Editing J. E. B. Stuart (section)

==United States Army==
Stuart was commissioned a [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[Second Lieutenant#United States|second lieutenant]] and assigned to the U.S. [[Regiment of Mounted Riflemen]] in Texas.<ref name="Eicher" /> After an arduous journey, he reached [[Fort Davis National Historic Site|Fort Davis]] on January 29, 1855, and was a leader for three months on scouting missions over the [[San Antonio]] to [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]] Road.<ref>Wert, pp. 22–23.</ref> He was soon transferred to the newly formed [[1st Cavalry Regiment (1855)]] at [[Fort Leavenworth]], [[Kansas Territory]], where he became regimental [[quartermaster]]<ref>Thomas, pp. 40–41.</ref> and commissary officer under the command of [[Colonel (United States)|Col.]] [[Edwin Vose Sumner|Edwin V. Sumner]].<ref>Wert, p. 25.</ref> He was promoted to [[First Lieutenant#United States|first lieutenant]] in 1855.<ref name="Eicher" />

===Marriage===
[[File:young jeb stuart.jpg|thumb|200px|A young Stuart]]
Also in 1855, Stuart met Flora Cooke, the daughter of the [[2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment|2nd U.S. Dragoon Regiment]]'s commander, [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Philip St. George Cooke]]. Burke Davis described Flora as "an accomplished horsewoman, and though not pretty, an effective charmer," to whom "Stuart succumbed with hardly a struggle."<ref>Davis, p. 36.</ref> They became engaged in September, less than two months after meeting. Stuart humorously wrote of his rapid courtship in [[Latin]], "''[[Veni, vidi, vici|Veni, Vidi, Victus sum]]''" (I came, I saw, I was conquered). Although a gala wedding had been planned for [[Fort Riley]], [[Kansas]], the death of Stuart's father on September 20 caused a change of plans and the marriage on November 14 was small and limited to family witnesses.<ref>Thomas, pp. 41–43; Davis, p. 37; Wert, pp. 26–29.</ref>  Their first child, a girl, was born in 1856 but died the same day. On November 14, 1857, Flora gave birth to another daughter, whom the parents named Flora after her mother. The family relocated in early 1858 to Fort Riley, where they remained for three years.<ref>Wert, p. 35.</ref> The couple owned two slaves until 1859, one inherited from his father's estate, the other purchased.<ref>Wert, pp. 30–31.</ref>

===Bleeding Kansas===
Stuart's leadership capabilities were soon recognized. He was a veteran of the frontier conflicts with Native Americans and the antebellum violence of [[Bleeding Kansas]]. He was wounded on July 29, 1857, while fighting at [[Solomon River]], [[Kansas]], against the [[Cheyenne]]. Colonel Sumner ordered a charge with drawn sabers against a wave of Native American arrows. Scattering the under-armed warriors, Stuart and three other lieutenants chased one down, whom Stuart wounded in the thigh with his pistol. The Cheyenne turned and fired at Stuart with a .36 caliber Allen & Thurber pepperbox pistol, striking him in the chest with a bullet, which did little more damage than to pierce the skin.<ref>Davis, p. 40; Wert, pp. 33–35.</ref> Stuart returned in September to Fort Leavenworth and was reunited with his wife.

===John Brown===
In 1859, Stuart developed a new piece of cavalry equipment, for which he received [[United States patent law|patent]] number 25,684 on October 4—a saber hook, or an "improved method of attaching sabers to belts." The U.S. government paid Stuart $5,000 for a "right to use" license and Stuart contracted with Knorr, Nece and Co. of [[Philadelphia]] to manufacture his hook. While in [[Washington, D.C.]], to discuss government contracts, and in conjunction with his application for an appointment into the quartermaster department, Stuart heard about [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]]'s raid on the U.S. Arsenal at [[Harpers Ferry, West Virginia|Harpers Ferry]]. Stuart volunteered to be [[aide-de-camp]] to Col. Robert E. Lee and accompanied Lee with a company of [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marines]] from the [[Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.|Marine Barracks, 8th & I, Washington, DC]]<ref>Hoffman, Colonel Jon T., ''USMC: A Complete History'', Marine Corps Association, Quantico, VA, (2002), p. 84.</ref> and four companies of Maryland militia. While delivering Lee's written surrender ultimatum to the leader of the group, who had been calling himself Isaac Smith, Stuart recognized "Old Osawatomie Brown" from his days in Kansas.<ref>Wert, pp. 37–39.</ref>

===Resignation===
Stuart was promoted to [[Captain (U.S. Army)|captain]] on April 22, 1861, but resigned from the U.S. Army on May 3, 1861, to join the [[Confederate States Army]], following the [[secession]] of Virginia.{{efn|His letter of resignation, sent from [[Cairo, Illinois]], was accepted by the [[United States Department of War|War Department]] on May 14.<ref>Wert, pp. 45, 52; Davis, pp. 47–40.</ref>}} On June 26, 1860, Flora gave birth to a son, Philip St. George Cooke Stuart, but Stuart changed the name to James Ewell Brown Stuart Jr. ("Jimmie"), in late 1861 out of disgust with his father-in-law.<ref>Wert, pp. 42, 76.</ref> Upon learning that his father-in-law, Col. Cooke, would remain in the U.S. Army during the coming war, Stuart wrote to his brother-in-law (future Confederate Brig. Gen. [[John Rogers Cooke]]), "He will regret it but once, and that will be continuously." When he learned that [[George H. Thomas]], a fellow Virginian, had also decided to stay with the Union, Stuart wrote "I would like to hang, hang Thomas as a traitor to his native state."<ref>Thomas, p. 95.</ref>