Bold Dragoon: The Life of J. E. B. Stuart

by Emory M. Thomas

Jeb Stuart, leader of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, earned the admiration of his enemies during the first three years of the Civil War. Famed for his daring ride around McClellan during the Peninsula Campaign, and his raid behind Union lines in Virginia and into Maryland and Pennsylvania, he was a legend long before he was killed at Yellow Tavern in 1864.
 

Genres: Civil War, Biography, American History, Nonfiction, American Civil War, History

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

A noted scholar of the Civil War, Emory Thomas is a Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Georgia.

Reviews

[Julie Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book read like a hatchet job to me. I was very disappointed. I gleaned some things of use out of it only due to references I could go to, but by and large it was plain the author was out to "set people right" about the hero. I very much dislike books with an agenda. Especially books purported to be by historians. What bothered me most of all was his mind reading act toward the end. How does this author know Stuart's relationship with God? No, what bothered me even more was his assertion that Stuart didn't care about the baby dying. There are letters from him urging his wife to get the children out of the area because there was sickness there and he feared for them. He possibly had a premonition about her as he told his wife to spend the money to have a good portrait made of her not long before she got sick and died.

[Lee Harrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the more controversial characters in Civil War history is Confederate cavalryman JEB Stuart. Early in the war he achieved remarkable success in besting Union cavalry units, capturing tons of supplies for the Confederate army and keeping his superiors well supplied with military intelligence. These are exactly the tasks assigned to 19th century horse soldiers.
But Stuart would not content himself with doing his job. He wanted glory. He thrived on showmanship, pomp and parades, with adoring females in the audience of course. His “Ride Around McClellan” was an example of this vanity. It succeeded and his fame grew.
As the war progressed Union cavalry improved dramatically. Stuart’s antics began to betray him and his luster tarnished. This book does a great job of explaining why that happened and possible reasons why Stuart could not adapt to changing situations.

[Hugh Henry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bold Dragoon is one of the most biased biographies I have ever read. Thomas wears his desire to debunk the Stuart myth on his sleeve throughout the book. His least impressive antic is when he questions whether Stuart truly felt grief at his child's death. Historians usually conduct research because they hope to find something that no previous researcher had found, or because they hope to defeat the most widely-held views of their readers. In the case of Bold Dragoon, Thomas is too determined to debunk the Stuart larger-than-life myth, but he is too honest to conceal Stuart's real expoits. Thus, the reader can end up somewhat confused between the many criticisms Thomas presents and the excellent job that Stuart's cavalry performed in all of their campaigns except Gettysburg.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is great, until Emory Thomas begins to psychoanalyze Stuart. He portrays Stuart a vain and shallow man. In the last chapter he even attacks his faith in God as being simple, as if he understood what was in Stuart's mind and heart. Thomas is an excellent writer who should stick to history and not mind reading.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evenhanded accounting of a man who was made legend in his time and who then struggled with the said legend. Can we glimpse the man beyond the myth? This author can and thankfully reveals that person to his reader.
Stuart himself obscures the man and drives the legend. Is this bias to render how Stuart manages this? If it is bias then one wonders what you would call the Lost Cause apologists who wrote on Stuart? Objective? Hardly.
Thomas never overstates his material - is indeed judicious in when he challenges the built environment of Stuart's persona. His analysis of the death scene alone is shear brilliance.
Maybe I'm bias towards Thomas - it's the second biography of his I have read. I am sure to look for more of Thomas' work.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of all the biographies I had to read in highschool I liked this one the least. It was very dry.

[Ellen Gonsalves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good account of Stuart’s life. I found the description of Stuart’s ways to train his cavalrymen very interesting, as were descriptions of cavalry terms such as “vidette”.

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book from a fellow Civil War enthusiast - actually a girl - who was having difficulty wading through it. It is richly researched and detailed, but not the dense reading scholarly books can be. I was amazed about how much concerning JEB Stuart I didn't know. And the misconceptions.

It gives the best explanation of Stuart's much criticized ride around the Union lines prior to Gettysburg. It explains why Stuart got the nickname of "Beauty" while he was at West Point. (RE Lee was one of his instructors.) It details his relationship to women. It does not just list Stuart's subordinates but brings them to life and shows why they were important to the man who gave the South a winning edge, at least during the early part of the War.

A casual reader will find this book a bit intimidating, and you have to stick with it a bit to really understand this guy. An excellent analysis.

[Laura Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best biography on Jeb Stuart, bar none!