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When the Civil War began, James Breathed was a 21-year-old physician (a graduate of the College of Medicine, University of Maryland) at the beginning of his medical career. By chance, he shared a seat on a train with James Ewell Brown (JEB) Stuart, who encouraged Breathed to join the 1st Virginia Cavalry, a regiment commanded by Stuart. Breathed was a Virginian by birth, and raised a Marylander, consequently he cast his lot with the Confederacy in April 1861. Then he was transferred to the newly formed Stuart Horse Artillery. For the doctor-turned-warrior it was a perfect assignment.Fighting With JEB Stuart: Major James Breathed and the Confederate Horse Artillery is the first biography of this important Southern officer, a brave and bull-dogged warrior who embodied all the qualities that made the Confederate army one of the finest in history. Breathed's resume of combat mirrors that of General Lee's legendary Army of Northern Virginia and he was involved in over eighty-six battles, engagements and skirmishes. Unencumbered by formal military training, Breathed developed his own unique style of command. Relentless in his efforts to defeat the enemy, he exhibited conspicuous gallantry and accomplishments on so many fields that his actions separated him from the pack of other battery commanders. Breathed's handling of horse artillery and accurate fire became recognizable to his fellow comrades in service as well as to his enemies. Alexander C. M. Pennington, the leader of a celebrated Union horse artillery battery, dreaded his numerous encounters with Breathed. In the minds of the Confederate veterans who knew him best, Breathed was no less of a legend than artillerist John Pelham. This biographical study is based upon previously unknown or overlooked primary and archival sources, a keen appreciation of the terrain over which Breathed's guns rolled and fought, and a broad foundation of knowledge of the American Civil War in the Eastern Theater. Fighting With JEB Stuart adds something dramatically new to the literature of the Civil War. (less)

When the Civil War began, James Breathed was a 21-year-old physician (a graduate of the College of Medicine, University of Maryland) at the beginning of his medical career. By chance, he shared a seat on a train with James Ewell Brown (…more)