He graduated from west point in 1844 commissioned into the first u. S. Jeb stewart drove his oum. He had ambition and there were tests coming if for him in the next weeks to see if he might be able to, umm, past those tests and seek more of the command, promotion, and fame he might have been seeking. And, finally, we come to the officer in the center, james brown stewart. Better known as jeb stewart. Hes the guy who kind of instigates and will carry it out. Quick overview on his life up to that point. He was born on february 6th, 1833. He attempted to enlist in the u. S. Military but was told he was too young. He spent two years at emory and henry college. In 1850 he received his appointment. During stewarts time there, robert e. Lee arrived in 1852 and served as the military academys superintendent. At the same time fitz lee arrived. Stewart was honored for his cavalry skill during his time at west point. He graduated 13th in a class of 46. He served in the u. S. Regular meant in texas, saw action in kansas territory when it was bleeding kansas, and wounded during a fight with cheyenne warriors. In 1859 he was in washington, d. C. , securing a pageant for his saber hook. Its at that time john browns raid occurred at harp es ferry and he joins robert e. Lee and helps it identify john brown and also signals the u. S. Marines to attack the engine house where brown was hiding out. On april 22nd, 1861, ten days after the fire hit on fort sumter, he promotes to captain. He resigns on may 3rd. On may 10th, one week later, he commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel in the virginia forces and helped organize the first virginia cavalry. Hes promoted to full colonel on july 16th, worked closely with thomas j. Jackson near Harpers Ferry organizing and training troops. The battle of first bull run is where he begins it highlight his skills with the cavalry in addition to the picketing he had done prior to that. He promotes to Brigadier General on september 24th, 1861, spends the autumn, winter, and early part of the spring training the cavalry and doing innovative ideas with the concept of horse artillery. He goes to the peninsula and fights in the battle of williamsburg and is helping to cover parts of the Confederate Movement in that peninsula campaign. After robert e. Lee takes command, he asked stewart to go scouting. This will be the first ride around. Stewart and his cavalry get more experience notedly in the Second Bull Run Campaign skirmishing in northern virginia, and then the invasion of maryland in the autumn of 1862. So lets change the slides here. On the screen, hopefully youre able to see that to the left we have a map of stewarts raid. On the right we have the other raid. Both raids are a ride around mcclellans army. Its helpful to know a little bit of the raid which we consider the planning. So it occurs between june 12th and 15th, 1862. Stewart takes about 1200 men and detachment of two guns from the stewart horse artillery. They ride approximately 150 miles and capture 260 horses and mules and various supplies. Most importantly, theyre able to confirm the information that lee wanted to know. That mcclellans right flank was vulnerable. They faced no serious opposition. The Union Cavalry was decentralized in their approach to, umm, trying to combat them a little bit. Stewart did clash with troops commanded by his fatherinlaw, though, so a bit of a Human Interest side there. One man is reported killed in the raid on the confederate side. This launches stewart and his cavalry into confederate fame and confederate legend. He becomes part of the story of the defenders of richmond and is really able to push the idea of the gallant cavalry and things like that. So were going to fast forward on the time line now to october 6th. The battle of antedum has been fight. Lincoln wants them to do something but mcclellan is in waiting mode. October 6th, we know lee, jackson, and stewart are talking about another raid north ward. It might have been on their minds before but october 6th is a day we can pinpoint those discussions happening. Two days later, lee sends orders to stewart. They begin with these words an expedition into maryland with a detachment of cavalry, if can be successfully executed is at this time desirable. You will, therefore, form a detachment from 1200 to 1500 well mountain men suitable for such an expedition and should the information from the scouts lead you to suppose your movement can be concealed from bodies of the enemy, that would be able to resist it, your desire to cross the potomac and proceed to the rear of Chambers Burg and endeavor to destroy the railroad bridge. Any other damage you can inflict upon the enemy or the means of transportation within, you will also execute. He issues more detailed instructions including the disruption of the railroad supply lines for mcclellans army, the importance of gathering information about pennsylvania, the necessity to keep movement secret. And he said taking hostages, if necessary will be permissible. This is somewhat prompted by what john pope did in his summer campaigns in virginia. Lee adds some concluding advice saying reliance is placed upon your skill and judgment and the successful execution of this plan and it is not intended or desired that you should jeopardize the safety of your command or go farther than your good judgment and prudence may dictate. So as stewart prepares his cavalry for this raid theyre going to make, his headquarters are at a Country House known as the bower. His cavalry is encamped nearby. It below belong belongs to adam steven. And the time stewart has his headquarters there, its often written about there were lots of parties, feasts, dances. Its almost a break from war. But stewart is going to take a break from the break from war to organize the chamber burg raid. On october 9th, one day after he receives the instructions from lee, he issues orders to his troops. Soldiers, you are about to engage in an enterprise which to ensure success imperatively demands your hands coolness, decision, and bravery. Implicit obesity implicit obedience to orders and the strictest order and sobriety on the march. The destination and extent of this expedition had better be kept to myself than known to you. Suffice to say with the hearty cooperation with officers and men, i have not a doubt of its success. A success which will reflect credit to the highest degree on your arms. The orders which are here with published for your government are absolutely necessary and must be rigidly enforced. So stewart goes through and issues these directives of things that will and will not happen on the forthcoming raid. First off, top priority in stewarts mind is capture horses. Youll have cavalry. You have to have horses. They needed to be able to replenish the mounts. He did say they would seize property from u. S. Citizens and from government supply areas but that receipts would be given so those citizens could make claims to the federal government. No personal plundering was to be allowed. He then issued orders how they would manage the horses theyre going to capture. Any hostages taken to be treated kindly. No straggling would be permitted in the column and no property would be seized until they got to pennsylvania. So stewart did not want to be raiding horses or other supplies from the people of maryland. Lee and the confederacy were still trying to court maryland to their side and plundering from those people was probably not a good way to make friends. While the horse collecting would have to wait until after they crossed the mason dixon line. According to mcclellan, 600 of the best mountain men were pulled from three brigades. Its 600 from each. Now the generals who went along to command these detachments were wade hampton, lee, and then colonel william jones. They go as the commanders of these 600s. Major john took four guns and crews from the stewart horse artillery, two guns from the unit direct, and two he pulled from other units. Around 2 00 p. M. On october 9th, the cavalry going on the raid begins leaving their camps and heading toward hedgeville. Captain thomas logan of company g. 12th illinois cavalry he and his men were picketing the river within a mile of mccoys ford and ferry site. Also, on fair view height there was a union signal station and centuries that may have been able to see the Confederate Movements toward the river. So stewart and his cavalry secured the area around hedgeville. Theyre still on the Virginia West Virginia side of the river. At midnight, stewart heads for the river to finalize the crossing point. Early on the morning of october 10th, its a friday, heavy fog settles in around the river. The confederates secure the ford but dont surprise the union pickets. Harm torns detachment leads the crossing. Meanwhile civilians alert captain logan and his pickets. Logan decides not to engage but he immediately notifies all the Union Officers in the area. Confederates capture the signal station at fair view and their column begins heading north for pennsylvania. They cross the maison dixon line into franklin county, move through blares valley, and its at that point they begin collecting horses. Now along the way, captain William Blackford recorded he saw some of the troopers pillaging and feasting on the, on the other hand, stewart claims he never saw that. Capturing horses, as weve mentioned, was a goal that stewart had in this raid. There are a number of stories that come down to us about the process. Sometimes the confederate troopers would go and tell the farmers they were from the u. S. Government and they were taking their horses for the union army and when the farmers would complain how they didnt like the federal government, the troopers would then say, we dont like them either. Theres good humored back and forth conversations that we see between the civilians and the confederates, at this point. You also have receipts being written for a later reimbursements and some of the troopers were trying to pay for the horses with confederate money which wasnt really welcome. The horses they were collecting in this area were heavy, more of a draft breed that were good for artillery but not what they were looking for for cavalry operations. Now theres a great story about something that happened with the artillery men that are coming along under johns command. Somewhere along the way, they either trade or confiscate, somehow they get ahold of large farmers hats. The straw hats. But its raining and its drizzling on this day. So before long, the hats are all bent out of shape and droopy and the rather funny is fashions. Stewart happens to see this and doesnt think it fits the gallant image for his confederate cavalry. He gives them a terrible time saying you brought the farmers along. And said for weeks after wards, the units they went by the nickname the farmers. Now the first union prisoner was taken in the area of this was mr. Winger. The postmaster and Outspoken Union man. He will complete the whole chambersburg raid with the troopers and spend six weeks in prison. The first major town is mersers, pennsylvania. They arrive in a light rain in about 12 00. Two of the cannons are parked in the town square. Its said that some of the confederate column was wearing blue coats an at first the civil begans thought they were northern troops. Union flags were torn down. Merchants refused to accept confederate money so the officers told the men to take what they wanted. One store lost 600 shoes or boots. Not all soldiers were comfortable with the idea, though. The post office got raided. The mail and stamps taken. More hostages and prisoners were captured. They took a total of 9 in mersersburg. Dr. Thomas cia was a minister in the area and he described the saying the town is in a gravely excited state. Entirely at their mercy and yet though much excited are calmer and more tranquil than would have been supposed. Such a raid as this brings war very near to us. Another minister described the behavior of the confederates saying they behaved very decently. They were gentlemen robbers. The people took it in good humor while keenly feeling the insult and humiliation. It was a marvel 2,000 or 3,000 could cross the river in the face of an army of 200,000. After leaving stewarts column starts heading east through southern pennsylvania. Stewart had guides for the raid. Young men who had grown up in southern pennsylvania. Some of them had been involved in hunting escaped slaves prior to the war. Southern sympathies had drove them into virginia where they enlisted with the Confederate Military and then stewart found out about their knowledge of the area and asked to use them as scouts. Captain blackford said he captured a county map that was valuable for getting a better idea of the road systems. He took it from a sitting room despite the glares of angry women. It was about 2 30 when they left and, as i mentioned, theyre heading east. Some of the farmers are getting a little more knowledge this confederate raiding is happening. Some farmers hit about 25 horses in a stone quarry, which was located out in the middle of a cornfield and managed to keep their horses safe from the confederates. Near the town of saint thomas, which is sometimes called campbelltown, women rang the church bell to sound the alarm and home guardsmen rallied to oppose the cavalry men and shots were exchanged. Thomas billy connor stood up to the cavalry in the middle of the road and refused to leave. Stewart and his officers took him prisoner into the town square, forced him to break his gun, and told him he got to ride on for the rest of the the day. He would be sent to prison and spend about six months there. Chambersburg was an objective. That was where the column was heading. They approached the city about 8 00 p. M. Its been raining all day. Chambersburg had been warmed by telegraph that confederate cavalry was in the area. Stewart accepted a flag of truce for negotiations, made general hampton the mill fair governor of chambersburg, and positioned two of the guns over the town giving them some idea of how the negotiations was going to go. About 7500 home guard arrived at the courthouse. The confederates gave the town 30 minutes to surrender and said that no private property would be harmed only government officials would be detained. The chambersburg civilians agreed and the confederates entered. However, they got one telegraph message out and send it to the pennsylvania governor who then sent word to the secretary of war stanton in washington, d. C. Word is starting to spread outside of the region that stewart is on the move and causing destruction. Meanwhile, in chambersburg, the confederates parole to the wounded and enscapscaped people. They found the bank was empty and did more shopping in the stores of the area. One storehouse that had ammunition was burned. According to a Union Soldier who is keeping track of events of the raid, the confederates took 700 muskets, 400 pistol, 468 ammunition boxes, 200 uniforms, various sabers and belts. Some of the supplies the union had captured from long street during the Maryland Campaign. More horses and more mules were rounded up. This Union Soldier mentioned there was some africanamericans who were captured and taken back to the south and slavery. Publish buildings were burned with an estimated cost of about 250,000. 100,000. Excuse me. Stewart spent time planting misinformation about his command, how many troops he had with them, and what his intentions were. He specifically told some chambersburg civilians he was heading for gettysburg next stewart, to his offices was worrying about how he would recross the potomac since it was raining all day. About 9 00 p. M. They sent men from the second virginia cavalry five miles north destroy the Important Railroad bridge. However, those guys were not successful. Theres three reasons why the bridge may not have gotten destroyed. First, the civilians might have convinced them not to destroy it. Second, the bridge might have been so wet it wouldnt burn. Or, third, lee and stewart, in their reports, believed that the bridge was made of iron. There was a bit of a local history, umm, dilemma whether it was wood or iron but the bridge didnt get destroyed. Saturday, october 11th, stewarts column is getting ready to leave. Stewart tells captain blackford her his plan for getting back to the potomac. He wants someone else to know the plan in case he gets captured. Meanwhile, Union General George Mcclean enis sending off unions. Alfred pleasanton got faulty information that was stewart was heading back and pleasanton delayed his pursuit. One civilian woman, miss sally p. Horner warned the farmers along the way. In cashtown, the confederates collected about 50 or 60 more horses, raided a few more stores, the cashtown hotel listed out the things they lost, which included 200 gallons of whisky, 8 gallons of wine, 10 gallons of apple jack, 25 bushels of oats, 16 halters, and one harness. They started moving toward maryland. After getting to cashtown, close enough to create a panic in gettysburg and get Union Authorities to think it was the next target. Fairfield was the last major town that the column goes through and raids. Again, taking about 30 stands of arms from that local armory, 1,000 worth of supplies from the stores, and its about the time of fairfield that a few confederates are taken prisoner. At least one of them had a lot of information to share. Leading to the question if he was disgruntled or if he was purposefully captured to hand over maybe misinformation. The confederate column crosses back into maryland and as they cross that state line, the orders for raiding and horse collecting come down. That has to stop. They pass through emmetts burg about sun sen set on october 11th and there the ladies came out and welcomed them. Just after stewarts column comes through, about an hour between, the lancers, yoo the union unit arrives and missed them by an hour. Fatigue was setting in and stewarts column troopers were worried about falling asleep, falling off the horses, and breaking their necks. Blackford recorded a glimpse of what it was like. He heads further east and continuing south. Near maryland, stewart took a detour and a 30 minute break to go impress the new york rebel and other young ladies he had met several weeks earlier at the sabers and roses ball, which happened during the Maryland Campaign in that village. As dawn comes on october 12th, stewarts columns, which was moving on par lal roads reunite. Union Brigadier General stoneman was guarding all the fords. They had gone 65 miles from chambersburg and 5 miles from the potomac. The cavalry men were changing their horses out with the captured animals 234 and tempt to keep moving as quickly as possible. That morning, october 12th, Alfred Pleasanton is heading for stewart and hes aiming for the mouth of the river thinking that is where stewart will try to cross. However, stewart summoned his local experts and decided to slip toward a lesser known location called whites ford and he planned to arrive by a route that would trick any observant federals. The photo youre seeing of whites ford was kindly provided by some colleagues of mine in emerging civil war but wanted me to mention when they took the photo, it was very, very flooded. So the river would have been lower when stewarts crossing cavalry and the few artillery guns over. We didnt want you to think it was quite that high when you see the photo. It was what we had to work with at the season. So whites ford. Alfred pleasanton made a long march, as well. He moved 70 miles in 24 hours. He begins to move some troops on. That the time, he runs into stewart or, i guess, more correctly, stewart runs into him. The union troops try to charge. Theres confusion, theres a situation with friendly fire, which allows stewart to pull back and reorganize. He sends major pellum to fire the canyons on the union troops. This leads alfred to believe that stewart is going to fight and force his way forward. Pleasanton begins to deploy cavalry and infantry and waits for two hours. At one point, pleasanton moves forward and he converses with federal cavalry. It turned out to be confederates who fired on him. Meanwhile, the other cavalry detachments, the confederate cavalry use a display of force and a trick to clear the union guards from whites ford. Those detachments are ordered by their officers not let the horses drink but plunge into the river and get across. The first two detachments cross. Then he begins moving his artillery guns covering the retreat. Finally he sent all but one gun across. With one gun positioned near locke 26 on the chesapeake and ohio canal, he covers the last of the cavalry crossing over and manages to get that final gun across the river, also. The raid had been 130 miles. The cavalry heads for leesburg. Stewart is worried that the federals will pursue. From leesburg, he heads west returning to the bower, which was his headquarters. He reported that he lost one man wounded and four captured. There were 30 pennsylvanians who crossed. Those taken hostage was sent to prison and eventually exchanged from confederate prisoners. Along the raid he captured and detained many others but paroled them and didnt take them south. Only the 30 went with him. The raid itself had been risky. In the planning they banked on mcclellans slowness and stewarts speed. Pleasanton almost messed up the calculations. Results for the confederates included the destruction or confiscation of a minimum of 250,000 or amount of property. Excuse me. They brought back at least 1,200 horses but some of the realists kind of questioned if that was worth it. Because the horses that came back with them were so tired from having been exchanged and used during the raid that those horses were weary and now in need of rest. They brought back, of course, arms, supplies, clothing, and other valuable supplies for the confederacy. Meanwhile, on the union side, the officers started playing a blame game. Started off with Alfred Pleasanton and George Stoneman blaming each other for not capturing or stopping stewart. Then George Mcclellan blamed pleasanton and stoneman for not following his orders. Meanwhile, general and chief hallak blamed mcclellan on october 14th, said, president read the telegram and directs know suggest if the enemy had more occupation south of the river, his cavalry would not be so likely to make raids north of it. That was followed by another telegram on october 24th, from the president , i just received your dispatch about sore and fatigued horses. Pardon for me asking what the horses have done to fatigue anything. Someone asked lincoln what he was going to do with mcclellan. Lincoln applied with one of the humorous stories. When i was boy, we used to play a game, three times round and out. Stewart has been round him twice. If he goes round him once more, gentlemen, mcclellan will be out. But stewart didnt get a chance for a third time around mcclellan. Lincoln ordered mcclellans removal from command on november 5th, 1862. Four days later he wrote to his wife, those and whose judgment i rely said i fought the battle splendidly. I feel i have done all that can be asked. I feel some little pride with the demoralized army defeated lee so entirely. One of these days history will i trust do me justice. Which is a nice sentiment but i question if lee wasnt entirely defeated since stewart took 1800 men around mcclellans army. Stewart cannot and should not be given full credit for the dismissal but the raid did help to seal mcclellans fate. Confederate outcomes included a boost in morale. The idea that successes would continue with speed and using the unexpected. They brought back numerous supplies and tactically we see a flexibility in stewarts movements. As he realizes Union Cavalry is starting to close in on him as hes returning to the potomac, he alters routes, make decisions quickly, and perhaps that experience would influence what he was trying to do in the Pennsylvania Campaign the following summer, which, of course, includes the battle of gettysburg. It can be seen as offering a foreshadowing for the cavalrys future in the east. Pleasanton was behind this time. In the following year, he would be part of the battle of brandization and the rise in the turning point for cavalry warfare. Personally, pleasantons politicking did not help his own advancement and he did not secure stunning battle field successes. He was part of the rise of the Union Cavalry. In the future, particularly in 1863, and beyond, stewart would have to fight much harder for his successes and the chambersburg raid marks one the final joyrides of his cavalry. A song that is often referenced in stewarts cavalry is called join the cavalry. It was written and associated with stewarts headquarters. Its very repetitive song. Theres different verses and they repeat. But it starts off with were the boys who rode around mcclellan. There are three verses dedicated to the raid where the boys who crossed the potomac. Where the boys that rode to pennsylvania. And another verse that talks about pennsylvania dutch girls, germans, handing out bread to these soldiers in pennsylvania. With the three out of the five traditional verses of the song dealing with the chambersburg raid it gives clues how stewart and the men viewed the successes and wanted immortalize it in songs. It gives clues how they wanted to be remembered. They wanted the glory image. We have to remember that theres more to the story, including the civilian interactions, the overarching questions relating to the civil war, in the larger sense, and the military ethics also important to consider. Thank you. Weeknights this month elmira opened in july of 1864 after many other Union Prisons were at capacity. Almost 3,000 confederate p. O. W. S d died at the camp. Up next Derek Maxfield talks about the conditions of the prison and some of the officers in charge. His talk is part of a symposium on the war in the east hosted by the emerging civil war blog. Hello. Welcome to the emerging civil war virtual symposium. Our first speaker today is Derek Maxfield. Derek
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