"I must also ask to express...my entire commendation of the conduct of the detachment of Marines, who were at all times ready and prompt in the execution of any duty."
Brevet Colonel Robert E. Lee
from his report to the Adjutant General of
the suppression of John Brown's Raid.
James Ewell Brown Stuart, First Lieutenant, U. S. Cavalry, was enjoying six months' leave from his frontier post at Fort Riley, Kansas Territory.
Yet, the joys of coming home to Virginia had not made him forget that he was a cavalryman by profession. On the rainy morning of 17 October 1859 he had ridden over the muddy streets of Washington to the office of the War Department, and now he sat waiting to speak with Secretary of War John B. Floyd. Jeb Stuart had an idea for a new type strap to fasten a cavalryman's
sabre to his belt. While the young lieutenant was rehearsing in his mind for the coming interview, the Secretary himself was face to face with the spectre of a slave insurrection.
More @ AU AF MIL
No comments:
Post a Comment