Stuart, J.E.B.

Stuart, J.E.B. (1833–64) Confederate army officer, born James Ewell Brown Stuart in Virginia. Stuart gained battlefield experience soon after his graduation from the U.S. Military Academy and participated in the capture of John Brown after the latter's raid on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Stuart resigned his army commission and enlisted in the Confederate army, where he served under Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, with whom he formed a close friendship. Stuart led a much-noticed charge at the Union flank at the First Battle of Bull Run (1861) and earned promotion to brigadier general. In 1862, he led a highly successful reconnaissance mission on the Virginia peninsula, during which his raids on Union troops established the Confederate army's dominance there. That July, he was promoted to major general and placed in charge of the Confederate cavalry. Stuart continued to distinguish himself, fighting at the Second Battle of Bull Run and at Antietam (both 1862) and taking over the Second Corps in 1862 when Jackson was killed in battle. He was criticized for failing to support Gen. Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg (1863), a failure that may have affected the outcome of the battle. Stuart was killed in battle outside Richmond while attempting to block the advance of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan toward the Confederate capital.