by Burke Davis
"The enemy was strongly posted on a bluff in rear of a thin skirt of woods, his battery being concealed from our view by the woods, while they had obtained perfect range of my position. The edge of the woods nearest to my front was held by the enemy's dismounted men, who poured a heavy fire into my lines."
Custer ordered the 5th and 6th Michigan, dismounted, to charge. Colonel Alger commanded this assault; they ran forward over the uneven footing, many bodies dropping, and at last gained the woods. Custer ordered these two regiments to hold on there with carbines until further orders.
He looked over the field until he was satisfied:
"From a personal examination of the ground, I discovered that a successful charge might be made upon the battery of the enemy by keeping well to the right. With this intention I formed the ist Michigan in column of squadrons under cover of the wood."
But the Rebel artillerymen were ready. Custer saw:
"As soon as the 1st Michigan moved from the cover of the woods the enemy divined our intention and opened a brisk fire from his artillery with shell and canister.
"Before the battery... could be reached there were five fences to be opened and a bridge to cross, over which it was impossible to pass more than three at one time, the intervening ground being within close range of the enemy's battery."
While the ist Michigan hammered over the narrow bridge and up the slope, losing heavily, Custer's buglers were crowing the charge.
The blue riders came off the bridge bravely, fell into line and galloped, overwhelming the Confederate battery by sheer force of numbers.
"When within two hundred yards of the battery," Custer wrote, "they charged it with a yell which spread terror before them."
The Federals took two cannon and a handful of prisoners; this was the prized battery Colonel Johnson had brought to Stuart.
The Confederate line sagged back for about a quarter of a mile and re-formed.
Custer sent in the 7th Michigan, and its riders drove almost into the muzzles of Stuart's guns before their commander fell and they were hurled back. There was a lull.
From every segment of the Confederate line men saw bluecoats swarming thickly in the woods; there was no way to compute the odds against them. At two o'clock, during this brief quiet, Major McClellan returned from Richmond, reporting that the enemy held Brook Turnpike in their rear and had forced him into a wide detour. Stuart did not seem to be alarmed.
McClellan's news was encouraging on the whole. Bragg had about 4,000 irregular troops in the city's trenches, and expected three brigades of infantry from Petersburg at any moment. Bragg was confident he could hold the city.
Stuart told McClellan that "heavy fighting" had raged in his absence. Fitz Lee's men had lost most heavily. One of the dead was
Colonel Pate, shot as his line was overwhelmed and he shouted, "One more round, boys, and then we'll get to the hill."
Stuart told McClellan he would hold his present position, since he could stay on Sheridan's flank if Bragg marched out to catch the raiders; perhaps they could take Sheridan between the two forces.
He sat talking with McClellan for more than an hour.
Behind them in Richmond, Heros von Borcke was aroused from his convalescence by reports of the cavalry's troubles and by the sound of "light guns, which I recognized so well." He felt "electric fire" in his veins, and tried everywhere to borrow a horse. At last, finding every available animal already in service, he buckled on his sword and pistol and went through the streets.
He came upon a wagon, and before the astounded driver could protest had commandeered one of his bony Government horses, thrown his saddle upon him and ridden away. He trotted through the entrenchments and past the last Confederate pickets, asking directions as he entered open country.
Pickets told him Federals were between Stuart and the city, but pointed out a road which would take him to Jeb without danger. Von Borcke galloped on. He had just crossed a bridge when a band of Union cavalry dashed upon him, firing and yelling for his surrender. The German wrote:
"I turned my pony's head around, and galloped off to the rear and an exciting chase ensued for several miles, till it was put a stop to by our pickets, whom I reached completely exhausted."
Von Borcke went to Bragg, who was watching from the fortifications, and begged him to send infantry to Stuart's aid:
"The cautiousness characteristic of that General, however, induced him to resist my appeals, and finding further effort useless, I slowly retraced my steps to Richmond."
Von Borcke barely made it, for the exercise was too much for his wound. Blood streamed from his mouth, and he stopped, "half fainting," in a nearby house, and was put to bed.10
About four in the afternoon the massing Federal columns charged again at Yellow Tavern. A wave of skirmishers spilled out of the woods and a mounted brigade rode down guns on Stuart's line. Jeb outdistanced McClellan on his jaded horse, and the major was forced to watch his chief disappear on the left flank, where the trouble seemed to be most serious.
Several men saw Stuart as he approached the besieged line. Private N. W. Harris of Company G was one:
"We were ordered to dismount, and the last words I ever heard from old Jeb were, 'Boys, don't stop to count fours. Shoot them! Shoot them!' And we did shoot them. There was a deep cut in the road with a good fence to the left and in front of us. The Yankees were charging with sabers and slashed at us over the fences, but we soon piled them up so as to completely blockade the road with dead horses and men. As soon as General Stuart saw we had blocked the road and stopped their advance, he rode off in the direction of Troop K, and that was the last I ever saw of him."
This was Company K, Maryland riders of the ist Virginia, from whose ranks Private J. R. Oliver noted Jeb's calm:
"General Stuart came riding slowly through the woods, whistling and entirely alone. He took a position directly between Fred Pitts, a young man from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and myself, with his horse's head extending over the fence.
"My left elbow was touching the boot on General Stuart's right foot, while Pitts was equally as close to the General on his left."
Pitts did not remember the details quite so clearly, but said:
"I am certain that when General Stuart joined us he was entirely alone. I saw him speak to Captain Dorsey and then lost sight of him for a few minutes, on account of a little trouble we were having with the people in front of us. It was a pretty hot place."
Another witness was Captain Connally Litchfield of Company D, ist Virginia, who saw Stuart behind the firing line, "in rear about ten feet of the sharpshooters, seemingly in a gay mood, and was whistling. His horse was in a canter."
Private Oliver observed Jeb as he sat with Company K:
"He had been with us for a few minutes when some of General Lomax's mounted men made a charge up the road and were driven back by a regiment of Federal cavalry which, when they got to our line of battle, filed to the left along the fence in front of our command, passing within ten or fifteen feet of General Stuart."
Captain Gus Dorsey, commanding this company, was near Stuart, in the center of the seventy-odd men of K Company. Stuart shouted, "Bully for Old K! Give it to 'em, boys!"
McClellan watched him empty his big silver-chased pistol at the retreating Federals, who were being pushed by a charge of the 1 st Virginia.
Stuart continued to call to the troopers, "Steady, men, steady!"
A bluecoat horseman who had been dismounted in the charge trotted back with his companions, pistol in hand, just across the fence from Stuart.
The Federal was Private John Huff.
Huff fired on the run at the big man on the gray horse, with almost casual aim.
Oliver saw the general press a hand to his side. Stuart's head dropped. His hat fell off.
"General, are you hit?" Oliver asked.
"Yes."
"You wounded bad?"
"I'm afraid I am," Stuart said, "but don't worry, boys. Fitz will do a
s well for you as I have."
To the courier at his side Stuart said, "Go ask General Lee and Doctor Fontaine to come here."
The courier found Lomax and told him the news, then found Fitz Lee on the left of the line.
Dorsey recorded his own impressions of the moment:
"Stuart reeled on his horse and said, 'I am shot.' And then, 'Dorsey, save your men!' "
Dorsey caught the general to hold him in his saddle and troopers took Jeb toward the rear. Oliver wrote:
"As we were taking him back Tom Waters, of Baltimore, led his horse while Fred Pitts and myself, one on either side of him, went back about one hundred yards."
Stuart protested, and Captain Dorsey gently remonstrated, "We're taking you back a little, General, so as not to leave you to the enemy."
THE KILL: SHERIDAN VS. STUART, YELLOW TAVERN
May 11, 1864
"Take the papers from my inside pocket and keep them from the Yankees," Stuart said.
Dorsey fished inside the uniform and drew out a small packet of papers and mementoes. Some of the papers were torn by the bullet, but bore no blood stains.
Pitts and Oliver left Jeb with Waters while they sought help from the ambulance corps. Stuart was still slumped on General when the company ran back to the fence to hold off an enemy rush and prevent Stuart's capture.
General began to toss his head and turn about, so that Stuart could not handle him. Dorsey called to Pitts, who brought his own horse. They helped Stuart onto the calmer mount, and Pitts took over General.
"Leave me, Dorsey," Stuart said. "Get back to your men and drive the enemy." Dorsey refused.
"I'm afraid they've killed me, Dorsey, and I'll be no more use. Go back."
"I can't obey that order, General," Dorsey said. "I would rather they get me, too, than leave you here for them. We'll have you out in a shake."
They took Jeb farther to the rear, and most of the cavalrymen, obeying his order, returned to the front.
Private Burgess of the Maryland company saw that the general's wound was serious: "He was wounded mortally, as we knew when we saw where the bullet had entered his side and torn his gray jacket."
The wound had by now darkened the bright sash around the waist, and Stuart seemed to be suffering from shock. He was lifted from the horse to the ground, and propped against a tree. Burgess wrote:
"He spoke not a word nor uttered a groan as we assisted him from his horse to the ground."
Fitz Lee, Dr. Fontaine and an ambulance arrived almost at once. Stuart called out to Lee as soon as he caught sight of him: "Go ahead, Fitz, old fellow. I know you'll do what's right."
Reid Venable was by now at the General's side to record Stuart's cry of defiance. As men lifted the big body into the ambulance, a few troopers from the disorganized line ran rearward. Stuart raised himself to a painful sitting position and shouted: "Go back! Go back! Do your duty as I've done mine. I would rather die than be whipped!"
Venable thought the tone of his voice was "imperious."
Some of the men who had retreated turned about and went into the skirmish line once more. Others did not. Private Hopkins, who was nearby at this moment, reported:
"Some of our men mounted the fence in the rear and fled across the fields. Others stood their ground and were captured, I among them. . . . There was a little culvert across a ditch in the road. . . . Some of our men crept under this culvert and escaped. Probably two hundred of us were captured."
The ambulance bearing Stuart began to roll. A courier who followed it briefly watched:
"I followed it close behind. He lay without speaking as it went along, but kept shaking his head with an expression of the deepest disappointment."
Another witness was the eighteen-year-old Private McCormick. He wrote of the ambulance in more vivid detail:
"The mules became unmanageable in the close fighting. They had a cool driver, but they dashed down over the steep bank with Stuart inside. The right hind wheel flew up in the air, and I thought, oh, God, he is going to be dragged to death.
"But the ambulance righted itself when it struck the road, and down the road toward the Chickahominy it went."
McCormick followed for a time with the head of his horse inside the rear of the ambulance, but as the vehicle began to pick up speed, thought he should go back to the firing line. He wrote:
"The last thing I saw of him he was lying flat on his back in the ambulance, the mules running at a terrific pace, and he was being jolted most unmercifully. He opened his eyes and looked at me, shook his head from side to side as much as to say, 'It's all over with me.' He had folded arms and a look of resignation."
As Stuart left the Tavern fighting raged in rear of the speeding wagon.11
CHAPTER 21
"God's Will Be Done"
MAJOR VENABLE took command of the ambulance, and when it had rolled into the lowlands near a bridge, he had it halted so that Dr. Fontaine could make an examination.
Lieutenant Hullihen was there by now, and helped Fontaine to turn Stuart on his side. The physician unhooked the double-breasted jacket, unwound the stained silk band, and inspected the wound.
Stuart turned to Hullihen: "Honey-bun, how do I look in the face?"
"You are looking all right, General," Hullihen told him. "You will be all right."
"Well," Jeb said slowly, "I don't know how this will turn out, but if it is God's will that I shall die I am ready."
Doctor Fontaine was not cheered by what he saw. He was afraid that the shock of the bullet, penetrating near the liver, might kill Stuart immediately.
Fontaine urged him to take some whisky as a stimulant.
"No," Stuart said. "I've never tasted it in my life. I promised my mother that when I was a baby."
Venable joined Fontaine in urging him to take a drink. The general held up his hands.
"Lift me," he said. "Old fellow, I know you will tell me the truth. Is the death pallor on my face?"
"I hope not," Venable said. "There is some flush on your forehead."
Stuart seemed to take heart, and agreed to take a drink of the whisky.
He looked at the soldiers who had gathered around the wagon.
"God's Will Be Done" 4II
"Go back to the front," he said. "I will be taken care of. I want you to do your duty to your country."
The ambulance went off once more. There were only the driver, the two staff members, Hullihen and Venable, Dr. Fontaine, a couple of couriers, and three riders of the general's escort: Ellis, Thompson and Carpenter.
It was nearing dark. Out on the front Stuart's men were being pushed from their position at Yellow Tavern.
Richmond was only six miles away, but the jolting wagon was forced into a detour around back-country roads to avoid Federals along Brook Turnpike. Stuart rode for hours, tortured by the jarring of his wound.
They trailed through Mechanicsville in the night, and from there Garnett rode ahead to have a bed made ready at the home of Dr. Charles Brewer, Stuart's brother-in-law. Garnett was also to report to General Bragg.
The wagon crossed the Chickahominy at least twice, and it was late before the wheels stopped at last. In the merciful quiet, Stuart made out that he was at the Brewer home. He heard the voice of Flora's sister, Maria, Mrs. Brewer. The house stood on Grace Street, between Jefferson and Madison.
Stuart was carried into the house at eleven o'clock. A low brick wall enclosing the garden was covered with yellow roses, and the scent of them was strong. The air was heavy.
It soon began to rain, and a thunderstorm broke over the city.
Fontaine called other doctors, and they did the little that was possible to make Stuart more comfortable. He seemed to rest more easily after a few hours, when the shock was apparently wearing off.
News spread through the city and a crowd gathered even before daylight. Women wept in the throng and several children stared curiously at the house and the solemn adults. Men passed in and out of the house. Dr. Brewer left the
place on an errand before dawn.
Von Borcke had spent a "long, refreshing" night after his hemorrhage of the day before, and hurried out of bed when he heard the voice of Dr. Brewer from the darkness.
"Von Borcke! It's Stuart. He's wounded."
The German dressed as Brewer explained that Jeb had been taken to his home. "He wants to see you," the doctor said.
Von Borcke found several men in the sickroom. Stuart managed a smile.
"I'm glad you've come, my dear Von. You see they've got me at last. But don't feel uneasy. I don't think I'm as badly wounded as you were, and I hope I'll get over it as you did."
The general did not seem exhausted, for he told the detailed story of his wounding, and though his voice was slow, it was strong and steady, and he seemed to forget nothing. After a time von Borcke stepped back from the bed and went out to send a telegram to Flora.
The message was late leaving the city. There was no direct line to Beaver Dam, since the wires along both the Virginia Central and the Fredericksburg Railroad had been cut, and there were many relays as the message slowly approached Flora by way of distant Lynchburg and Gordonsville.1
Flora Stuart had a breakfast guest on May twelfth—Captain William Blackford. Jeb's old staff officer had gone to Beaver Dam with engineers and all other troops he could collect in an effort to help beat off Sheridan's raid. His men camped near the Fontaine house, and Blackford paid Mrs. Stuart an immediate visit.
The captain noticed no unusual strain about Flora. There was little news of the cavalry, beyond the fact that Stuart was on Sheridan's trail. And that, Blackford said, made all "feel quite content."
Breakfast over, Blackford returned to his camp.
He had hardly left the house when a messenger rode up the drive with a telegram for Mrs. Stuart. Colonel Fontaine first read it privately: