A History of the Laurel Brigade: Originally the Ashby Cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia and Chew's Battery

Rating:
Summary: History of the Laurel Brigade
Review: A long unit history, compiled by participants some time postwar, about a brigade which contemporary scholars have perhaps underrated.

Originally Ashby's Valley cavalry and always looking back upon him as their most beloved leader, the Laurels (named during the war by Rosser) participated in Jackson's Valley Campaign. Under Grumble Jones' command, they went on a raid into West Virginia in early '63--something I don't recall being covered by Longacre or any other CS cavalry historian, but if the writers here are not exaggerating, it was an impressive accomplishment. No doubt, after riding 700 miles in 30 days, they were less than thrilled at shining themselves up for the Brandy Station review.

And, interestingly, where almost every primary cavalry document I've read takes a moment during the Brandy Station review to praise Stuart, his appearance on a horse and so forth, the Laurels are tellingly silent.

The battle of Brandy Station gets much detail and good description, and while there's a bit of a gap around the start of the Gettysburg campaign (perhaps not coincidentally), the rearguard fighting is well told. The account continues through various actions to the Valley Campaign of '64, and this is interesting again, because this unit has been rather derided during that campaign. "The laurel is a running vine," General Early is said to have scoffed. According to this text, he might better have said, "The laurel is a raiding into West Virginia and bringing me supplies..." Two more impressive raids, one in 25' snow, took place during this period. So perhaps the Laurels weren't as pathetic as contemporary scholars seem to accept (cf. Lee's Miserables; Lee's Cavalrymen), though the unit historians do lament the state of their mounts and materiel.

An interesting and valuable account, and, though obviously written by interested participants, seeming to suggest that this unit contributed more to the Confederacy than it commonly receives credit for.