University of Virginia Library

III.
ONE OF STUART'S ESCAPES.

1. I.

I NEVER pass the little village of Verdiersville, on the road
from Orange Court-House to Chancellorsville, without casting a
glance upon a small house—the first upon the right as you enter
the hamlet from the west.

There is nothing remarkable in the appearance of this house;
and unless some especial circumstance directed to it your attention,
you would pass it by completely without notice. A small
wooden mansion, such as every village contains; a modest, rather
dilapidated porch; a contracted yard in front, and an ordinary
fence of narrow palings, through which a narrow gate gives
access to the road—there is the whole. Now why should this
most commonplace and uninteresting of objects cause the present
writer, whenever he passes it, and however weary he may be, to
turn his horse's head in the direction of the little gate, pause on
his way, and remain for some moments gazing in silence at the
dilapidated porch, the tumble-down fence, and the narrow gateway,
yawning now wide open, gateless? Because the sight of
this house recalls a scene of which it was the theatre about three
years ago—that is to say in August, 1862. It was here that
Stuart had one of those narrow escapes which were by no means
unusual in his adventurous career, and which will make his
life, when time has mellowed the events of this epoch, the chosen
subject of those writers dealing in the romance of war.

Ah! those “romances of the war!” The trifling species will
come first, in which the Southern leaders will be made to talk an

incredible gibberish, and figure in the most tremendous adventures.
We shall then see, my dear reader, the august form of
Lee, dressed in that splendid new uniform which he always wore,
riding that swift Arabian, blazing with his golden caparison, and
exclaiming, “Behold yonder battery, my men! Charge on it!
Sweep the foeman from your path!” The gay and elegant form
of Stonewall Jackson will be seen as he leads his cavalry, and
swears in the charge; Stuart will give his cautious counsel to fall
back; and we shall have, in the yellow-covered pamphlets, a
truthful picture of the war. But then will come the better order
of things, when writers like Walter Scott will conscientiously
collect the real facts, and make some new “Waverley” or
“Legend of Montrose.” For these, and not for the former class,
I propose to set down here an incident in the life of the great
commander of the Southern cavalry, of which he told me all the
particulars, for I was not present.

It was about the middle of August, 1862, and Jackson, after
deciding the fate of the day at Cold Harbour, and defeating
General Pope at Cedar Mountain, was about to make his great
advance upon Manassas with the remainder of the army. In all
such movements Stuart's cavalry took its place upon the flanks,
and no sooner had the movement begun, than, leaving his headquarters
in the grassy yard of the old Hanover Court-House
where Patrick Henry made his famous speech against the parsons,
Stuart hastened to put his column in motion for the lower waters
of the Rapidan.

Such was the situation of affairs when the little incident I propose
to relate took place. Fitz Lee's brigade was ordered to
move by way of Verdiersville to Raccoon Ford, and take position
on Jackson's right; and General Stuart hastened forward, attended
only by a portion of his staff, toward Verdiersville, where
he expected to be speedily joined by “General Fitz.”

Stuart reached the little hamlet on the evening, I believe, of
the 16th of August, and selecting the small house which I have
described for his temporary headquarters, awaited the approach
of his column.

Half an hour, an hour passed, and nothing was heard of the

expected cavalry. General Stuart's position was by no means
a safe one, as the event showed. He was ten miles distant
from any succour in case of an attack. The country around
Verdiersville was known to be full of prowling detachments of
Federal cavalry; and the daring cavalier, upon whose skill and
energy so much depended at that crisis, might be quietly picked
up by some scouting party of the enemy, and carried as a rich
prize to General Pope. Stuart was, however, well accustomed
throughout his adventurous career to take such risks; they
even seemed to possess an irresistible charm to him, and he prepared
to spend the night, if necessary, in this exposed spot. He
accordingly tied his horse to the fence, the bridle having been
taken from his mouth to allow the animal to feed, spread his
gray riding-cape upon the porch of the little house, and prepared
to go to sleep. First, however, he called Major Fitz Hugh, of
his staff, and sent him back about a mile down the road to look
out for General Fitz Lee. The major was to go to the mouth of
the Richmond and Antioch Church road, await General Fitz's
arrival, and communicate further orders. Having arranged this,
Stuart lay down with his staff and they all went to sleep.

Let us now accompany Major Fitz Hugh, an old (though still
youthful and alert) cavalryman—used to scouting, reconnoitring,
and dealing generally with Federal cavalry. The major took
a courier with him, and riding down the road about a mile in
the direction of Chancellorsville, soon reached the mouth of the
Antioch Church road—a branch of that most devious, puzzling,
be wildering of all highways, the famed “Catharpin road.” Major
Fitz Hugh found at his stopping-place an old deserted house,
and as this house was a very good “picket post” from which
to observe the road by which General Fitz Lee must come, the
major came to a halt at the old rattle-trap—forlornest of abandoned
wayside inns—and there established his headquarters.
An hour, two hours passed—there was no sign of General Fitz;
and the major, who had ridden far and was weary, tied his handsome
sorrel near, directed the courier to keep a sharp look-out,
and, entering the house, lay down on the floor to take a short
nap.

Such resolutions, under such circumstances, generally end in
a good night's sleep. About daylight Major Fitz Hugh was
awakened by a noise of hoofs on the road without, and, rising,
he went to meet General Fitz Lee. The first circumstance which
induced him to change his views of the “situation” was the
sight of a swarm of blue-coated cavalrymen around the house,
one of whom had untied and was leading off in triumph his
glossy sorrel! A dozen others, who had arrived too late to
secure the prize, were uttering imprecations on their luck.

A glance took in the whole scene—Major Fitz Hugh found
himself surrounded by Federal cavalry, and a party soon burst
into the house, and, with pistols at his breast, ordered him to
surrender. The major was furious at this contretemps, and
glanced around for his weapons. He clutched his pistol and
cocked it; but his wrist was immediately seized, and an attempt
made to wrench the weapon from his grasp. The major retorted
by twisting his hand, and firing one or two barrels, but without
result. They then rushed upon him, threw him down; his arms
were wrested from him in a trice, and he was conducted to
the commanding officer of the force, at the head of his column
without.

The officer was a colonel, and asked Major Fitz Hugh a great
number of questions. He was evidently lost. The major
declined replying to any of them, and now his fears were painfully
excited for General Stuart. If the column should take
the direction of Verdiersville there was every reason to fear that
the General would be surprised and captured. Meanwhile Major
Fitz Hugh had taken a seat upon a fence, and as the column
began to move he was ordered to get up and walk. This he
declined doing, and the altercation was still proceeding, when
an officer passed and the major complained of having his horse
taken from him. “I am accustomed to ride, not to walk,” he
said; and this view of the subject seemed to impress the Federal
officer, who, either from courtesy or to secure a mounted guide,
had his horse brought and returned to him for the nonce. The
major mounted and rode to the front amid “There goes the
rebel major!” “Ain't he a fine dressed fellow?” “Don't he

ride proud?” sounds soothing and pleasant to the captured
major, who was dressed in a fine new roundabout with full gold
braid.

But his thoughts suddenly became far from pleasant. The
head of the cavalry column had turned toward Verdiersville, only
a mile distant, and General Stuart's danger was imminent. The
courier had also been captured; no warning of his peril could
be got to the General; and worse than all, he would doubtless
take the column for that of General Fitz Lee, which was to
come by this very road, and thus be thrown completely off his
guard. A more terrible contretemps could not have occurred
than the Major's capture, and he saw no earthly means of giving
the alarm. He was riding beside the colonel commanding, who
had sent for him, and was thus forced to witness, without taking
part in it, the scene about to be enacted.

2. II.

Let us return now to the small party asleep on the porch of
the house in Verdiersville.

They did not awake until day, when Stuart was aroused by
the noise of hoofs upon the road, and concluding that General
Fitz Lee had arrived, rose from the floor of the porch, and,
without his hat, walked to the little gate. The column was not
yet discernible clearly in the gray of morning; but in some
manner Stuart's suspicions were excited. To assure himself of
the truth, he requested Captain Mosby and Lieutenant Gibson,
who were with him, to ride forward and see what command was
approaching.

The reception which the two envoys met with, speedily decided
the whole question. They had scarcely approached
within pistol-shot of the head of the column, when they were
fired upon, and a detachment spurred forward from the cavalry,
calling upon them to halt, and firing upon them as they retreated.
They were rapidly pursued, and in a few moments the
Federal cavalry had thundered down upon the house, in front
of which General Stuart was standing.

The General had to act promptly. There was no force within
many miles of him; nothing wherewith to make resistance;
flight or instant capture were the alternatives, and even flight
seemed impossible. The Federal horsemen had rushed at full
gallop upon the house; the horses of the General and staff were
unbridled, and the only means of exit from the yard seemed to
be the narrow gate in front, scarcely wide enough for a mounted
man to pass, and right in face of the enemy. In addition to
this, the little party had just been aroused; the General had
even left his hat and cape upon the floor of the porch, so complete
was the feeling of security; and when Mosby was fired on,
he was standing bare-headed at the gate.

What followed all took place in an instant. The General and
his party leaped on their horses, some of which had been hastily
bridled, and sought for means of escape. One of the staff officers
darted through the narrow gate with his bridle-reins hanging
down beneath his horse's feet, and disappeared up the road
followed by a shower of balls. The rest took the fence. Stuart,
bare-headed, and without his cape, which still lay on the porch,
throw himself upon his unbridled horse, seized the halter, and
digging his spurs into his sides, cleared the palings, and galloped
off amid a hot fire. He went on until he reached a clump of
woods near the house, when he stopped to reconnoitre.

The enemy did not at once follow, and from his point of observation
the General had the mortification of witnessing the capture
of his hat and cape. The Federal cavalrymen dashed up
to the porch and seized these articles, which they bore off in
triumph—raising the brown hat, looped up with a golden star,
and decorated with its floating black feather, upon the points of
their sabres, and laughing at the escapade which they had thus
occasioned.

Major Fitz Hugh, at the head of the main column, and beside
the Federal Colonel, witnessed all, and burst into laughter and
sobs, such was his joy at the escape of his General. This attracted
the attention of the Federal officer, who said:

“Major, who was that party?”

“That have escaped?”

“Yes.”

The Major looked again and saw that, on his fleet “Skylark,”
Stuart was entirely safe by this time, and unable to contain his
triumph, exclaimed:

“Do you really wish to know who that was, Colonel?”

“I do.”

“Well, it was General Stuart and his staff!”

“General Stuart!” exclaimed the officer; “was that General
Stuart?”

“Yes, and he has escaped!” cried the overjoyed Major.

“A squadron there!” shouted the Colonel in great excitement;
“pursue that party at once! Fire on them! It is General
Stuart!”

The squadron rushed forward at the word upon the track of
the fugitives to secure their splendid prize; but their advance
did not afford the General much uneasiness. Long experience
had told him that the Federal cavalry did not like woods, and he
knew that they would not venture far for fear of a surprise.
This idea was soon shown to be well founded. The Federal
squadron made a very hot pursuit of the party until they came
to the woods; they then contented themselves with firing and
advancing very cautiously. Soon even this ceased, and they
rapidly returned to Verdiersville, from which place the whole
column hastily departed in the direction of the Rapidan. The
Colonel carried off Major Fitz Hugh to serve as a guide, for he
had lost his way, and stumbled thus upon Verdiersville. If you
wish to laugh, my dear reader, go and see Major Fitz Hugh, and
ask him what topographical information he gave the Federal
commandant. It very nearly caused the capture of his command;
but he got back safe to Pope's army, and took our friend,
the Major, with him.

Such was Stuart's narrow escape at Verdiersville. He succeeded
in cluding them, but he lost his riding cape and hat,
which the enemy had seized upon, and this rankled in the mind
of the General, prompting him to take his revenge at the earliest
practicable moment.

That moment soon came. Just one week afterwards, when

General Lee had pressed on to the Rappahannock, and General
Pope had hastily retired before him, Stuart made an expedition
to the enemy's rear, and struck the Orange and Alexandria Railroad
at Catlett's.

It was one dark and stormy night that the attack was made—
the column plunging forward at full speed, through ditches and
ravines, without light enough to see their hands before them;
and by a singular chance Stuart came on Pope's headquarters,
which was at Catlett's. The Federal commander fled with his
staff, and Stuart captured all his official papers containing the
fullest information of his strength, position, and designs. Those
papers were transmitted to General Lee, and probably determined
him to send Jackson to Pope's rear.

In addition to the papers Stuart made a capture which was
personally soothing to his feelings. In his flight, General Pope
left his coat behind! and when the leader of the Southern cavalry,
so recently despoiled of his cape and bat, left Catlett's, he
bore off with him the dress uniform coat of the Federal commander,
who had prophetically announced to his troops upon
taking command, that “disaster and shame lurked in the rear.”

The account was thus balanced. Catlett's had avenged Verdiersville!

And so, my dear reader, you know why I always glance at
that little house in the village as I pass. The dilapidated porch
is still there, where Stuart slept, and the fence which he leaped
still stands, as he pointed it out to me one day, when we rode
by, describing with gay laughter his adventure. All these inanimate
objects remain, but the noble figure which is associated
with the place will never more be seen in the flesh—the good
knight has been unseated by a stronger arm than that of man.
He passed unscathed through this and a thousand other perils;
but at last came the fatal bullet. At the Yellow Tavern he fell
in front of his line, cheering on his men to the last, and on a
beautiful slope of Hollywood Cemetery, above the city which
he died defending, he “sleeps well.”

Thus passed away the “flower of cavaliers,” the pearl of chivalry.
Dying, he did not leave his peer.