(October 23, 1828–June 6, 1862)

Impetuous and disdaining discipline, the gallant Turner Ashby was one of the most talented Confederate cavalry leaders of the Civil War. He rendered exemplary service throughout the famous Shenandoah campaign, only to die in a minor skirmish.

Turner Ashby was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, on October 23, 1828, the son of a prosperous planter. He matured into a quiet, unobtrusive individual, possessing distinctly piercing black eyes and a flowing black beard. Ashby was also a first-class horseman and, naturally, drawn to the mounted arm. When abolitionist John Brown staged his famous raid upon the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry in October 1859, Ashby, a strident Southerner, raised a volunteer cavalry company to help suppress it. Brown’s insurrection was put down before Ashby’s men arrived, but they subsequently performed picket duty in Charles Town, West Virginia, during Brown’s trial and execution. When the Civil War erupted in April 1861, Ashby helped originate a plan to seize Harpers Ferry for the South, although this was thwarted when the Union garrison burned it to the ground. In June 1861, his brother Richard Ashby was subsequently killed in a skirmish with soldiers of the 11th Indiana Regiment under Col. Lew Wallace. Having closely examined the corpse, Ashby became convinced that his brother had been bayoneted while trying to surrender. Thereafter, he nursed a growing hatred for Yankees and grim determination for revenge. Eventually, his energetic service came to the attention of Col. Thomas J. Jackson, the legendary “Stonewall” Jackson, who continually employed Ashby’s men as cavalry scouts and screens. Jackson ultimately prevailed upon Gen. Joseph E. Johnston to commission Ashby a lieutenant colonel of the Seventh Virginia Cavalry, which was accomplished on July 23, 1861.

In short order, Ashby became renowned as one of the South’s most daring cavalry leaders.

On several occasions he disguised himself as a horse doctor, rode for miles behind Union lines, and carefully noted enemy troop dispositions. He was also employed to protect the lower Shenandoah Valley from Union incursions and performed useful service by destroying railroad tracks between Harpers Ferry and Martindale. In March 1862, Ashby advanced to colonel of the Seventh Virginia, which ballooned in size to 27 companies—around three times the size of the average Confederate cavalry unit. He was also entrusted with raising the first company of Confederate horse artillery. Such a large force proved impossible for one man to train and discipline properly, and Ashby’s men acquired a poor reputation for battlefield performance. Such lax behavior outraged the spit-and-polish Jackson, who at one point broke up the Seventh and distributed them among other units. Ashby strongly protested this move, stormed into his superior’s tent, and threatened to resign immediately. Jackson, fearful of losing his talented cavalier, relented, but only on the condition that Ashby properly train and instruct his men. He agreed and was promoted to brigadier general on May 23, 1862. In this capacity he functioned capably throughout Jackson’s famous campaign in the Shenandoah Valley.

Ashby may have discounted military discipline, but he and his men were full of fight. For several months they successfully skirmished with Union cavalry and outposts, invariably prevailing against superior numbers. However, Gen. Ashby committed two conspicuous errors. The first occurred on May 23, 1862, when he reported to Jackson that Kernstown was occupied by a handful of infantry companies. On the basis of this faulty intelligence, Jackson felt encouraged to move up and attack—and ran headlong into an entire division commanded by Gen. James Shields! The ensuing repulse turned out to be the only defeat of Jackson’s illustrious military career. Ashby’s second blunder transpired in the wake of Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks’s hurried retreat from Winchester on May 25, 1862. Ashby was ordered north to pursue and possibly cut off Banks’s retreat, but he failed. Apparently, his men were more interested in plundering the supply wagons they captured, so the federal troops escaped intact.

At length Jackson began an orderly withdrawal from the Shenandoah Valley in the direction of Port Republic. Ashby provided the rear guard, and he constantly thwarted the advance of Gen. John C. Frémont’s troops. On June 6, 1862, a Union cavalry charge upon Ashby was also repulsed at Chestnut Ridge near Harrisonburg. However, the enemy then brought up infantry reserves in support. Ashby did likewise, and a heavy skirmish developed. Seeking to inspire his men, the general dismounted and led a charge on foot, shouting, “Forward, my brave men!” Ashby was then suddenly shot through the heart and killed. Jackson, who valued the services of his gallant aide, regretted his demise. “As a partisan officer I never knew his superior,” he wrote. “His daring was proverbial; his powers of endurance almost incredible; his tone of character heroic; and his sagacity almost intuitive in divining the purposes and movements of the enemy.” Ashby’s remains were originally interred at the University of Virginia cemetery, but in 1866 he was finally laid to rest with his commanding officer at the Jackson Cemetery in Winchester. Despite his complete disregard for drill and discipline, Ashby was revered by the men under his command, who referred to him as the “White Knight of the Valley.” He fell before his full potential as an officer could be realized.

Bibliography

Anderson, Paul C. “The Sword of Turner Ashby and the Images and Ideals of the Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Mississippi, 1998; Ashby, Thomas A. Life of Turner Ashby. New York: Neale, 1919; Bushong, Milard K. General Turner Ashby and Stonewall’s Valley Campaign. Verona, VA: McClure, 1980; Cochran, Darrel. “First of the Cavaliers: General Turner Ashby’s Brief Glory.” Civil War Times Illustrated 25, no. 10 (1987): 22–28; Cunningham, Frank. Knight of the Confederacy: General Turner Ashby. San Antonio, TX: Naylor, 1960; Ecelbarger, Gary L. We Are in for It! The First Battle of Kernstown. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane, 1997; Kerwood, John R. “His Daring Was Proverbial.” Civil War Times Illustrated 7, no. 5 (1968): 18–30; O’Toole, John T. “The Revenge of Turner Ashby.” Civil War 58 (August 1996): 40–44; Patterson, Richard. “Schemes and Treachery.” Civil War Times Illustrated 28, no. 2 (1989): 38–45.