Sheridan's cavalry raid on Richmond ended with a single pistol shot killing J.E.B. Stuart — the Confederacy's most celebrated cavalry commander and Lee's 'eyes and ears.'
The Battle of Yellow Tavern (May 11, 1864) was fought six miles north of Richmond during Sheridan's bold cavalry raid deep into Confederate territory. Sheridan's 12,000-man Union cavalry corps, armed with Spencer repeating carbines, outnumbered and outgunned J.E.B. Stuart's 5,000 Confederate horsemen.
Stuart had ridden hard to get ahead of Sheridan and block his advance on Richmond, positioning his cavalry at a road junction near an old abandoned tavern. He was doing what he had done brilliantly throughout the war — placing himself between danger and the Confederate capital.
During the fighting, a dismounted Union private named John Huff fired a pistol shot that struck Stuart in the abdomen. Stuart reportedly said, 'I don't think I'm mortally wounded' — but he was. He was carried to Richmond and died the following day, May 12, 1864.
Stuart's death devastated Confederate morale far beyond his military value. He was 31 years old, one of the most famous figures in the Confederacy, and had become a romantic symbol of Southern cavalry prowess with his plumed hat and red-lined cape. Lee said simply, 'He never brought me a false piece of information.'
The loss proved practically crippling as well. Stuart had served as Lee's indispensable intelligence gatherer — without him at critical moments during Gettysburg the previous summer, Lee had fought essentially blind. His absence in the 1864 campaigns left Confederate cavalry leadership fragmented and less effective.
Yellow Tavern is remembered primarily for Stuart's death, but the battle itself showed how dramatically the Union cavalry had improved. In 1862, Confederate horsemen had humiliated Union cavalry repeatedly; by 1864, Sheridan's troopers were fighting and winning on equal or better terms.