On
May 12,1864, 151 years ago, the dashing cavalier, General “Jeb” Stuart
died as a result of wounds in the Battle of Yellow Tavern. Here is an article
that appeared in a New York newspaper, quoting from General Stuart’s obituary
in the Richmond Examiner. A final salute to General Robert E. Lee’s cavalry
commander:
The Late Gen. J.E.B. Stuart--His Last Hours--How He Received His Death Wound.
Published: May 26, 1864
From
a long obituary of STUART -- whom the rebels call the "flower of
Cavaliers" -- in the Richmond Examiner, we clip as follows: "No
incident of mortality, since the fall of the great JACKSON, has occasioned more
painful regret than this. Major-Gen. J.E.B. STUART, the model of Virginian
cavaliers and dashing chieftain, whose name was a terror to the enemy, and
familiar as a household word in two continents, is dead, struck down by a
bullet from the dastardly foe, and the whole Confederacy mourns him. He
breathed out his gallant spirit resignedly, and in the full possession of all
his remarkable faculties of mind and body, at twenty-two minutes to 8 o'clock,
Thursday night, at the residence of Dr. BREWER, a relative, on Green-street, in
the presence of Drs. BREWER, GARNETT, GIBSON and FONTAINE, of the General's
staff, Rev. Messrs. PETERKIN and KEPPLER, and a circle of sorrow-stricken
comrades and friends.
We
learn from the physicians in attendance upon the General that his condition
during the day was very changeable, with occasional delirium and other
unmistakable symptoms of speedy dissolution. In the moments of delirium the
General's mind wandered, and, like the immortal JACKSON, (whose spirit, we
trust, his has joined,) in the lapse of reason, his faculties were busy with
the details of his command. He reviewed in broken sentences all his glorious
campaigns around MCCLELLAN's rear on the Peninsula, beyond the Potomac, and
upon the Rapidan, quoting from his orders, and issuing new ones to his
couriers, with a last injunction to "make haste."
JEFF.
DAVIS VISITS STUART.
About
noon, Thursday, President DAVIS visited his bedside, and spent some fifteen
minutes in the dying chamber of his favorite chieftain. The President, taking
his hand, said: "General, now do you feel?" He replied, "Easy,
put willing to die, if God and my country think I have fulfilled my destiny and
done my duty." As evening approached, the General's delirium increased,
and his mind again wandered to the battle-fields over which he had fought, then
off to wife and children, and off again to the front. A telegraphic message had
been sent for his wife, who was in the country, with the injunction to make all
haste, as the General was dangerously wounded. Some thoughtless or unauthorized
person, thinking, probbably, to spare his wife pain, altered the dispatch to
"slightly wounded," and it was thus she received it and did not make
that haste which she otherwise would have done to reach his side.
As
evening wore on the paroxysms of pain increased, and mortification set in
rapidly. Though suffering the greatest agony at times, the General was calm,
and applied to the wound, with his own hand, the ice intended to relieve the
pain. During the evening he asked Dr. BREWER how long he thought he could live,
and whether it was possible for him to survive through the night. The doctor,
knowing he did not desire to be buoyed by false hopes, told him frankly that
death -- the last enemy -- was rapidly approaching. The General nodded, and
said, "I am resigned if it be God's will; but I would like to live to see
my wife. But God's will be done." Several times he roused up and asked if
she had come.
To
the doctor, who sat holding his wrist and counting the fleeting, weakening
pulse, he semarked, "Doctor, I suppose I am going fast now. It will soon
be over. But God's will be done. I hope I have fulfilled my duty to my country
and my duty to my God."
At
7 1/2 oclock it was evident to the physicians that death was setting its clammy
seal upon the brave, open brow of the General, and told him so -- asked if he
had any last message to give. The General, with mind perfectly clear and
possessed, then made dispositions of his staff and personal effects. To Mrs.
Gen. R.E. LEE he directed that the golden spurs be given as a dying memento of
his love and esteem of her husband. To his staff officers he gave his horses.
So particular was he in small things, even in the dying hour, that he
emphatically exhibited and illustrated the ruling passion strong in death. To
one of his staff, who was a heavy built man, he said, "You had better take
the larger horse; he will carry you better." Other mementoes he disposed
of in a similar manner. To his young son, he left his glorious sword.
His
worldly matters closed, the eternal interests of his soul engaged his mind.
Turning to Rev. Mr. PETERKIN, of the Episcopal Church, and of which he was an
exemplary member, he asked him to sing the hymn commencing,
"Rock
of ages cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee,"
he
joining in with all the voice his strength would permit. He then joined in
prayer with the ministers. To the doctor he again said: "I am going fast
now; I am resigned; God's will be done." Thus died Gen, J.E.B.
STUART.
HOW
HE RECEIVED HIS DEATH WOUND.
Dr.
BREWER, the brother-in-law of Gen. STUART, has furnished us with some
particulars, obtained from the General's own lips, of the manner in which he
came by his wound. He had formed a line of skirmishers near the Yellow Tavern,
when, seeing a brigade preparing to charge on his left. Gen. STUART and his
staff dashed down the line to form troops to repel the charge. About this time
the Yankees came thundering down upon the General and his small escort. Twelve
shots were fired at the General at short range, the Yankees evidently
recognizing his well-known person. The General wheeled upon them with the
natural bravery which has always characterized him, and discharged six shots at
his assailants.
The
last of the shots fired at him struck the General in the left side of the
stomach. He did not fall, knowing he would be captured if he did, and, nerving
himself in his seat, wheeled his horse's head and rode for the protection of
his lines. Before he reached them his wound overcame him, and he fell, or was
helped, from his saddle, by one of his ever-faithful troopers, and carried to a
place of security. Subsequently he was brought to Richmond in an ambulance. The
immediate cause of his death was mortification of the stomach, induced by the
flow of blood from the kidneys and intestines into the cavity of the
stomach.
Gen. STUART was about 35
years of age. His oldest offspring, a sprightly boy, died a year ago while he
was battling for his country on the Rappahannock. When telegraphed that the
child was dying, he sent the reply, "I must leave my child in the hands of
God; my country needs me here; I cannot come.”
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