Author Monte Akers tracks Major General J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalry 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—in short, a year of “desperate struggle” with the gloves off on both sides.

In this work Akers provides a fascinating, close-in view of the Confederacy’s cavalry arm during this crucial period of the war. After Stuart’s death the Army of Northern Virginia would eventually be cornered, but while he was alive it was often the Northerners who most needed to look to their security.

Monte Akers is an attorney, historian, and a collector of Civil War artifacts. He currently lives near Austin, Texas.

Description provided by Casemate Publishers

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