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| A Southern roadster in 1862, at the spot where Stuart on his famous raid escaped from danger The spring, the rangy endurance of this Virginia riding-horse, halted on the highway near Charles City Court House, illustrates one factor in the dismay the Confederate cavalrymen were able to implant in the hearts of their Northern opponents during the first two years of the war. This horse, by the way, is treading the very road where Stuart, two years before, had escaped across the Chickahominy from the vengeful army riding in his wake after he had ridden completely around its rear. Such raids, until the North had created an efficient cavalry force, destroyed millions of dollars' worth of Federal property and exercised a tremendous moral effect. The cry of “The black horse cavalry” terrified still further the panic-stricken Federal troops at Bull Run; Mosby's brilliant dashes at poorly guarded Union wagon trains and careless outposts taught the Northern leaders many a lesson, and Stuart's two raids around McClellan's army, on the Peninsula and in Maryland, resulted in the systematic upbuilding of a Federal cavalry. In the latter years of the war, when the South was exhausted of such horses, their cavalry became less efficient, but nothing can dim the luster of their performances in those first two hopeful and momentous years. |
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[83]
Review of Reviews. New York. 1912.
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