Editing J. E. B. Stuart (section)

===Maryland===
During the [[Maryland Campaign]] in September 1862, Stuart's cavalry screened the army's movement north. He bears some responsibility for Robert E. Lee's lack of knowledge of the position and celerity of the pursuing Army of the Potomac under George B. McClellan. For a five-day period, Stuart rested his men and entertained local civilians at a gala ball at [[Urbana, Maryland]]. His reports make no reference to intelligence gathering by his scouts or patrols.<ref>Wert, p. 144.</ref> As the Union Army drew near to Lee's divided army, Stuart's men skirmished at various points on the approach to [[Frederick, Maryland|Frederick]] and Stuart was not able to keep his brigades concentrated enough to resist the oncoming tide. He misjudged the Union routes of advance, ignorant of the Union force threatening Turner's Gap, and required assistance from the infantry of Major General [[Daniel Harvey Hill|D. H. Hill]] to defend the [[South Mountain (Maryland and Pennsylvania)|South Mountain]] passes in the [[Battle of South Mountain]].<ref>Wert, pp. 147–50.</ref> His horse artillery bombarded the flank of the Union army as it opened its attack in the [[Battle of Antietam]]. By mid-afternoon, Stonewall Jackson ordered Stuart to command a turning movement with his cavalry against the Union right flank and rear, which if successful would be followed up by an infantry attack from the West Woods. Stuart began probing the Union lines with more artillery barrages, which were answered with "murderous" counterbattery fire and the cavalry movement intended by Jackson was never launched.<ref>Wert, pp. 156–58; Davis, pp. 205–06.</ref>

Three weeks after Lee's army had withdrawn back to Virginia, on October 10–12, 1862, Stuart performed another of his audacious circumnavigations of the Army of the Potomac, his [[Chambersburg Raid]]—126 miles in under 60 hours, from [[Darkesville, West Virginia]] to as far north as [[Mercersburg]], Pennsylvania and [[Chambersburg, Pennsylvania|Chambersburg]] and around to the east through [[Emmitsburg, Maryland]] and south through [[Hyattstown, Maryland]] and [[White's Ferry|White's Ford]] to [[Leesburg, Virginia]]—once again embarrassing his Union opponents and seizing horses and supplies, but at the expense of exhausted men and animals, without gaining much military advantage. [[Jubal Anderson Early|Jubal Early]] referred to it as "the greatest horse stealing expedition" that only "annoyed" the enemy.<ref>Wert, pp. 167–76; Thomas, pp. 173–80; Davis, pp. 215–37.</ref> Stuart gave his friend Jackson a fine, new officer's tunic, trimmed with gold lace, commissioned from a Richmond tailor, which he thought would give Jackson more of the appearance of a proper general (something to which Jackson was notoriously indifferent).<ref>Robertson, pp. 653–54; Thomas, pp. 172–73.</ref>

Urged by President Lincoln to pursue Lee, McClellan slowly pushed his army south, crossing the Potomac starting on October 26. As Lee began moving to counter this, Stuart screened Longstreet's corps and skirmished numerous times in early November against Union cavalry and infantry around [[Mountville, Virginia|Mountville]], [[Aldie, Virginia|Aldie]], and [[Upperville, Virginia|Upperville]]. On November 6, Stuart was notified by telegram that his daughter Flora had died of [[typhoid fever]] on November 3, just before her fifth birthday.<ref>Wert, pp. 179–83.</ref>