AGEOD Forums

154 CSA James E.B. Stuart ldr_CSA_Stuart2 $Cavalryman $Fast_Mover $Indian_Fighter NULL 8 5 2 11 General 1 NULL 5 3 3

195 CSA James E.B. Stuart ldr_CSA_Stuart $Cavalryman $Fast_Mover $Indian_Fighter NULL 3 3 1 22 General 1 NULL 5 3 3

I like that his strategic rating is only 5, not 6, meaning that occasionally he may be unreliable, as he was historically.

I understand the Indian fighter trait, due to his prewar experience. I suggest using the Very Fast Cavalry trait instead of the Fast Mover, and adding Adept Raider and Skirmisher at the appropriate command levels, as such:

154 CSA James E.B. Stuart ldr_CSA_Stuart2 $Cavalryman $VeryFast_Cavalry $Indian_Fighter $Skirmisher 8 5 2 11 General 1 NULL 5 3 3

195 CSA James E.B. Stuart ldr_CSA_Stuart $Cavalryman $VeryFast_Cavalry $Indian_Fighter $Adept_Raider 3 3 1 22 General 1 NULL 5 3 3

Great suggestions....I agree 100%.

comments?

Where's the Vainglorious Glory Hound trait? You know the one that makes the guy take his force and disappear for days on end?

Spharv2 wrote:Where's the Vainglorious Glory Hound trait? You know the one that makes the guy take his force and disappear for days on end?

Yeah, no kidding! I think that this strategic rating could be lower (4?) because of this alone.

If you just use the Getyysburg campaign then Lee's ratings would be much lower. Stuart deserves the 6.

Or the 5. Wasn't paying attention.

Stuart's disappearance at Gettysburg was the exception, not the rule.

Not really the exception. He did it before the Seven Days too, and only got away with it because the Union army did nothing. He was too often out of communication with the main body of the army, the poor US leadership often let him get away with it, the only time it actually really came back to bite him was in the Gettysburg campaign. Agressive yes, good tactician sure, good operationally or strategically? Not even close, rate him how you will based on that.

He did what he was ordered to do before the Seven Days Battles. He brought back the information about McClellan's army that allowed Lee to plan his attack. In the Gettysburg campaign Lee ordered Stuart to keep in touch with Ewell and only to pass around the union army if he could do so without hindrance. On the 25th of June he ran into Hancock's corps near Centreville, Va. Hancock was already moving north. At this point Stuart should have abandoned his attempt to ride around the union army and inform Lee that the union army was on the move. He didn't. He continued his advance and was out of touch with Lee for a week. Lee should've made better use of the cavalry remaining to him but he did expect Stuart to keep him informed of the movements of the enemy. Stuart at least learned from his mistakes. He kept in close contact with lee for the rest of the war.

Stuart was ordered to scout the Federals supply lines and base at the Seven Days. He did that, then instead of turning back with his information, he made his ride around the army, which was the final condition that caused McClellan to shift his base of supply, which negated the greater part of Lee's plan at the beginning of the battle, which was to cut a portion of the AoP off from it's supply base and pin it against the river. Would McClellan have shifted his base of supply without the ride? Possibly, since he was already considering it. One thing I like about Stuart's fighting style is that he usually tried to bring the largest possible force with the best possible subordinates along when he was heading into a fight. This, would have been an admirable trait in most commanders, but when you're the commander of your main army's biggest source of intellegence, leaving your commander with subpar forces and commanders is never a good idea, yet he did it regularly until it finally once came back to bite him.

All that said, he was the best cavalry commander in the East on either side, at least up until the final year, so his ratings should reflect that.

Should get the new screener ability

Wikipedia:

Stuart was a cavalry commander known for his mastery of reconnaissance and the use of cavalry in offensive operations. While he cultivated a cavalier image (red-lined gray cape, yellow sash, hat cocked to the side with a peacock feather, red flower in his lapel, often sporting cologne), his serious work made him Robert E. Lee's eyes and ears and inspired Southern morale. He was killed in May 1864 during the Overland Campaign, at the Battle of Yellow Tavern.

United States Army
In 1854, Stuart was assigned to the Mounted Rifleman in Texas. He was soon transferred to, and promoted in, the newly formed 1st Regiment, US Cavalry. Stuart's leadership ability was soon recognized. He was a veteran of Indian conflicts and Bleeding Kansas. Stuart was wounded in July, 1857, while fighting on the frontier against Native Americans. In 1859, Stuart carried the orders for Colonel Robert E. Lee to proceed to Harpers Ferry to crush John Brown's raid on the U.S. Arsenal there. During the siege, Stuart volunteered to be Lee's aide-de-camp, and read the ultimatum to Brown before the final assault.

He was promoted to captain on April 22, 1861, but resigned from the US Army on May 14, 1861 to join the Confederate Army following the secession of Virginia.


Confederate Army
J.E.B. Stuart was commissioned as a Lt. Colonel of Infantry in the Confederate Army on May 24, 1861. His later promotions were:

Colonel, 1st Virginia Cavalry (July 16, 1861)
Brigadier general, CSA (September 24, 1861)
Major general, CSA (July 25, 1862)
Stuart's commands in the Army of Northern Virginia included:

Cavalry Brigade (October 22, 1861 – July 28, 1862)
Cavalry Division (July 28, 1862 – September 9, 1863)
Second Corps (temporarily replacing Jackson, May 3–6, 1863)
Cavalry Corps (September 9, 1863 – May 11, 1864).
After early service in the Shenandoah Valley, Stuart led his regiment in First Bull Run and participated in the pursuit of the routed Federals. He then directed the army's outposts until given command of the cavalry brigade. He led the cavalry in the Army of Northern Virginia at

Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles
Second Battle of Bull Run
Antietam
Fredericksburg
Chancellorsville
Gettysburg
Wilderness
Stuart was also a raider. Twice he slipped around McClellan's army, once in the Peninsula Campaign and once after the Battle of Antietam. While these exploits were not militarily significant, they improved Southern morale. During the Second Bull Run Campaign, he lost his signature plumed hat and cloak to pursuing Federals, but in a later raid, managed to overrun Union army commander John Pope's headquarters and not only captured his full uniform, but also intercepted orders that provided Lee with much valuable intelligence. At the end of 1862, Stuart led a raid north of the Rappahannock River, inflicting some 230 casualties while losing only 27 of his own men.

In May 1863, at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Stuart was appointed by Lee to take command of the Second Corps for a few days after Stonewall Jackson had been mortally wounded and did as well commanding infantry as he did cavalry.

Returning to the cavalry, the Gettysburg Campaign represented two low points in Stuart's career. He commanded the Southern horsemen at the Battle of Brandy Station, the largest cavalry engagement on the North American continent, on June 9, 1863. The battle was a draw and the Confederates held the field. However, falling victim to a surprise attack was an embarrassing blow to a cavalryman and the fight revealed the rising competency of the Union cavalry and foreshadowed the decline of the formerly invincible Southern mounted arm.

As Lee and Union General George G. Meade marched toward each other at Gettysburg, Lee ordered Stuart to screen the Confederate army as it moved down the Shenandoah Valley and to maintain contact with the lead element, Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps, as it advanced in the direction of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Stuart somehow misinterpreted these orders and once again attempted to circle the Union army and eventually found himself well to the east of Ewell, out of contact with the Union army, and out of communications with Lee. Lee, in turn, was left blinded in enemy territory without detailed knowledge of the terrain, roads, or his opponent's strength and positions. This lack of knowledge was the primary reason that the Battle of Gettysburg started on July 1, 1863, before Lee could concentrate his army as planned. Stuart arrived late on the second day of the battle--bringing with him a caravan of captured Union supply wagons--and received a stinging rebuke from Lee. (It is unlikely Lee would have attacked on July 2 in the way he did if he had known the disposition of the Union forces at the Peach Orchard.) On the final day of the battle, Stuart failed to get into the enemy's rear and disrupt their line of communications, being checked by Union cavalry under Generals David McM. Gregg and George Armstrong Custer.

During the Overland Campaign, Grant's drive on Richmond in the spring of 1864, Stuart halted Philip Sheridan's cavalry at Yellow Tavern on the outskirts of Richmond on May 11. A dismounted Union cavalryman shot him from a distance of thirty feet with a pistol; Stuart died the next day in the Confederate capital. The last words he spoke were in a whisper, "I am resigned; God's will be done." He was 31 years old. J.E.B. Stuart was buried in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery.

Everybody is rough on him because of Gettysburg. He did some spectacular stuff and his information gathering was second to none. Lee dumped subordinates who didnt measure up...Stewart was not one of them. Load him with some good stats...he wasnt the only one overconfident during the Gettysburg campaign.

154 CSA James E.B. Stuart ldr_CSA_Stuart2 $Cavalryman $VeryFast_Cavalry $Skirmisher NULL 8 5 2 11 General 1 NULL 5 3 2
195 CSA James E.B. Stuart ldr_CSA_Stuart $Cavalryman $VeryFast_Cavalry $Adept_Raider NULL 3 3 1 22 General 1 NULL 5 3 2