As McClellan was leaving, President Davis arrived and asked how Stuart was. Easy, replied Stuart, but willing to die, if God and my country think I have fulfilled my destiny and done my duty.

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As the afternoon wore on, Stuart's condition worsened. His intestines as well as numerous blood vessels had been severed, and he was probably suffering from internal hemorrhaging and peritonitis. Told by Brewer that he probably would not survive the night, he said: I am resigned if it be God's will, but 1 would like to see my wife …But God's will be done.

Just after 7 p.m., the Episcopal Reverend Joshua Peterkin gathered all in the household around Stuart's bed and led them in prayer, followed by Stuart's favorite hymn, Rock of Ages. Stuart tried to sing along, but he was too weak. When it was over, he told Brewer, I am resigned; God's will be done. He then fell unconscious and died shortly after, at 7:38-27 hours after being wounded. At about 8 o'clock, Flora Stuart reached the hickahominy in driving rain-only to find the bridge destroyed. After fording the river about a mile downstream, Flora and her children finally reached her brother's house at 11:30. The quiet that greeted her was enough to tell her that she had arrived too late. She would wear the black of mourning for the remaining 49 years of her life.

At 5 p.m. on May 13, Reverend Peterkin held a funeral service for Stuart at St. James Church. Eight general officers bore his coffin. From the church, the Confederate cavalier was transported to Holly, wood Cemetery, where Episcopal Reverend Charles Minigerode committed his mortal remains to the earth, near the grave of his daughter, also named Flora, who had been buried there the previous fall. Stuart was not to be the only senior cavalry officer whose further services would be denied to the Confederacy in the wake of Yellow Tavern. Colonel Henry Clay Pate died during the battle while fulfilling his vow to defend Stuart's left flank. And on May 18, six days after being shot at Meadow Bridge, Brig. Gen. James B. Gordon died of his wound.

Yellow Tavern marked the sad end of a legendary career. Jeb Stuart, who had left the battlefield crying, I had rather die than be whipped, had indeed been whipped-and subsequently died as well. Although widely regarded as America's greatest cavalry commander, the dashing cavalier in gray had blundered throughout his last fight, all of his errors stemming from the fundamental, fatal mistake of failing to gauge his adversary's intentions. On the other hand, notwithstanding the fact that his troopers had outnumbered their Rebel opponents by more than 3-to-1, Phil Sheridan had made good his impulsive boast to Meade with a convincing and satisfying victory. The 17th Pennsylvania's historian summed it up: It was the first opportunity the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac had to show what they could do under an efficient leader. The praises for General Sheridan were on every tip.

Demoralized by its first clear-cut defeat of the war and by the toss of its illustrious commander, the Army of Northern Virginia's cavalry corps was down, but far from out. Stuart's place was taken by Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton, a South Carolinan giant who made up for whatever he lacked of Stuart's panache with a more practical attitude and a firmer sense of discipline–including self-discipline that would make him a worthy match for Sheridan. Nevertheless, something intangible went out of the cavalry when Stuart died. He was its heart, if not always its brains, and the war seemed more brutish–and increasingly more hopeless–without him.

This article was written by Jon Guttman and originally appeared in the January 2000 issue of America's Civil War magazine. For more great articles be sure to pick up your copy of America's Civil War.

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