J.E.B. Stuart Papers

1863

.

.

"Tell me what you want and how I can serve you, and you can always be sure of my services to the best of my ability":

.

Letter from G.W. Custis Lee, February 5, 1863

.
A letter from Robert E. Lee's oldest son, George Washington Custis Lee, who had been Stuart's classmate and good friend at West Point and was now serving as an aide to President Davis.  It mostly concerns various people getting promotions and commissions, with Lee using what influence he could with Davis in order to help Stuart get things done.  Stuart had also invited Lee to pay the cavalry a visit.
.
One of the people mentioned in the letter is Captain William T. Magruder, a native of Maryland who at the time was serving as adjutant to President Davis' brother, General Joseph R. Davis.  Magruder fought in the Union Army until October of 1862, whereupon he resigned and joined the Confederate Army.  Stuart was extremely suspicious of Magruder and voiced his concerns to Custis Lee in a letter dated December 18th, recommending that Magruder's commission be revoked.
.
Stuart was not the first to distrust Magruder; the Marylander had been under suspicion of disloyalty in the Union Army as early as January 1861.  In the letter to Custis Lee, Stuart reported he had met with Jo Taylor, Gen. Sumner's chief of staff, under a flag of truce after the battle of Fredericksburg.  Taylor told him that Magruder had petitioned President Lincoln for a promotion by showing him letters vouching for Magruder's loyalty to the Union.  Failing to get the promotion, Magruder then resigned and joined the South.  No wonder Stuart was suspicious.
.

.

"Gallant fellows those Lees":

.

Letter to Flora, February 26, 1863

.
A truncated letter containing a bit of cavalry news, a bit of the usual stiff-upper-lip advice, and some specific instructions in keeping a scrapbook.  The tedium of report-writing is occupying much of Stuart's time in the quiet of winter camp; he's reached August of 1862.  He also mentions a Mrs. George, who is apparently someone to be avoided -- "she won't do."
.

.

"The pattern of grace":

.

Letter to Flora, March 4, 1863

.
Stuart is making changes to his staff, and has reached the end of August in his reports.  His adjutant, Norman FitzHugh, is seeking a house for his family, which puts Stuart in mind of the house he wants to buy for his own.  He also asks Flora to send him a photo of herself, and he wants it to be full length, "Bless that pretty figure."  And he is trying to make plans to visit Flora on his way to serve as witness in the court martial of Henry Clay Pate.
.

.

"I was disappointed in not getting a letter from you":

.

Letter to Flora, March 6, 1863

.
The close of this letter, Stuart sends "Love to Ma & Vic" (his sister Victoria), so Flora must be staying with them in Richmond.  He is sending her gloves and sewing implements, and has received a pair of boots, actually one of three pair he received about this time.

.

.

"I hope will make your dear Little (Big) heart glad":

.

Letter to Flora, March 13, 1863

.
Another truncated letter, this one written from Culpeper where Stuart awaits being called as a witness in the court martial.  Nannie Price has a new admirer, a Major Garnett.  A mysterious package has arrived for Flora in Loudoun County, and will soon be on its way to Culpeper.  However, in passing through Richmond, Stuart did not meet up with Flora, for reasons evident in the March 15 letter.
.

.

"The Almighty will get tired, helping Jackson after awhile":

.

Letter from A.P. Hill, March 14, 1863

.

I can’t read much of this letter due to Hill’s atrocious handwriting, but here are the most important parts.  I like this letter because Stuart was not only a good friend of Hill’s but also a great friend of Jackson’s; Hill must have known this, and yet wrote this letter anyway.  This is the kind of letter one writes to a person one really trusts, especially when the recipient is chummy with the excoriated subject of the letter.  All Stuart would have had to do would be to show this letter to Jackson and that would have been the end of A.P. Hill in the Army of Northern Virginia.  Obviously Hill knew Stuart would not betray his confidence.

.

.

"Think of me as the hard case you know I am":

.

Letter to Flora, March 15, 1863

.
Due to the faulty Confederate mail system and miscommunication, Flora didn't know Stuart was on his way to Culpeper until she and Stuart's mother and sister had left Richmond for Danville.  Flora is making him a wreath, and seems to have expressed concern that it's not turning out well because he assures her that the fact that she made it will make it beautiful to him.  
.

.

"I can not love any one that does not love you – and my strongest ties are to those that love you most":

.

Letter to Flora, March 20, 1863

.
When Stuart left Flora with his family in Wytheville in May of 1861 to take up his first post of the war at Harpers Ferry, their parting was apparently rather acrimonious.  And there have been some rough times since then.  The third paragraph is perhaps the ne plus ultra of 19th century affectionate husbandly paternalism, and although we do not have Flora's letters from this time period, enough of her personality can be gleaned from his letters to her to conclude that the idealized behavior he wishes for is not at all like the lady he married -- which is not to the disadvantage of either of them.
.
Stuart is sending a key to the mysterious locked valise with his letter, which had arrived earlier with some other articles of clothing.  He mentions twice that he and John Esten Cooke have co-written a tribute to the late John Pelham, which will be appearing in the Richmond Examiner.  
.
Stuart also reiterates that he does not want Flora moving in with the Brewers.  And he tells Flora he had his photograph taken recently, and wants the same studio to take one of her -- looking cheerful, of course.
.

.

"Do not torture your mind with such things":

.

Letter to Flora, March 24, 1863

.
This letter addresses what must have been Flora's expressed concern about Stuart's female friends.  She wondered why he had not written to her when he visited Richmond; he says he was always either too busy or too tired.  Stuart also makes the point that although many women make a fuss over him, he is aware that this is at least somewhat due to his rank and fame, whereas Flora chose to marry him when he was an obscure 2nd Lieutenant on the frontier.  This is his way of telling Flora that she is worth far more to him than these adoring ladies are, because she loved him for himself, when he was nobody.  
.
Stuart also mentions that he wants Flora to come and stay at Dundee again, and that he is looking for a new adjutant since Norman FitzHugh is being transferred to the Quartermaster Department.  One choice is Channing Price, who would eventually get the job; the other is David F. Boyd, Stuart's old friend from his school days at Wytheville.
.

.

"I hope a fair wind will blow you to me yet":

.

Letter to Flora, April 3, 1863

.
The court martial of Henry Clay Pate drags on, and Stuart is staying at Dundee again while appearing as a witness in the trial.  He visited Richmond, but Flora had not yet arrived.  He loves the wreath, loves his new jacket, and everybody at Dundee sends love too.  And with all this love in the air, he wants Flora to leave their son and Stuart's sister with Maria Brewer in Richmond and come visit him alone.  (Hey, she's 3 months pregnant!)  
.

.

"You better believe I long for you":

.

Letter to Flora, April 6 1863

.
Stuart says everyone at Dundee wants Flora to come back and visit.  He also is looking for a new staff member to do "office work."  One of the men under consideration is David F. Boyd, Stuart's old schoolmate from Wytheville.  Another is Andrew R. Venable, and the third is the guy who would eventually get the job, Henry B. McClellan.  Stuart is friendly with Venable and Boyd and doesn't seem to know McClellan well at this point, but of course he does what's best for the service and picks McClellan.
.
In personal news, Stuart must have found a reliable candy source because he's betting a pound of it with his little cousin Ellen Price that Col. Roper isn't going to marry a Miss Winston.  Elizabeth Letcher, who is probably a relative of Stuart's through his mother, has taken the name Stuart as her middle name.  And he has designed a crest to go on a pair of silver tumblers for Dr. Fontaine and Lizzie Price Fontaine which includes a reference to his "Knight of the Golden Spurs" sobriquet.

.

.

"That is the plain english of it, and I am right":

.

Letter to Flora, April 8 1863

.
Here we find that Flora has been staying at Richmond's Spottswood Hotel, along with Stuart's mother, who mistakenly opened and read a letter meant for Flora.  It was probably addressed to "Mrs. Stuart," but if she read past the salutation she was way out of line.  Flora still wants to move in with the Brewers, and Stuart is still against it.  And he's putting his foot down!
.
Around this time, the Confederate government was negotiating with William Alexander Stuart on the sale of salt from his saltworks.  As always, the government wanted a cheaper rate.  Stuart agrees with Flora that it's best to not get involved in that situation.  
.
Again Stuart invites Flora to Culpeper to visit him, and again he asks that she leave Jimmie and Mary in Richmond.  He mentions his choices in the name of their forthcoming baby, but it's got to be named after Pelham whether it's a boy or a girl.  If a girl, he suggests naming it after Maria Brewer, and thereby combine "two lovely natures."  However, he does not want it named after Flora's mother Rachel, because she was "not with us" in the war.
.

New!

."In order that I may be heard":

.

Letter to Gen. Thomas J. Jackson, April 12 1863

.
This brief letter concerns some discrepancies between the reports of Stuart and Brig. Gen. Isaac Trimble regarding the capture of Manassas Junction in August 1862.  Both Stuart and Trimble submitted reports to Jackson, but Stuart, having been the ranking officer on the scene, believes Trimble ought to have sent his report through him first.  And some of the things Trimble wrote don't jibe with what Stuart wrote.  This is the opening salvo in the controversy over who achieved what at Manassas Junction.  (In the near future, I will have a separate section on that little controversy.
.
In addition, Stuart is angry about what Gen. Milroy is doing in the Valley, and is eager for a crack at him.  But, as events turned out, Stuart was sent the other way in the upcoming trip north.
..

.

"Who is there that wants his letters to his wife read by others":

.

Letter to Flora, April 19 1863

.
Flora is on the move.  Stuart has been unsure of her address, and is now hoping that she will beat this letter to Richmond.  He doesn't say where he thinks she will stay once there, but he reiterates for the umpteenth time that he does not want her to live with the Brewers.  Dundee is where he thinks she should stay until her "condition requires removal" (why not have the baby there?) but Lynchburg is also a possibility.  And once again he wants her to come and visit, but without his sister and son.  
.
In other news, he is still ticked off that his mother read his mail, and that some of his letters (particularly the one in which he enclosed $120!) have not reached Flora yet.  Eventually they would reach her, but you know what they say about sending cash in the mail.
.

.

"A grand review Friday":

.

Letter to Flora, between April 19 and May 22 1863

.
This is only a postscript to a letter, but it contains a bit of information.  Stuart has been given John Pelham's buttons and studs, and he wants Flora to give his own old studs to the Price girls at Dundee, so that must be where she has decided to stay.  He has made Nannie Price an honorary aide-de-camp, which fortunately turned out better than the last time he made a girl honorary ADC.
.
In the last paragraph Stuart refers to an upcoming grand review, which would be the first of three and would take place on May 22nd.
.

.

"Look to see me abused for it":

.

Letter to Flora, May 26 1863

.
Quite a bit of interesting stuff here.  A load of goods smuggled through the blockade has arrived from Nassau.  Stuart is concerned that he will not be able to get away to attend the wedding of Col. Roper referred to earlier.  Flora, however, seems to be planning to attend the event in Lynchburg and he hopes she will be able to stop to see him on the way.  I have no clue what he means by expecting Flora to "pay cakes" (I have examined his writing over and over and that's what it unquestionably says) but I am intrigued by his reference to his having reformed and become a changed man on this issue.  Anyone have any ideas??    
.
A newspaper reporter asked Stuart for permission to accompany him on campaign, but Stuart sent him away "with a flea in his ear."  And he expects to be treated unkindly in the press for this.  This gives a slightly new dimension on the media feeding frenzy following the battle of Brandy Station (coming up in a week and a half!).
.
There is a movement under way to publicly finance a monument to the recently departed Stonewall Jackson, and Stuart is opposed to it -- for an outstanding reason: All public charity should go to the needy while the war is carrying on, and not to monuments for the dead.  That is EXACTLY what Jackson would have said.
.
Flora has responded to Stuart's request that she give his old studs to the Price girls by telling him that she values them too much, and that Little Flora had worn one.  So they must be kept.  And in the last paragraph, Stuart makes an interesting comment on the possible promotion of Dr. Brewer.
..

.

"General S loves the admiration of his class of Lady friends":

.

Letter from a Southern Lady, June 10 1863

.
Here is the full text (original spelling and punctuation intact) of the famous letter written to Jefferson Davis by a disgruntled anonymous Southern lady after the battle of Brandy Station.  She mentions sending a copy of it to Robert E. Lee, and I hope she did, because he could have used a good laugh right about that time.  She rails against not only Stuart but also "Ardent Spirits," a subject in which she would have found Stuart a kindred spirit (no pun intended).  As this is the only negative opinion of Stuart voiced by a woman that I have ever found, it had to be included here as a unique curiosity.  Perhaps, as has been said, this lady's invitation to the review and ball got lost in the mail.
.
But the best part of the entire letter is what Custis Lee, as Davis' aide, wrote on the back.
.

.

"We are all back in Virginia as you have doubtless heard":

.

Letter to Flora, July 18 1863

.
Stuart's back from the Gettysburg campaign and in cheerful spirits as usual, though most likely quite exhausted (he substitutes "her" for "you" in one place).  The Stuarts' friend Lilly Parran Lee has gotten a sack coat for Jimmy.  Stuart's been in touch with someone who met Philip St. George Cooke's family at the Planters' Hotel in St. Louis, and reported that Flora's youngest sister Julia was "very quiet and reserved" and is now apparently living in Shepherdstown.  He also reports that he has gotten rid of his "extra" staff, that his new adjutant Henry McClellan is working out very well, and that Chiswell Dabney is "very no-account."  (Chiswell was appointed as some sort of inspector and so was removed from Stuart's staff.)
.
Typically, Stuart tells Flora he has had "many hairbreadth escapes," then finishes up the letter with, "Dont be anxious about me."

.

.

"The great unwhipped army of Lee":

.

Letter to Flora, July 30 1863

.
At the beginning of this letter, Stuart says he's received a telegram from Flora dated July 21st that reads "Not very well come & see me."  He makes his usual response -- he can't come as long as duty calls -- and then by the time he finishes the letter, someone has brought him another missive from Flora, dated July 28th, bearing better news, so he tells her, "I am glad you are not so badly off as I feared."
.
In between, he reports that he was unable to find the proper yardage of black silk for Flora to make a mourning dress, but did find enough organdy for Maria Brewer.  He makes some odd remarks about Dundee; apparently it is in the hands of Yankees, who have been "hard" on it.  He claims to have shelled Carlisle for Dundee, and having done "many other cruel things," although none of these "cruel things" have ever come down to us in any sort of recorded history of the war.  I have always read that Carlisle was shelled because the Pennsylvania militia was hiding there and preventing Stuart's men from getting much-needed supplies.  In fact, as Stuart wrote in his report on the campaign, "Our rations were entirely out.  I desired to levy a contribution on the inhabitants for rations, but ... it was held by a considerable force of militia (infantry and artillery), who were concealed in the buildings, with the view to entrap me upon my entrance into the town. ... I disliked to subject the town to the consequences of attack; at the same time it was essential to us to procure rations."  But, if Stuart wanted to think he did it for Dundee, well, why not? (Dundee, by the way, is still standing, though it is not being kept up and maintained as it ought to be.)
.
   Stuart also repeats the news that he has heard of Flora's family in St. Louis, and says that he feels sorry for Julia Cooke.  "Poor Jule -- what does she think?"  He seems to suspect her of Southern sympathies.  He also heard about Lewis Coalter and his wife, who seem to be ardent rebels, proud of their association with Stuart (he had stayed with them in April 1861 when he visited St. Louis to await news from Virginia's secession convention).  And he makes a surprisingly indiscreet comment about Major Hill's wife being very pregnant.  

.

.

"I have often heard him speak of Gen'l Stuart as one of his warm personal friends":

.

Letter from Mary Anna Jackson, August 1 1863

.
In reply to Stuart's letter of condolence.
.

.

"My own escape untouched is most extraordinary":

.

Letter to Flora, August 2 1863

.
A bit of war news, various people killed and wounded, and more miraculous escapes on the part of Stuart, who always has to tell Flora all about how much deadly danger he was in, because you know she loves to hear that sort of thing.  He also is curious about particular details of Flora's pregnancy, specifically how much the baby is moving around in there, which he phrases in the most formal, detached, delicate way possible.  And he doesn't think Robert E. Lee will obey Flora's orders in two months -- probably she expressed a hope that Lee would let Stuart be in Lynchburg for the birth.
.
In other news, he is eager to get Chiswell Dabney off of his staff by making him a Brigade Inspector.  It's nice that Stuart is giving him another job rather than telling him he's just not courageous enough for the staff, despite Stuart's earlier remark that he wants an efficient staff "cost what it will in feeling."
.

.

"If there is a Lt Genl of Cavalry appointed it will be your husband":

.

Letter to Flora, August 11 1863

.
In this letter, Stuart sent Flora the letter Mary Anna Jackson had sent him on August 1.  Among news about friends and the usual advice about a stiff upper lip, Stuart mentions the crazy rumor that John Bell Hood is going to replace him as the ANV's chief of cavalry.  He also says he now thinks having relatives on his staff is a bad idea after all, unless they have "decided merit."  And he brings up the subject of Robert E. Lee's son, Gen. W.H.F. "Rooney" Lee, who was a prisoner of war and would remain so for several more months.  Rooney's wife Charlotte was very ill at the time, and Rooney's brother Custis offered to take Rooney's place as a prisoner if the U.S. government would allow Rooney to be with his wife.  This offer was rejected, and Charlotte Lee died.
.
On a more cheerful note, Stuart has again seen the pregnant Mrs. Major Hill, and reports that "The Hill has grown to be a mountain."
.

.

"Try and bear your present trials bravely":

.

Letter to Flora, August 12 1863

.
A quick note to Flora in response to what looks like her request for funds.  It sounds as if Flora, seven months pregnant in the August heat, is feeling pretty down.  Mrs. Major Hill (a.k.a. "the mountain") has given birth to Edward Hill Jr.  And Stuart mentions again the rumor about Hood, but notes that he believes Gen. Lee has recommended Stuart for promotion to Lieutenant General, which would turn out not to be the case.
.

.

"Many thanks for the cakes":

.

Letter to Flora, August 26 1863

.
One of Stuart's sisters has passed away, Flora isn't getting any letters, and the attrition rate among Stuart's horses is frighteningly high.  He's got one sound horse, one horse with a sore back, and two recovering from giving birth and an unnamed malady, respectively.  In addition, one broke down on the way to Gettysburg and was left behind, and another one was killed under Stuart at the battle of Funkstown on the way back from Gettysburg.
.
Von Borcke, however, is getting better, though he would never be a brigadier as Stuart wanted.  Flora is keeping a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about Stuart, and he tells her she needs to get a copy of the London Illustrated News with him in it.  And what is "soap-paper"?
.

.

"That bright smile haunts me still":

.

Letter to Cousins, September 10 1863

.
A letter probably written to his Price cousins at Dundee.  Stuart is playing matchmaker, sending three young fellows on a visit.  (The question mark after the salutation is in the original.)
.

.

"Our army is in fine condition":

.

Letter to Flora, September 11 1863

.
Flora, now eight months pregnant, had been sick again, but is now well.  Stuart wants to know if his brother's marriage has taken place yet (as mentioned before, William Alexander "Alick" Stuart, a widower, married the widow of Alexander Stuart Brown, the Stuarts' cousin and son of James Ewell Brown after whom Jeb was named).  
.
Stuart reports also that he did not get the promotion he had hoped for.  He reminds Flora about naming their upcoming baby after John Pelham.  He has heard from the Lee ladies.  Andrew Venable seems to be cracking the whip over the rest of the staff; Stuart applies to him a Biblical quotation from Isaiah chapter 58, which reads in full: "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins."  Venable sounds like a tough taskmaster!
.
Stuart went to a review of Ewell's II Corps and seeing all the officers' wives on horseback made him wish Flora were there.  He has acquired a new horse, so at least he now has two that are sound enough to ride.  He also mentions that he is so far behind on his reports that he needs help with them.  And who better to help write battle reports than John Esten Cooke, a professional novelist?
.

.

"General Lee wrote me a letter which I send you -- showing how he appreciated it":

.

Letter to Flora, September 26 1863

.
Most of this letter consists of Stuart telling Flora about a recent cavalry engagement in which he feels he has been unjustly criticized in the newspapers.   He also mentions that his new horse has been shot already.  And the baby may be coming along any day now.  (She would be born on October 9 and named Virginia Pelham Stuart.)
.

.

"I look hopefully for a safe issue of your troubles":

.

Letter to Flora, October 3 1863

.
Stuart reports that he is thinking of Flora "almost constantly" and is getting nervous about the impending Event and wishes he could go and visit.  Maybe his anxiety accounts for what is very unusual for a Stuart letter, three misspelled words ("write" for right [although he caught that one], "change" for chance, and "associate" for association).  A little difficulty concentrating?
.
In any case, he is getting rid of Dr. Eliason as medical director and replacing him with Dr. Fontaine.  Without saying why, he makes it clear that he dislikes Eliason and in fact wants Flora to warn Nan Patton to avoid the doctor.  "It will do her no good," he says darkly; "these words have meaning."  
.
Stuart also has been reading more favorable press; apparently the hue and cry over Gettysburg and Brandy Station are settling down.  And in one of the oddest things he ever wrote, he reveals that he likes to drink raspberry vinegar right out of the bottle.  But not catsup.  Never catsup.  Perish the thought!
.

.

"She wears a turban, & is an elegant old lady":

.

Letter to Flora, October 5 1863

.
Written from the camp which Stuart has named after the recent Confederate victory at Chickamauga, Georgia, this letter contains lots of news of old acquaintances of the Stuarts.  This includes one Mrs. Taylor, a southerner who Stuart thinks wanted to avoid him on her way to the north, because she asked for a pass from somebody else.  Might this have been the wife of Jo Taylor, Gen. Sumner's aide and an old acquaintance of the Stuarts' from Kansas?
.
Stuart mentions an old lady living in the area who reminded him of Flora, because (in Andrew Venable's opinion) the old lady is "never happy unless she was miserable."  Hearing Venable say this put Stuart in mind of Flora and what he sees as her "preference" for looking on the dark side of things.  It seems that he was never able to understand her depression, just as she was never able to understand his devotion to duty.
.
The Mr. Chevalier that Stuart refers to is the husband of Stuart's sister Bethenia.  Nicholas Chevalier had a mental breakdown during the war and was committed.  Stuart also tells Flora that Captain Blackford has written a song, "The Cavalier's Glee."  I have used the music from this song to make a video on YouTube.  
.

.

"We had never done you full justice before":

.

Letter from Francis Lawley, Autumn 1863

.
Excerpt from a letter from Stuart's friend, the English Viscount Francis Lawley, who was then traveling with Longstreet in the western theater.  Apparently, the western cavalry ain't much, compared to Stuart's cavalry.
.

.

"We have had a quiet time since my last letter":

.

Letter to Flora, October 25 1863

.
At the end of the series of battles that would later be called the Bristoe campaign, which included some shining moments for the cavalry, Stuart tells Flora about some compliments and the source of some insults.  I do wonder from what source he heard about what Sedgwick said.  Sedgwick and Stuart were close before the war, although Flora did not really care for Sedgwick, once referring to him as "coarse" in a letter to David F. Boyd.  (This was in reference to Sedgwick's endlessly-quoted statement that Stuart was "the best cavalry officer ever foaled in America."  This letter (the one from Stuart to Flora, not the one from Flora to Boyd) may be the first recorded instance of Sedgwick having said this, albeit in a slightly different form.  Flora evidently thought "foaled" was a gross way to put it when she heard the quote later, hence her remark to Boyd.)
.
Stuart also mentions that Flora's brother John R. Cooke has been wounded yet again, this time with a shattered shin bone, but is in no danger of losing the leg.  Stuart is still hopeful about promotion, and asks twice for Flora to bring the new baby to visit.  And like all fathers in the war, he tries to do some long-distance parenting by telling Flora that their son should "rough it."
.

.

"People's opinion has changed but I have not":

.

Letter to Flora, November 2 1863

.
House-hunting is going on.  Stuart has several places in mind but won't make a decision without Flora seeing them first.  Clearly she is to be the final arbiter in this.  He also reports that Mrs. Lizzie Fontaine is in an "interesting situation," probably meaning that she's pregnant.  Chiswell Dabney has turned out to be a much better brigade inspector than cavalry aide-de-camp.  Stuart again misspells a word, "hear" for "here" (something he used to do as a kid, causing Emory Thomas in his biography Bold Dragoon to remark that the teenaged Stuart was "no threat to win a spelling bee").  And he wants ten pounds of coffee ASAP.
.
Stuart says two curious things in this letter.  The first is his advice to Flora: "Get along on the best terms you can with those about you."  Hmm, what might that refer to?
.
The second thing has to do with his plans for the near future.  Stuart is expecting that General Lee will be making another incursion into the north.  And since Stuart is expecting another shipment of goods through the blockade, he has had the idea of having them shipped to "some point in Maryland" and picking them up "on the next advance."  Then he says he wants to ship them to Baltimore.  Obviously, he has a clear expectation that the Army of Northern Virginia is going to make it all the way to Baltimore in the near future, and he's so confident of this that he's thinking of having his stuff shipped there ahead of him so that he can just pick it up when he arrives.  That's quite a plan.  I hope Flora talked him out of this.  
..

.

"I hope you will come, but do not risk anything":

.

Letter to Flora, November 1863

.
A hurried pencil scrawl probably written soon after the Nov. 2 letter, because Stuart repeats the request for ten pounds of coffee.  He's trying to arrange a visit from Flora and the children (and the coffee), and thanks Flora for sending him a lock of Virginia's hair.  (He wrote about this in a letter to Nannie Price: "She [Virginia] commences that sort of attention early, doesn't she?"  Requesting locks of hair from famous people was a big hobby in this era.)
.

.

"A large spacious home, with two old people and no children":

.

Letter to Flora, November 21 1863

.
Stuart is making plans for "somebody" to visit, and talks about having exercised his negotiation skills in securing a place for her to stay.
.

.

"I am very partial to the old homestead at Patrick":

.

Letter to William Alexander Stuart, December 13 1863

.
The Stuart brothers' niece, Mary Bell Peirce (sister of Lizzie Peirce to whom Stuart wrote the 1856 and 1859 letters on this website), is evidently planning to marry a fellow named Speed.  Stuart is against this, and advises his brother to try to discourage her through "plain talk & firmness."  He also claims he wants to become a farmer after the war and that Flora, who is visiting him, thinks that's a great idea.  Stuart wants both Alex Stuart and his wife Ellen to come visit.
.
The Confederacy was considering ending the system of substitutes, whereby wealthy men could avoid conscription by paying someone to serve in the army in their place.  From this letter, it looks like Alex Stuart has been employing this system.  Lizzie and Mary Bell's younger brother David (a.k.a. "Bug" in the 1850s letters) seems also to be considering joining up.  Stuart asks again about the "Salt question," wanting to know the latest news on the government's attempts at nationalization of the Stuart salt company.  And he shows that he has fully changed his opinion on General Lee's skills from what he stated in his letter of January 6, 1862.
.

Continue to 1864

The Stuart Papers Main Page

My Civil War Pages