[11] old ladies or the ministers of his religious faith. His handsome face, the elegance of his attire, his taste for feathers, embroideries, and brilliant scarfs, his exquisite gentlemanly address, in short, that suavity of temper which never forsook him,—everything in this young general of twenty-eight was calculated to captivate the imagination of the beautiful women of Virginia whenever he appeared in their villages or in their half-deserted homes surrounded by the prestige of his exploits. As to his soldiers, what they especially admired in him was his imperturbable presence of mind in the midst of danger and the turmoil of battle, and that wonderful vigor which enabled him to retain the full use of all his intellectual faculties when his companions were either overcome by fatigue or prostrated by privations.
Stuart's regular force was composed of three brigades, commanded by General Wade Hampton and the son and nephew of the commander--in chief, Generals W. H. F. Lee and Fitzhugh Lee, who worthily bore that illustrious name. It is proper to add to this force the brigade of General Jones, who was waging hostilities west of the Blue Ridge in the Valley of Virginia, but who, notwithstanding his distance, was under Stuart's command.
Moreover, wherever the Federals had any outposts there was a small detachment of Confederate cavalry always engaged in watching and harassing them, while Mosby and his followers watched for an opportunity to strike at some points of the railroads or the depots which supplied the enemy's army with provisions. These skirmishes, which it would be impossible to enumerate here, show that the Confederate partisans were wide awake at all points in Virginia, resorting alternately to cunning and audacity in order to conceal the inferiority of their numbers. At Williamsburg, for instance, on the field of battle where so much blood had been shed the preceding year, they resorted to an expedient against their adversaries which was susceptible of frequent application. By means of false information conveyed to the Federal garrison of Yorktown, on the 7th of February, 1863, a squadron of the enemy was enticed into a narrow road bordered on both sides by a thick forest. The Unionists, who were advancing cautiously, suddenly espied a small band of Confederates, who, after firing a few shots, fled rapidly. A
