Btaim, there ARE two valid points to consider:
#1: Gen'l Lee HAD to issue orders that were NOT stage-specific. This is due to conditions at the scene at time of arrival, and fortunes of the ANV on the march towards its Pennsylvania invasion.

#2: Gen'l Stuart allowed himself to become a Wagon-Master, and Drover. Two functions that are a death knell for a Cavalry force that is operating in a semi-independent capacity, IN enemy territory.

These are the two major points to assign.

However, there are OTHER closeted points to attach to this "pot of stew."

A: The health of R.E.L. His family having a propensity for heart-related deaths, and the general health knowledge of the day, there MUST be some credence assigned to Lee's expressive language in the written document.
Since we know that Gen'l Lee died of heart failure in 1870, It would NOT be beyond consideration that the the LANGUAGE of the written orders(to Stuart) was influenced by health problems that inserted themselves in a temporary manner.
Thus we come to the question of how MUCH KNOWLEDGE did the attending ARMY physician TO Gen'l Lee was aware of ; and to what level of medical regimen was being attended to. Then, there is always the matter of the cantankerous patient attitude towards his medical ailments and doctor.
We come to the consideration of mental sharpness, and awareness of the orders, vocabulary, and word pattern involved. Still open to research and conformation.

B: The matter of Brandy Station, and ITS effects upon Gen'l. Stuart; his mentality, desire for some sort of salving owing to the surprise attack by Union forces.
The problem of clouded judgment might be involved owing to such an allowance to materialize, and presage a loss of advantage that the ANV had enjoyed without challenge for over a year.

Regardless of what hidden causes there might be, in MY estimation, Gen'l. Stuart lost the fundamental attribute of what CAVALRY WAS, and what it could NOT accomplish on its own.

The loss of RETAINING the lessons that the Mongols taught about horse cavalry, certainly proved of major importance at Gettysburg.

Thomas J. Baglin
Ragingmt@rochester.rr.com
10-22-2011