ALS signed “James,” one page both sides, 7.75 x 10, West Point, May 8, 1851. Letter to his father, Archibald Stuart, who was serving as a delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention. In part: “We have commenced general review of studies, which, since we were obliged to know them so thoroughly going over the first time, are now comparatively easier; though our lessons are very long. The Point has begun to put on the appearance of spring, while the Corps animate the plain with evolutions of the line to which music lends her rapturous melodies, skirmish drills, the booming roar of artillery, or the more gay display of cavalry. Since winter has passed every thing seems invested with new life, and I cannot look on these beautiful woods, these mountains, and this noble river, that lay spread out before me without a little longing after the dear old hills of Patrick. But I easily quiet these longings by remembering that the next year will pass off as rapidly as the past one, and ‘Carry me back to old Virginny’…I never enjoyed better health than I now do. Mr. [John Randolph] Chambliss is quite well. He is an excellent young man—beloved by all, and holds an honorable position in his class. If his father is as fine a man as his son, you can’t help from being pleased with him. He is not only correct in his deportment but bears the stamp of the 'Old Virginia gentlemen' in the fullest sense of the term.” Intersecting folds and light scattered staining, otherwise fine condition.
At this point, Stuart was wrapping up his first year at the United States Military Academy at West Point and studying for the general examination to be held in June. Although he got into trouble for fighting somewhat frequently, Stuart had a successful year and finished eighth in his class of 71. The fellow student he mentions, John Randolph Chambliss, Jr., was one year ahead of Stuart and the son of a wealthy Virginia plantation owner—at this moment, John Randolph Chambliss, Sr., was serving alongside J. E. B. Stuart's father as a delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention. The younger Chambliss would later join the Confederate Army and was killed in action during the Second Battle of Deep Bottom in 1864. What is most apparent from this letter is Stuart's deep love of his native Virginia, comparing the landscape of springtime West Point to that of Patrick County, where he was born and raised at Laurel Hill Farm. This is a lengthy and thoughtful letter—particularly eloquent for an 18-year-old cadet—with exceptional content regarding both his life at West Point and his home state of Virginia, where he would take up arms against the Union a decade later.
