The 1850s were a tumultuous time in the United States. Even moderate Northerners came to oppose the expansion of slavery into the territories west of the Mississippi River, prompting Southerners to exhibit increasing militancy in defending their "peculiar institution, " not to mention the economic prosperity and genteel lifestyle it supported. As extremists on both sides of the issue squeezed compromise out of the American political system, the white inhabitants of Dixie seemed to be preparing for armed conflict. Military academies sprang up in placid, pastoral settings, and militia companies formed and drilled throughout the South.

Even Virginia, one of the last states to leave the Union, succumbed to the martial mania. Since colonial times, Virginians had taken great pride in their blue-blooded thoroughbreds and magnificent horsemanship. On the eve of disunion, many young men in the Old Dominion banded together to form mounted units. They called their outfits by such names as the "Valley Rangers," "Howard Dragoons," and "Loudon Light Horse." They also designed fantastic uniforms for themselves, attempting to combine contemporary European military fashion with the grace and romance of seventeenth century England.

Once the Civil War finally broke out, some of these troops of horse coalesced into a single regiment. Eventually, this 1st Virginia Cavalry numbered ten companies. Command of the new unit went to Lieutenant Colonel James Ewell Brown ("Jeb") Stuart. Young, dashing, and flamboyant, Stuart was a West Point graduate who had proved his valor before the war fighting Indians with the 1st U.S. Cavalry. When Virginia seceded from the Union, Stuart resigned his commission in the U.S. Army and offered his sword to his native state.

Stuart and the 1st Virginia proved their worth to the Confederacy on July 21, 1861, at the First Battle of Bull Run. When green Union infantry began to retreat, Stuart and his troopers pursued them a short way with such zest that panic swept the Federal ranks. From that point on, Yankee soldiers spoke of Rebel horsemen with dread.

The 1st Virginia Cavalry became the nucleus around which Stuart built a formidable brigade - followed by a division and eventually a corps. For nearly two years, Confederate troopers rode circles around their Union counterparts in northern Virginia. Thus the 1st Virginia laid the foundation for the myth of Southern mounted supremacy.

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