Audio Read by Dr. Jeff McCausland
Excerpt written by Jeff McCausland and Tom Vossler
On June 3rd, 1863, Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia left their defensive positions in central Virginia and began initial movements northward toward the Potomac River. While Lee and his senior leaders were supervising the movement, cavalry commander James Ewell Brown Stuart was making plans of his own. At thirty years of age, “Jeb” Stuart had a strong self-image as a bold cavalier from the time of the seventeenth century English Civil War. He described his men as valorous knights and he often wore elaborate cloaks with ostrich plumes in his hat and decorative spurs on his boots. Blessed with more than modest good looks, he was a favorite of the ladies, and he knew it. In his prime at the beginning of the Gettysburg Campaign, Stuart was the equivalent of a twenty-first century rock star.
Some 9,500 cavalrymen in seven brigades had been brought together under Stuart’s command to serve as the mounted arm of Lee’s 75,000 man invading army. As Lee’s force marched north to its destiny, it was Stuart’s plan to gather all the cavalry together in one place for a spectacular mounted review and fancy-dress ball to kick-off the campaign. A site was selected near Brandy Station, Virginia, the forces (and the ladies) were gathered, and all was made ready for the extravaganza.
However, amongst the gathering some uninvited guests appeared in the form of approximately 8,000 enemy cavalry supported by 3,000 infantry. For all practical purposes, the day-long battle ended in a tactical draw, and the attacking Union forces ultimately withdrew leaving the Confederates still encamped in the fields surrounding Brandy Station. But this was not only the largest cavalry engagement of the war, it was also a reversal of fortune for the cavalry arm of the Union and Confederate armies.
Heretofore, the Confederate cavalry had consistently been preeminent in mounted combat. At Brandy Station on 9 June, 1863, Stuart and his troopers were surprised and roughly handled by their Union counterparts. As word of the battle spread, southern newspapers took Stuart to task. Alluding to the near defeat at Brandy Station and a couple of other recent setbacks, the Richmond Examiner claimed: “this puffed-up cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia has been twice, if not three times, surprised … such repeated accidents can be regarded as nothing but the consequences of negligence and bad management …”
Other newspapers took-up the rant. Even in the North public opinion on the capabilities of the opposing forces began to change in favor of the Union cavalrymen. All of this was too much for the vainglorious Stuart who took any criticism as a personal afront, and he was very embarrassed by it all. He decided that he had to find some means to reclaim his reputation and public confidence. He must somehow be restored to the pantheon of southern heroes.
Cavalry Commander James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart
On June 18th, “Jeb” Stuart sought permission from Lee to take part of the Confederate cavalry force off on a separate mission in pursuit of his quest to restore his image. The mission would involve leading three brigades of cavalry in a harassing raid around the enemy army as it moved north through Virginia toward the Potomac River. Stuart had conducted a similar maneuver the previous year in fighting on the Virginia Peninsula. It had been a great success and was in fact one of chief contributing factors in his previous claim to fame.
Lee approved Stuart’s plan and on June 22nd, as the main body of the Confederate Army was astride the Potomac River and in enemy territory, Stuart led the three best cavalry brigades away from the main body of Lee’s army. By the time Stuart and his exhausted troopers rejoined the army in Pennsylvania ten days later, two days of the three-day battle at Gettysburg had already been fought, and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was well on its way to a resounding defeat.
BEWARE OF “HUBRIS AND NEMESIS”
Multiple ancient Greek philosophers warned leaders about the danger of self-pride or arrogance. They called this the “hubris-nemesis” dynamic, and the concept was first attributed to Hesiod, who lived around 700 BC. He warned that hubris was the capital sin of pride and, consequently, the antithesis of two ethics that the Greeks valued highly—aidos, humble reverence for the law, and sophrosyne, self-restraint and the ability to ascertain a sense of proper limits. Those exhibiting hubris or sinful conduct displayed overweening pride, self-glorification, arrogance, and overconfidence in their abilities, and ignored the feelings of others.
Leaders and conquerors in Greek literature were often afflicted by hubris despite having great leadership abilities. As a result, they abused both their power and authority to gratify their vanity and ambitions. According to the Greeks, acts of hubris challenged the divine balance of nature and aroused the envy and anger of the gods on Mount Olympus. In response, they would call on Nemesis, the goddess of divine vengeance and retribution, to descend and destroy the sinful leaders, teach them a painful lesson, and restore order.
In modern discussions, these ancient terms are infrequently used, but the dynamics are present in Christian thinking. One need only reflect on the famous Biblical saying “Pride cometh before a fall” (Book of Proverbs, 10:16). It is also referred to in discussions of the “arrogance of power.” For contemporary analysis, some might consider the decision-making of American leaders during the Vietnam War or the actions of President Nixon during the Watergate scandal as illustrations of hubris.
As for Stuart and three brigades of cavalry being absent for two of the three days of the Gettysburg Battle, Lee did approve Stuart’s request and must bear some responsibility. Lee agreed at a point in time—June 22—when he knew that the army was moving deeper into enemy territory where Stuart and his cavalry would be needed the most. Lee had hedged his bet and sent Stuart a message on June 22 agreeing with Stuart’s proposal but only under three conditions. First, Stuart was to ensure that he stayed in contact with Lee and the main body of the army. Second, prior to commencing the raid, Stuart must place someone in command of the remaining two cavalry brigades that guarded the passes of the Blue Ridge Mountains into the Shenandoah Valley, which served as the army’s main line of communications back into Virginia. Lastly, once inside Maryland, he was to immediately move north to the Susquehanna River and guard the right flank of Ewell’s I Corps.[i]
Unfortunately for Southern fortunes, Stuart failed to follow these directives. That failure will captivate historical analysis long into the future, but one fundamental question will likely remain unanswered: Did Stuart plan and execute this raid because he thought it best for his organization—the Army of Northern Virginia—or because he thought it was best for his own image?
Good leaders must be willing to conduct self-assessments and often reflect honestly about their motivation. Ultimately every leader must ask themselves the following question: What is my primary motivation for making this decision? What do I truly value the most—myself or my organization? All of us have an ego, and this is a good thing because it encourages self-confidence, but it can also be our undoing. Jim Collins in his book Good to Great argues that organizations that experience dramatic success are led by so-called Level 5 leaders. These are people who can subordinate their own ambitions and ego to what is best for their team and organization. Humility is one of the most important qualities a leader can carry, and although it may sound like an easy quality to acquire, it can be incredibly difficult when making a decision.
[i] Official Records, part 3, 27:913.
Parts of this article are excerpted and adapted from Battle Tested! Gettysburg Leadership Lessons for 21st Century Leaders written by Jeffrey D. McCausland and Tom Vossler. The book is available now! Order your copy at: https://bit.ly/battletestedbook.