J.E.B. Stuart Papers

1862

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"There are very few to whom I can write on such subjects":

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Letter to William Alexander Stuart, January 6, 1862

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As if to make up for the last one, this letter is extensive, tasty, and full of opinions.  The primary subject is a certain "J.B.P.," who is not named but who may be a Pannill relative.  Whoever the poor fellow is, Stuart has no intention of letting him be on his staff -- and with good reason, apparently.  J.B.P.'s application also sends Stuart on a rant about men who have not shouldered a musket and marched off to war, a statement that his civilian brother may have found uncomfortable to read.
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In other news, Stuart is disappointed in the media, he appreciates his brother sending him food, and he mentions that the Federal government seems to have confiscated all his savings.  He also mentions his newest staff member, his seventeen-year-old cousin Chiswell Dabney.  And he expresses an opinion about Robert E. Lee that would later undergo a big change.

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"Nothing new in the Cavalry Brigade":

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Letter to Flora, January 16, 1862

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Stuart gives Flora some tips on looking on the bright side, the first of many, many such admonitions.  He mentions that Gen. Longstreet's children have scarlet fever, and he is concerned about the Stuart kids catching it.  John Esten Cooke has "gone off disgruntled," solidifying Stuart's rather low opinion of him.  Chiswell Dabney is late returning from a furlough.  Stuart is living in a house, across the hall from Gen. Joe Johnston, and wants several pounds of candy.  He's concerned about the whereabouts of his trunk of books, which is with a Major Price (one of his relatives in the Price family?) and is awaiting the day of battle, "big with the destiny of millions."  And he urges Flora to join him.

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"I do know I would make better than some":

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Letter to Flora, January 20, 1862

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(The end of this letter is truncated.)
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Stuart is about to be promoted to Major General, according to his cousin and staff member Watt Hairston.  (Stuart consistently spelled this man's name "Wat," but no one else did.)  He again encourages Flora to come, with an odd reference to "that scarlet dog" which he hopes will soon leave her household because it places her "in quarantine."  Perhaps this refers to the scarlet fever epidemic which he mentioned in the January 16 letter. 
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Stuart looks forward to going riding with Flora; he is sending her a bridle and advises her to get a curb bit for it, and suggests a Chiffeny bit.  This must not be what the name refers to today (usually spelled Chifney) because that is not a curb bit and is not even meant for riding; it's an anti-rearing bit for horses being led in hand.  
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Stuart also encourages Flora to go and visit his old friend Mary Custis Lee, Robert E. Lee's daughter, who is staying in Richmond.  And in reference to Flora expressing a desire for him to come and visit her, he tells her to look over her mantel at what is written there.  This is probably a reference to the same thing he had advised his aide and cousin Peter Hairston to do.  Hairston wrote to his wife Fanny: "Genl Stuart directs me to say to you that if I neglect the higher duties of the Patriot to be a daily companion to you I would make you a husband to be ashamed of in after life.  Write that, he says, on your mantle place and whenever you think I ought to be with you, read it."

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"I have since procured the bit":

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Letter to Flora, January 24, 1862

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A brief note to Flora making reference to the bridle Stuart has sent her.  Now he has the proper bit for it!  He makes reference to someone prominent who wanted copies of his instructions for outposts; that part of the letter is missing, but according to his January 29 letter below, this person turned out to be General P.G.T. Beauregard.
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"I will expect you soon":

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Letter to Flora, January 29, 1862

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Addressed to "my dear wifey," this letter indicates that Flora will soon be on her way to Centreville to visit Stuart.  He wants his watch, and a new notebook to record "thoughts & doings."  Like many people in the Army of Northern Virginia, he severely disapproves of the new system to elect officers; he predicts that it may cause McClellan to attack at a time when the army is disorganized (although it did not).  But he advises Flora not to repeat that in front of the wrong people (reporters?), whom he sarcastically calls his "pets," in case they might use it against him.  He specifically names a man called Withers, who will reappear in future letters.  
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For all the cliches about Stuart being a newspaper favorite, I've seen several comments by him that indicate he didn't really have a particularly warm relationship with actual reporters.  A large part of Stuart's job was keeping secrets, something he did very well and often cautioned others to do -- in fact, it would become the subject of a General Order in 1864 -- and this necessarily meant he could not say much of interest to to the press.  Stuart was great copy, but it seems that he was more popular with the press as a subject to write about than to try to get answers out of.
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Stuart also makes mention of the death of Longstreet's children from scarlet fever and expresses hope that his own children have escaped it.  He reports that he has sent Chiswell Dabney's lieutenant's commission to him, although Chiswell is home sick, and asks Flora not to let anyone know the lad is only seventeen.  He also asks Flora to give his congratulations to Flora's sister Maria and her husband Dr. Charles Brewer, who apparently have had their first child.
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"A fresh start for the month":

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Letter to Flora, January 31, 1862

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Stuart needs socks.  Not just any socks, wool socks.  Not just any wool socks, gray wool socks.  And he's sending Flora $100.  That'll buy a lot of socks.
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"Justice is slow but pretty sure":

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Letter to Flora, February 1, 1862

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Flora's visit to the winter quarters is imminent and plans are being laid, not the least of which is Stuart's promise to " 'take care' of you in grand style I tell you."  He's still in the big house; Joe Johnston is moving out soon, and Longstreet is moving in.  Stuart again urges Flora to make friends with Mary Lee.  He also mentions another Mary, a cousin of Flora's, who apparently has told Flora she sent a letter to Stuart which may not be welcome.
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Stuart has also heard news of friends from the old army.  And this is one of a number of letters that contain a cautionary statement to Flora about not engaging in verbal battles with various people.  
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"Those socks are indeed a luxury":

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Letter to Flora, February 14, 1862

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The first paragraph here holds a classic Jeb Stuart example of looking for the silver lining: The defeat of the Confederate forces at Roanoke is good news, because it will cause the people of the south to become less apathetic about the cause.
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In other news, he is procuring for her a pair of boots (size 2 1/2) and wants to know if she has finished making a dress out of the silk he got for her at Christmas.  He sends best wishes from Laura Ratcliffe and Antonia Ford (the former of which will reappear in another letter).  The Stuarts' son Jimmy has apparently been sick, and Stuart also includes a brief letter to Little Flora.  Stuart's brother, John Dabney Stuart, an army surgeon, is visiting him in camp on his way home on sick leave.  Also still sick is Chiswell Dabney.  Everyone seems to be sick these days!
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"Why is it I dont get the candy?":

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Letter to Flora, February 17, 1862

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In this letter, we find that Flora and Mary Lee have been playing the 19th-century version of phone tag, showing up at each other's house and always finding the other person gone.  Flora must have expressed some suspicion of Mary in a letter to Stuart, because he seeks to reassure her that Mary Lee is a "warm-hearted girl."
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The second paragraph features a Cousin Fannie, who is the source of the same type of "business letter" referred to in the February 1 letter.  This issue seems to revolve around relatives asking Stuart for positions on his staff, which he tells Flora is already too large, besides which the man that Cousin Fannie made application for seems to be a total unknown to Stuart.  It sounds like Stuart and Flora are annoyed at relatives coming out of the woodwork, sucking up to one or both of them in an attempt to seek high office.
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Other topics touched on include a new quartermaster, new belts, new songs, old friends, and where in the world is that candy he keeps asking for? He suggests that Little Flora, who is four years old, take command of the situation.  Probably a good plan; leave a four-year-old in charge of the candy and things will get done.  And there's an affectionate play on words at the end ("my sake" vs "my kase") that I can't quite understand.
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"Be of good cheer":

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Letter to Flora, February 19, 1862

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Mainly advice and war news.  Joe Johnston has sneaked off to Richmond after being summoned by Jefferson Davis.  Fort Donelson in Tennessee has fallen to U.S. Grant, but Stuart advises Flora, as usual, to cheer up about it.  He seems less than impressed by the Confederate forces in the west, stating that the Confederate Army of the Potomac (soon to be renamed the Army of Northern Virginia) would have to be responsible for gaining southern independence.  Again Stuart urges Flora to come, and not to wait for good weather.
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"Let us be nerved to tenfold effort and tenfold endurance":

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Letter to Flora, February 23, 1862

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More bad news from the west: General Buckner is a prisoner of General Grant, and Stuart for some reason sees this as "a heavy blow to us" over which "the nation hangs breathless with anxiety."  However that may be, he is certainly right when he assesses the Confederate situation in the west with the simple phrase, "There is something wrong out there."
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The Confederate defeats in Tennessee were depressing for the southern populace, but not for Stuart.  He delivers several impassioned sentences on the subject of determination and patriotism, so impassioned, in fact, that he misspells McClellan's name.  And he finishes up with a request for Flora to write more often.  Some of his letters seem to have gone astray, because she has told him she had not received one for two weeks.  Eventually the letters must have caught up with her, because we have them today, but the mail system in the south was erratic.
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"Send me a Va regt ... and I shant complain":

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Letter to Flora, February 26, 1862

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A short but very interesting letter.  Stuart tells Flora that he misses her very much, as usual, but then he says something new: When the war is over, if staying in the service means he must remain separated from her, he will resign.
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In war news, Stuart regrets the loss of one of his North Carolina regiments which has been sent south to Suffolk, and he wants some more Virginians.  The subject of the mysterious Mr. Withers comes up again -- he is "what we long ago suspected," and whatever that is, it's not anything good.  He thinks Flora should avoid him.  She should not, however, avoid Stuart's friends when they come calling (could this have been Mary Lee again?).
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"Without the officious intermeddling of any such squirt as he must be":

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Letter to Flora, March 4, 1862

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The unfortunate Withers has really stepped in it now.  He seems to be trying to get a little too friendly with Flora, sending Stuart off on something of a tirade.  (Interestingly, this letter, full of righteous indignation at Withers' presumption towards Flora, was written the day after Stuart composed this poem to Confederate spy Laura Ratcliffe.  And there was more to come.)
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The Withers situation seems to have put Stuart in a temper about a number of people: His cousin and former aide Peter Hairston, who lost Stuart's pencil; the unknown person who stole his watch at Fort Wise more than a year before; and men who play the "family card" in order to stay out of the army and avoid their patriotic duty.  (Stuart seems to have had some bad luck with watches.  He also lost one a week after First Manassas, and ran an ad in the Richmond Daily Dispatch offering a $25 reward for it.)
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"The saddest, sorest trials of the soldier":

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Letter to Flora, March 14, 1862

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The cautious Joe Johnston is pulling back his army from Alexandria to Fredericksburg, and this greatly bothers Stuart.  But he thinks highly of Johnston, so he trusts that Johnston must know best.
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"I do not wish you to destroy this":

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Letter to Laura Ratcliffe, March 17, 1862

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Married people, as they say, are not immune to crushes.
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There are a few instances in Stuart's writing where he, perhaps like any man, sounded a little tougher than he really was.  This letter contains one of them.  No friends on the Yankee side?  Patently not true.  Stuart wrote to Flora several times giving her reports of people telling him how well-liked he was among the Union officers who had known him before the war.  He seems to have given Laura a list of Yankee officers to whom she could appeal for help if she were ever caught spying, and perhaps Laura had referred to these men as Stuart's friends.  Whatever happened, Stuart goes manfully out of his way to assure her that nooooo, he hasn't got any Yankee friends, nosirree!  Followed by a statement of solidarity with her in this no-Yankee-friends issue.  It seems he was trying to impress her as much as she had impressed him.
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As for the last paragraph, which seems to have come straight out of a Sir Walter Scott novel, I don't think it means more than it seems to, Stuart being who he was, after all.  The whole thing sounds like he wrote it while enamored of Laura Ratcliffe's patriotism and daring.  But I hope Flora never saw it.
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"There are many of your questions which I cant answer":

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Letter to Flora, March 20, 1862

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Chiswell Dabney is finally well and has joined Stuart, along with John Esten Cooke.  Stuart reassures Flora that he will not have any difficulty with Cooke, because he won't see much of him.  Stuart wants a color photo of Flora, and he wants to see her and talk over where she and the children will be living once they leave Richmond for the summer.  Once again, he inquires about whether she and Mary Lee have become friendly.
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"We will have to wait patiently the issue of military affairs":

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Letter to Flora, March 24, 1862

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The Confederate government is stopping the mail between the army and Richmond, so Flora has apparently not received some of Stuart's letters.  He is very busy, with no time to write a long "Fort Wise letter" to Flora, but wants her to write that kind of letter to him.  And he needs more candy.  Little Flora must have been the one to take matters in hand in February, because he asks for her to send it again.  Jimmy, nearly two, is described as "a rascal."
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"In God must be our trust":

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Letter to Flora, April 18, 1862

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A brief note with some war news and family news.  Stuart mentions that Dr. Brewer is on his way to the army in the field, and that Maria (and her baby) should move in with Flora and the children.
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"It seems impossible to believe that McClellan would wait ... ":

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Letter to Flora, April 21, 1862

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The Peninsula Campaign is under way.  Stuart mentions again that he thinks Maria and Flora should be living together if Dr. Brewer is ordered to Yorktown, because they "would be more happy and contented together."  He thinks the Brewer baby looks like Flora.  He thanks her for the violets and sends her a pair of gloves via someone named Aunt Milly, who is probably a slave since Stuart mentions "sending" her to Mrs. Chichester because "we cant use her any longer."  Judging by the last two letters, Milly and Aunt Milly seem to be two different people.
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"McClellan is determined to provide against his defeat being a second Bull Run in stampede":

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Letter to Flora, April 29, 1862

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Regimental elections are over, and there have been changes.  Fitzhugh Lee is now colonel of the 1st Virginia Cavalry, ousting the unpopular Grumble Jones.  Tiernan Brien, Stuart's adjutant, has been elected lieutenant colonel of the regiment, so Stuart needs a new adjutant.  William Blackford, who wrote in his memoirs that he refused to lower himself to campaigning for election, was not re-elected, and is soon to join Stuart's staff as an engineer.  Stuart mentions that he has four volunteer aides, at least three of whom (Towles and the two Hairstons) are his relatives.  Also, Flora has visited Stuart recently, and forgot to leave the daguerreotypes with him, probably the ones of the children that he asked for in a previous letter.
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"Occupying a back seat":

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Letter to William Alexander Stuart, May 1, 1862

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Stuart thanks his brother for the gift of a horse and demonstrates that he believes the battle of Shiloh was a Confederate victory.  William Alexander, a wealthy self-made businessman, has apparently been continuously offering Stuart money, and now Stuart gives in to the extent that he wants his brother to purchase him a life insurance policy.  In his closing remarks he states that the Confederacy "ought to concentrate our scattered detachments for decisive blows," a view that historians would later agree with.

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"I begin to infer that they want me to be ubiquitous":

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Letter to William Alexander Stuart, May 4, 1862

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Here Stuart reveals that he was on the spot when Gen. Joe Johnston was shot at Seven Pines/Fair Oaks.  If he had any opinion at the time on Robert E. Lee being given command of the army, he didn't record it here.  He does mention various people wanting him to be in one place or another at the same time and says, "I begin to infer that they want me to be ubiquitous," a prophecy which would prove all too true in the Gettysburg campaign.
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"If you had seen your husband you would have been proud of him":

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Letter to Flora, May 9, 1862

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Stuart's account of the battle of Williamsburg.  In high good humor, he datelines it "Hd Qrs in the Saddle," a jab at Gen. John Pope, who will never live that phrase down.
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"Richmond is about as safe as any place and I want you to be near me":

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Letter to Flora, May 12, 1862

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A quick note mostly concerning Stuart's desire for Flora to move from Lynchburg to Richmond and take up residence again at Mrs. Duval's boarding house.  He thinks she can get a room there for $200, demonstrating the outrageous inflation the Confederacy is suffering -- in April he sent her $250 of his pay for that month, which according to the Confederate military pay scale was probably around $300.

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"Not a day has elapsed for weeks that I have not been skirmishing with the enemy":

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Letter to Flora, May 17, 1862

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Stuart began writing this letter, went off and fought a skirmish in the middle of it, then returned to finish it.  He mentions that he has been into Richmond to see Mrs. Duval, presumably to secure a room for Flora and the children.  From this letter we can determine that Flora had written to Stuart that his cousin and former aide Peter Hairston had tendered Flora some kind of offer, probably to stay at his estate in North Carolina for the summer.  Stuart advises her to thank him but refuse.  Stuart had several relatives named Mary, and one of them has sent Flora a gift of $100, which he tells her she must spend on herself.  
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"He wished he could divide me up into several pieces for different points":

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Letter to Flora, about May 20, 1862

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Someone attached the following note to this undated letter: "Note: I am sure above date is prior to 27 June.  Probably to 13 June -- or even earlier.  G.W. Smith was relieved from duty on1 June -- [illegible] was written before 7 pines -- [illegible] JWS"  I agree with JWS, and I am dating this letter to approximately May 20, because of the part where Stuart makes anxious inquiry about his daughter's illness.  In his May 28 letter, he expresses relief that she has gotten better.
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G.W. Smith is the one who wants to divide Stuart into pieces for different points, again foreshadowing the Gettysburg campaign.  This is interesting because Stuart did not think well of Smith, once having written to Flora that she should even avoid Smith's wife.  
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"If you want me 'come a-runnin'":

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Letter to Flora, May 28, 1862

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Flora and the children are ensconced at Mrs. Duval's, and Little Flora is over her illness.  Stuart wants them to come and visit, but wants to purchase a rockaway first so that Bob, his servant, could drive the family out of danger if battle were to commence.   
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Stuart's friend A.P. Hill has received a major general's commission, and Stuart has heard that he is to receive one, too.  He wants it before the impending battle so as to have more authority in the engagement, but he won't wind up getting it until after his ride around McClellan in June.
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"I was determined to be individually useful":

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Letter to Flora, June 4, 1862

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A battle summary.
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"I trust you will soon hear of the defeat & annihilation of Pope":

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Letter to William Alexander Stuart, August 15, 1862

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On the eve of what would become the Second Manassas Campaign, Stuart writes his brother to let him know that he has borrowed money from his brother's firm to buy a new horse.  Stuart is leaving his camp near Dundee, the estate of his cousins, the Price family.
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"All the officers on the other side spoke kindly of me":

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Letter to Flora, September 4, 1862

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This very newsy letter was written on the march into Maryland, and recounts the battles of Second Manassas and Chantilly.  Stuart reports the death of his distant cousin, Captain James Hardeman Stuart.  He says that his "Fairfax sweethearts" (this would be Laura Ratcliffe and Antonia Ford) inquired about Flora.  He mentions some names from the 2nd U.S. Dragoons, which had been under the command of Flora's father, Col. Philip St. George Cooke, before the war, and quartered with the Stuarts and the 1st U.S. Cavalry at Fort Riley, Kansas.  
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Stuart also reports a bit of secondhand back-and-forth about the proposed exchange of Pope's coat (captured at Catlett Station) for Stuart's hat (captured at Verdiersville).  Ewell's missing a leg, Trimble is down, and Hampton has jined the cavalry.  Stuart is sending Flora some money with which she must pay his tailor's bill.  And once more he urges her to visit with Mary Lee.  (I don't know who Kinloch Tom might be, but Kinloch was an estate owned by somebody in the Lees' extended family.)
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 Stuart started to write "Major General" under his signature, then crossed it out.  Perhaps in this letter full of military news, he momentarily forgot that he was not writing a military dispatch.
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"Robertson has been relieved and sent to N.C.  'Joy's mine.'":

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Letter to Flora, September 12, 1862

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More news from the Maryland Campaign.  Skirmishes, promotions, greetings to friends, a substantial shopping trip, and where in the world is John Esten Cooke?  Plus, Stuart has finally managed to rid himself of Beverly Robertson... but not permanently.  
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"The result will show":

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Letter to Flora, September 22, 1862

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Post-Sharpsburg, Stuart has a different interpretation of things than some people might.  He mentions the heroic performance of Flora's brother John R. Cooke, who was wounded in the head by a bullet which fractured his skull, but would recover.  
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"Gen A.P. Hill came up":

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Letter to Flora, September 22, 1862 #2

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A truncated letter dated the same day as the previous, but apparently written the day after.  Stuart is sending money, needs a new jacket and pants, and mentions A.P. Hill, who had his finest day of the war at Sharpsburg.
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"I want a jacket & pants right off":

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Letter to Flora, October 1, 1862

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A long letter including war news, family news, poetry, advice, and Latin!  Flora is seemingly staying at Dundee, but Stuart suggests she spend the fall at the estate of his father's cousin, Alexander H.H. Stuart, whom he obviously liked in spite of their very differing political beliefs.  
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One thing Stuart did not want Flora to do was to live in her brother-in-law's house.  She had lived with them in the winter of 1861-62, and as Stuart reminds her, she "did not get on well" with Dr. Brewer.  The possibility of a repeat of this causes Stuart to worry about an "estrangement" between the two families.  Many, many things Stuart wrote over the course of his life makes it clear that he never could stand the idea of people not getting along.
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Stuart also seems to owe his sister some money, which he thought he had paid off already.  John R. Cooke's wound is healing and a promotion is in the works for his gallantry at Sharpsburg.  An old friend, Jo Taylor, is Bull Sumner's chief of staff at Harpers Ferry and has written Stuart a letter, which he sent on to Flora.  (Stuart would meet up with Taylor under a flag of truce in December and receive some interesting information from him.)  
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The letter's postscript is as long as the letter itself.  In it, Stuart reiterates his need for a new jacket and pants, and sends greetings and a bit of amusing doggerel to his young cousins Nannie and Ellen Price.  He also notes that Chiswell Dabney has been late in returning from furlough and has been threatened with arrest, although not seriously, it seems.  Another new staff member is now missing, Stuart's cousin Thomas R. Price Jr. (the brother of Channing Price as well as Nannie and Ellen).  Stuart asks Flora again to "be kind to" his friends, and reports that the Union cavalry has another new commander, giving rise to the Latin phrase meaning the world's acclaim is fleeting.  

(As an aside, these letters from the early autumn of 1862 were written while Stuart's command was camped at "The Bower," the Dandridge estate.  The Bower is still standing today, and it is still owned by the Dandridge family.  It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.  Here is the Bower's Wikipedia entry, and here's a page about the historical marker nearby.  The latter page includes a photo of the house as it looked in 1995, taken by E.P. Dandridge.)

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"In the fresh remembrance of that smile":

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Letter to Flora, October 26, 1862

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One of the most affectionate of all of Stuart's letters, this one pretty much speaks for itself.  Parts of this one are so faded that I wonder if Flora read it over and over until the ink faded from handling.  
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Stuart mentions his new aide, Channing Price, who would eventually become his adjutant.  The Hairston who Stuart had to take to task for poor spelling is probably either Samuel or Watt Hairston, not Peter Hairston who was certainly familiar with "I before E."  Stuart also alludes to the death of his brother's wife, and says that he has given one of his horses to someone who seems to have lost two of theirs.  That horse has been replaced by a new one, Lily of the Valley, who is "Alma over again."  Alma was one of the horses Stuart had in Kansas, and she is mentioned in his letter to Flora after the battle of Solomon's Fork.  
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Stuart asks again for a daguerreotype of his daughter, and mentions his missing servant, Bob, who got separated from the army on the way back from the Maryland Campaign but would indeed rejoin Stuart some time before Fredericksburg.  The "Captain Stuart" referred to at the end of the letter is J. Hardeman Stuart, a double third cousin who was killed at Second Manassas.
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"'Tis then I ask that thou wilt turn confidingly to me":

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Poem to Miss Bell Hart, December 5, 1862

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A poem dedicated to a Miss Bell Hart, signed "James Elder Brother Stuart."  This is a poem that Stuart liked recycling, as he wrote the same one to four different women over a period of ten years.  In addition to Miss Hart, he also dedicated it to "The One I Love" in 1854 when he was staying in St. Louis on his way from West Point to Texas (see J.E.B. Stuart: Poems and Prayers of Love and Friendship, 1850-1857); again to Robert E. Lee's daughter Agnes in 1863 (see The Lee Girls by Mary P. Coulling, page 117); and again in 1864 to a mysterious person named "George" (see letter from January 28, 1864).  He must have felt that a good poem is worth recycling!
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Mary Coulling, who wrote The Lee Girls, was not aware that Stuart was the author of the poem to Agnes; he signed the version he sent to her with the initials "K.G.S.," meaning, of course, Knight of the Golden Spurs.  Coulling didn't put two and two together and assumed it was from a mysterious admirer, which I think would have tickled Stuart.  This is, however, the only time I have seen Stuart refer to himself as such in anything not written to his little cousin Nannie Price.  
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