Killer Angel: Stuart

This is the sixth of 13 mashups of clips from "Gettysburg" (1993) that attempt to capture the motives of major characters from the film and its source, Michael Shaara's novel, The Killer Angels. To go to the next and those that follow, go to • Killer Angel: Captured... .
As Lee's cavalry commander, Stuart was the eyes and ears of the army, so his absence as the Confederate army stumbled toward Gettysburg might have been disastrous. The spy Harrison's intelligence, which Lee did not entirely trust, only partly made up for Stuart's truancy. When he finally made his appearance, Stuart did bring 100 wagons of supplies he had captured from raids as he rode completely around the Union army and, after all, resupplying his troops was one of Lee's goals in venturing into the North. But, clearly, Stuart had failed in his first responsibility to keep Lee apprised of the enemy's size and disposition.
Stuart possessed the qualities it took to be an effective cavalry commander: charisma, spirit, the ability to think, or better, react on the move. His exploits had regularly attracted attention, not just from southern but northern newspapers as well. On one occasion earlier in the war, Stuart had raided behind Union lines at Burke Station in Northern Virginia, where he stole a bunch of Union mules. The following day, he sent a telegram to the Union commander at Burke, complaining about the quality of the mules he had stolen. Such exploits got Stuart the headlines he apparently craved. Nonetheless, he had clearly let Lee down at Gettysburg.
Why didn't Lee follow Longstreet's advice to court martial Stuart for dereliction of duty? Wouldn't morale be damaged by a failure to discipline Stuart harshly? Lee probably calculated that a verbal dressing down would be enough to bring Stuart back in line. After all, coming down too hard on Stuart might break the spirit that had made him an effective cavalryman, and Lee needed him.

[@davidpeek191]

Failure

[@stephenwilson9872]

Good leadership to reprimand through language emotion free

[@fascinatedbyeverything]

That facial hair of his can’t be real.

[@robdean704]

The most overrated commander of the whole civil war

[@JPF941]

Stuart or Lee?

[@robdean704]

@@JPF941 Stuart

[@rockbottom8502]

Why, other than Gettysburg, Stuart won every battle. He even took over for Stonewall Jackson at Chancelorsville after Jackson was wounded and completed the Confederate rout on the Federals.

[@robdean704]

@@rockbottom8502 saying other than Gettysburg sort of makes my point. Where was he when needed? Looting a train I believe.. says it all

[@rockbottom8502]

@@robdean704 But he wasn't overated. He won everywhere else. Outclassed the Federal cavalry before and after right up to his death at Yellow Tavern.