Bold Dragoon: The Life of J.E.B. Stuart

Rating:
Summary: Well Wtitten Bio of Beauty who was Beat by the Modern Era
Review: A delightful bio of Stuart dealing with his early years, West Point, John Brown's rebellion, his relationship with women and of course the Civil War. Stuart the virtual romantic knight who enjoyed the role and traveled like a characer from Robin Hood with a banjo playing musician and a sect of followers that almost mirrors Custer's post Civil War band and family of followers. Besides Stuart himself, he has a fascinating collection of subordinate such as the Prussian Heroes Von Brocke, Fitz Lee, Rooney Lee, Wade Hampton, Grumble Jones (not his favorite) and Thomas Rosser who was a great friend of Custer's who never got the star he sought. As his legend develops it seems that Stuart became caught up with it particularly by the time of Brandy Station where the day after an elaborate parade showing of his calavry units for Lee he is shocked by aggressive and highly succesful attacks by the transformed union calvary. This may have led to Stuart's desire for a sensational trip around he Union army talking himself out of the picture at the battle of Gettysburg. At the end, Sheridan's forces seem to exhaust Stuart's calvary due to shortages of horses and the addition of repeaters.

Fascinating description of the seeming vain yet outging Stuart sparking a unique friendship with the religious and stern Jackson.

In the end, it seems that Stuart, the seemingly last cavalier, is undone by the modern use of calvary signifying the change in warfare and the abrupt decline of the confederacy.

Rating:
Summary: AThoughtful Depiction of a Real Man Trapped by His Own Image
Review: As I read this book I was impressed by the sensitivity and even handed treatment of a mortal man who was larger than life while he lived and even larger in death. Emory Thomas never loses sight of the humanity of JEB Stuart and I was especially impressed by his ability to put in perspective the forces that molded his life and lead to his immortality in death.

Rating:
Summary: AThoughtful Depiction of a Real Man Trapped by His Own Image
Review: As I read this book I was impressed by the sensitivity and even handed treatment of a mortal man who was larger than life while he lived and even larger in death. Emory Thomas never loses sight of the humanity of JEB Stuart and I was especially impressed by his ability to put in perspective the forces that molded his life and lead to his immortality in death.

Rating:
Summary: A Knight in Confererate Cavalry Clothing
Review: Bold Dragoon is a concise, highly intelligent work that objectively depicts this colorful Confederate warrior. I cannot imagine this man being anything other than a soldier on horseback, and a highly motivated, egotistical commander of troops in combat. Indeed Stuart forever changed the landscape of cavalry in battle not only through the emphasis of quick strikes and fast getaways, but also with efficient intelligence gathering of enemy troop deployment. Stuart unfortunately did not recognize his own humanity during battle and lost his life in a careless display of heroics at Yellow Tavern.

Rating:
Summary: Beauty and the Civil War
Review: Bold Dragoon is the story of the life of J.E.B. Stuart, a cavalryman and a cavalier of the old order. From his youth in southwest Virginia to his wounding at Yellow Tavern, his was a life of adventure and a search for recognition.

Called Beauty at West Point, Stuart wore a great beard during the war to cover up what he thought of as a weak chin. However, there was nothing weak about his military exploits. General Lee relied on him and his intelligence throughout the war. So much so, that when he was missing at the beginning of the battle at Gettysburg, blame fell on him and his absence as part of the reason for the battle's beginning before the Army of Virginia could choose the ground. He never again disappointed Lee, whom he first met at the time of John Brown's escapade in Harper's Ferry.

Proud and ostentatious, he revelled in the attentions of women and chastised his wife when she showed jealousy. He loved to dance. Could be refreshed by short naps and wake immediately -- which he was required to do on more than one occasion when caught unawares. And his death in Richmond in 1864 brought a chill to the Confederacy. General Lee said of him: "He never brought me a false piece of information."

Emory Thomas brings this man to life. His research included many primary sources, the writing style is easy, and the story is broad and bold. This is a must for students of the War Between the States and U.S. military history.

Rating:
Summary: Beauty and the Civil War
Review: Bold Dragoon is the story of the life of J.E.B. Stuart, a cavalryman and a cavalier of the old order. From his youth in southwest Virginia to his wounding at Yellow Tavern, his was a life of adventure and a search for recognition.

Called Beauty at West Point, Stuart wore a great beard during the war to cover up what he thought of as a weak chin. However, there was nothing weak about his military exploits. General Lee relied on him and his intelligence throughout the war. So much so, that when he was missing at the beginning of the battle at Gettysburg, blame fell on him and his absence as part of the reason for the battle's beginning before the Army of Virginia could choose the ground. He never again disappointed Lee, whom he first met at the time of John Brown's escapade in Harper's Ferry.

Proud and ostentatious, he revelled in the attentions of women and chastised his wife when she showed jealousy. He loved to dance. Could be refreshed by short naps and wake immediately -- which he was required to do on more than one occasion when caught unawares. And his death in Richmond in 1864 brought a chill to the Confederacy. General Lee said of him: "He never brought me a false piece of information."

Emory Thomas brings this man to life. His research included many primary sources, the writing style is easy, and the story is broad and bold. This is a must for students of the War Between the States and U.S. military history.

Rating:
Summary: The Flawed Chevalier
Review: James Ewell Brown (Jeb)Stuart is a true enigma to any serious student of military history, especially that dealing with the American Civil War.

Bright, even brilliant, when it came to the tactical use of the mounted arm, Stuart rewrote the book on how to deploy and use lightly armed horsemen as scouts, raiders and screening forces. I think in this book, Emory Thomas does the best job I have yet seen in making the case that Stuart developed his concept of cavalry tactics through observation of another more primitive but highly effective light cavalry, the plains Indians, while a young officer on the new frontier.

He adapted this to a time when technological advances like the railway, telegraph and the first network of "improved" roads since Roman times enabled smaller armies to move, concentrate, strike and disperse with telling effect on larger more powerful but static opponents. This worked very well, while Stuart had the best horsemen and horses, and the latitude and audacity to use them in critical mass. Then something happened.

The enemy finally understood the rules of the game and found leaders like Sheridan, Buford and Grierson who could employ the same tools and tactics but with a difference, they had clear strategic objectives, first to fix then destroy the opposing military forces, then the infrastructure and finally the will to resist.

Emory methodically develops and presents the two major flaws that undid Stuart as the war entered its total war phase: his complete lack of strategic sense (which I believe was shared in part by no other than Robert E. Lee) and his arrogant self-absorbtion.

That fatal combination of flaws merely blunted his effectiveness in the early part of the war when the Confederate cavalry always got there first and with most and best forces, but finally cost the Army of Northern Virginia (not anything Longstreet did or didn't do) the campaign that ended at Gettysburg. And that cost them the war.

I once had the great fortune, as a boy, to meet and talk often with a 100 year old veteran of the 1st Virginia Cavalry. He rode with Stuart from First Manassas to Yellow Tavern. Once, when I got enough courage to ask him who was the best cavalry general in the Civil War, he astounded me by promptly answering, "Sheridan, then Stuart". When I asked why he gave that answer, he replied, "Sheridan came after Stuart and killed him, not the other way around." After reading this very well-written book, you will see what he meant.

Rating:
Summary: General Stuart, coming up!
Review: The book followed the military career of one man thru a war, bringing in the names of others along his way. In this way, it was easier to follow than a book that is constantly changing sides of the war, using the names of lesser known officers with whom one could forget which side was being discussed. It was fully informative.

Rating:
Summary: Bold Dragoon
Review: THIS A VERY GOOD BOOK ON A MUCH EXAMINED AMERICAN HERO AND LEGEND. HE HAS DONE A MASTERFUL JOB IN RESEARCHING HIS SUBJECT.
I HAVE NOT SEEN A STUDY RESEARCHED AS DEEPLY AS THIS ONE. HE HAS
UNCOVERED MANY INTERESTING DETAILS NO OTHER WRITER AS BEEN ABLE
TO ACHIEVE. I RECOMMEND ALL EMORY THOMAS'S BOOKS FOR THE READER
WHO IS TRULY INTERESTED IN HIS SUBJECTS.

Rating:
Summary: An Intriguing Look at a Great Civil War Legend....
Review: This book is a very sensitive look at Jeb Stuart, yet at the same time revealing the harshness of the man/soldier behind the great legend. I must say that the amazingly "real-looking" pencil portrait of Jeb Stuart (by artist Gary Nichols), which I was lucky enough to see last year in an art show, would have lended itself well somewhere in this book. I think it would have made a much more "personal-looking" cover than the one the author chose. I really do cherish this book in my vast collection of the civil war, and I recommend it highly to anyone wishing to learn more about what made this general so great. Thank you for the space in which to offer my opinions. I welcome emails from fellow civil war buffs. Peter Eisenberg ([e-mail])