Lee’s October ’63 Move on Meade

In early October 1863, three months after the setback at Gettysburg, three months after Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart was rebuked by his esteemed superior Robert E. Lee for lapses that led to the repulse on the bloody Pennsylvania battlefield, the colorful Southern horseman was ready to lead his cavalry corps to the kind of glory he knew it was capable. Standing in his way, however, was a reorganized corps of Union cavalry that was larger and better equipped than ever before. And the Federal generals were sharper than those whom Stuart had humiliated early in the war.