Jeb Stuart

by John W. Thomason Jr., Gary W. Gallagher (Introduction)

Hardly any biography could contain the robust and romantic Jeb Stuart, but John W. Thomason Jr. goes as far as anyone ever has in pinning down the quality of the Confederate cavalry commander. Virginia-bred, James Ewell Brown Stuart graduated from West Point, where he was called “Beauty,” and rode with the Mounted Rifles against the Apaches and Comanches on the western frontier. When Virginia seceded from the Union, Jeb Stuart joined the Confederate army. His lightning-like raids became legendary. From Bull Run to Brandy Station he served as Robert E. Lee’s eyes and ears, becoming a major general at the age of twenty-eight. Less than three years later Stuart’s meteoric career ended with his death in a cavalry charge.

Genres: Civil War, Biography, History, Military History

514 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1929

Reviews

[Stuart]

Jeb Stuart is a wonderfully written biography about James Ewell Brown Stuart, the Confederate Cavalry Commander during the Civil War. The reader journeys from his early years in Virginia, his time West Point and frontier duty against the Indians in Kansas and Texas, finally focusing on his storied role as a Major General in the Civil War. Thomason's descriptive prose paints a detailed picture of Stuart's actions during the war. Almost more importantly, the reader can "feel" the events being written about. Not only was Jeb Stuart a skilled cavalry leader and bold and spectacular commander, he was an individual holding himself and his men to high standards. He truly was the "eyes of the army" in the words of Robert E. Lee, but he may have been the army's soul as well.

[Jim]

The book was publish in 1930 so the information maybe dated but I still enjoy the book.

[Steven Hoffer]

Worth it for the first chapter alone