YEAR OF DESPERATE STRUGGLE: Jeb Stuart and His Cavalry, from Gettysburg to Yellow Tavern, 1863-1864

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By the summer of 1863, following Chancellorsville, it was clear to everyone on both sides of the Civil War that the Army of Northern Virginia was the most formidable force Americans had ever put in the field. It could only be tied in battle, if against great odds, but would more usually vanquish its opponents. A huge measure of that army's success was attributable to its cavalry arm, under Major General J.E.B. Stuart, which had literally run rings around its enemies.

But Northern arithmetic and expertise were gradually catching up. In this work, the sequel to his acclaimed Year of Glory, this book tracks Stuart and his cavalry through the following year of the war, from Gettysburg to the Overland Campaign, concluding only when Jeb himself succumbs to a gunshot while fending off a force three times his size at the very gates of Richmond. Gettysburg put paid to the aura of unstoppable victory surrounding the Army of Northern Virginia. But when Grant and Sheridan came east they found that Lee, Stuart, Longstreet, and the rest still refused to be defeated. It was a year of grim casualties and ferocious fighting. 16pp of illust.