Today March 10th I read through a book called Saber and Scapegoat by Mark Nesbitt. It is a book dedicated primarily to General Stuart that talks specifically about the general and a majority of the book focuses on the Gettysburg Campaign. I was able to locate a couple of interesting facts from the few paragraphs on the Confederate Occupation of Carlisle.
The first piece of information is that General Ewell actually did pass through Carlisle. If you remember in one of my previous blog posts I stated that General Ewell had ordered his men to open fire on the town and was responsible for the shelling of Carlisle. Well that part is not true but Ewell definitely passed through because once he had left Union infantry under the command of General Smith came back into the town right before Stuart arrived. All of that previous information can be found on pages 87-88 of Mark Nesbitt’s book Saber and Scapegoat.
The next piece of information is on Stuart himself. He actually knew the area quite well having been there just a few years ago, 1859, to present a new design that he had created for the saber attachment. Most of his officers had been stationed here at some point in their military careers before the war as well. Finally Stuart’s wife Flora Cooke Stuart grew up here because her father Philip St. George Cooke was the commandant of the Barracks and Cavalry School from 1848 to 1852. Stuart and his men had been traveling for such a long time that his men were past the point of sheer exhaustion. He knew they needed food fast and panned to take Carlisle so he could supply his men. They came toward Carlisle by way of the Dillsburg road and arrived around dusk. He ordered the surrender of the town and the barracks but when the towns people and soldiers refused Stuart ordered his artillery to open fire. The exploding shells caused some of the officer quarters at the barracks and Cavalry School to ignite and they burned throughout the night.
The route of General J.E.B. Stuart from page 63 of "Saber and Scapegoat". The black arrows on the right side of the page is the movement of General Stuart.
One of Lee’s adjutants Major Venable found Stuart and ordered him to get to Gettysburg after informing Stuart of the fighting. Stuart ordered General Fitzhugh Lee to stay in Carlisle and ordered General Wade Hampton to continue riding for about another ten miles toward Gettysburg. Stuart himself rode alone to report to General Lee.
General Fitzhugh Lee, page 108 of "Saber and Scapegoat" from the U.S. Army Military History Institute and Americana Gallery. Fitzhugh Lee was left behind in Carlisle when Stuart was first informed to report to General Lee.
This book does contain a lot more information about the Gettysburg Campaign. It was a very helpful secondary source in finding out more about the campaign and Stuart’s involvement with it. He would eventually be blamed by some officers for the failure of the Gettysburg Campaign because of his attack on Carlisle and worrying more about raiding the enemy then looking out for the army.