Year of Glory: The Life and Battles of Jeb Stuart and His Cavalry, June 1862-June 1863 - Softcover

Akers, Monte

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1612005659 ISBN 13: 9781612005652

Publisher: Casemate Publishers, 2018

Synopsis

No commander during the Civil War is more closely identified with the "cavalier mystique as Major General J.E.B. (Jeb) Stuart. And none played a more prominent role during the brief period when the hopes of the nascent Confederacy were at their apex, when it appeared as though the Army of Northern Virginia could not be restrained from establishing Southern nationhood.

Jeb Stuart was not only successful in leading Robert E. Lee's cavalry in dozens of campaigns and raids, but for riding magnificent horses, dressing outlandishly, and participating in balls and parties that epitomized the "moonlight and magnolia image of the Old South. Longstreet reported that at the height of the Battle of Second Manasses, Stuart rode off singing, "If you want to have good time, jine the cavalry . . . Porter Alexander remembered him singing, in the midst of the miraculous victory at Chancellorsville, "Old Joe Hooker, won't you come out of the Wilderness?

Stuart was blessed with an unusually positive personality always upbeat, charming, boisterous, and humorous, remembered as the only man who could make Stonewall Jackson laugh, reciting poetry when not engaged in battle, and yet never using alcohol or other stimulants. Year of Glory focuses on the twelve months in which Stuart's reputation was made, following his career on an almost day-to-day basis from June 1862, when Lee took command of the army, to June 1863, when Stuart turned north to regain a glory slightly tarnished at Brandy Station, but found Gettysburg instead.

It is told through the eyes of the men who rode with him, as well as Jeb's letters, reports, and anecdotes handed down over 150 years. It was a year like no other, filled with exhilaration at the imminent creation of a new country. This was a period when it could hardly be imagined that the cause, and Stuart himself, could dissolve into grief, Jeb ultimately separated from the people he cherished most.

About this title

Review:

This brilliant biopic in literary form of a larger than life hero of the American Civil War has everything! Covering a twelve-month period when Stuart dominated the campaigns and raids that cemented Robert E Lee's most amazing triumphs, this is hugely entertaining. Source: Books Monthly

The narrative moves along at a boisterous and cracking pace, and brings out the sense of joie de vivre which surrounded Stuart and his cavalry at the time. Source: Miniature Wargames - John Drewienkiewicz

From the Publisher:

Monte Akers is the author of several books, including The Accidental Historian: Tales of Trash and Treasure (2010) and Flames After Midnight: Murder, Vengeance and the Desolation of a Texas Community (1999). He followed up the highly-praised Year of Glory with Year of Desperate Struggle: Jeb Stuart and His Cavalry, from Gettysburg to Yellow Tavern, 1863-1864 (Casemate 2015). An attorney as well as historian, a collector of Civil War artifacts, song lyricist (since age nine), and an admirer of Jeb Stuart, he currently lives near Austin, Texas.

About this edition

• Publisher: Casemate Publishers
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1612005659
• ISBN 13: 9781612005652
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 372