * Upon the suggestion of the former officer (Stuart) that he could damage the enemy and delay his passage of the river by getting in his rear, he was authorized to do so, and it was left to his discretion, whether to enter Maryland east or west of the Blue Ridge; but he was instructed to lose no time in placing his command on the right of our column as soon as he should perceive the enemy moving northward. * * * It was expected as soon as the Federal army should cross the Potomac, General Stuart would give notice of its movements, and nothing having been heard from him since our entrance into Maryland, it was inferred that the enemy had not yet left Virginia." The accuracy of this last report has been questioned by some of General Stuart's friends and partisans, and it has been suggested that not being written by the hand of General Lee himself,, it does not properly reflect what he intended to say.

There can be no doubt of the fact, that there was prevalent at the time in the army, a deep sense of disappointment over Stuart's absence during all the march into Pennsylvania, and a disposition to hold him strictly to account. It is equally true that General Lee was greatly disturbed, and keenly felt his absence, so that we are disposed to accept the language of the report, notwithstanding the fact that Stuart must be acquitted of any violation of the letter of his instructions.

At a small dinner party, composed of ex-Confederates, some years after the War, at which Col. Charles Marshall was present, the discussion turned upon the Gettysburg campaign, and those present were not a little startled, by Col. Marshall's declaring, that he had tried to have General Stuart court-martialled. "Who?" everyone exclaimed, "not Jeb Stuart." "Yes, Jeb Stuart," he said, and proceeded to make the following statement, which I reduced to writing the next day, and is in nearly these words: "It was my habit and duty to prepare General Lee's reports, that is, a skeleton draft, which I would submit to him to modify or reject, and to this end, all the official reports, from those of corps commanders down to infantry captains, were referred to me. It was often necessary to reconcile conflicting reports, and to do this, I would send for the officers, point out in their presence the discrepancies, and require them