che.

Wickham he stationed on the right of the road, Lomax on the left. He
placed two guns in the road, one on the left to rake it at an angle.

He dismounted his men and ordered them to fight as infantry. A reserve
of mounted men were held in his rear.

He sent his aide into Richmond to inquire of its defenses and warn
General Bragg of the sweeping legions. The Commandant at the Confederate
Capital replied that he could hold his trenches. He would call on
Petersburg for reinforcements. He asked Stuart to hold Sheridan back as
long as possible.

On the morning of the eleventh of May, at 6:30, he wrote his dispatch to
Lee:

"Fighting against immense odds of Sheridan. My men and horses are tired,
hungry and jaded, _but all right!_"

It was four o'clock before Sheridan struck Yellow Tavern. With skill and
dash he threw an entire brigade on Stuart's left, broke his line, rolled
it up and captured his two guns. Stuart ordered at once a reserve
squadron to charge the advancing Federals. With desperate courage they
drove them back in a hand-to-hand combat, saber ringing on saber to the
shout and yell of savages.

As the struggling, surging mass of blue riders rolled back in confusion,
Stuart rode into the scene cheering his men. A man in blue, whose horse
had been shot from under him, fired his revolver pointblank at Stuart.
The shot entered his body just above the belt and the magnificent head
with the waving plume drooped on his breast.

Captain Dorsey hurried to his assistance. There were but a handful of
his men between him and the Federal line, The wounded Commander was in
danger of being captured by a sudden dash of reserves. He was lifted off
his horse and he leaned against a tree.

Stuart raised his head.

"Go back now, Dorsey, to your men."

"Not until you're safe, sir."

As the ambulance passed through his broken ranks in the rear, he lifted
himself on his elbow and rallied his men with a brave shout:

"Go back! Go back to your duty, men! And our country will be safe. Go
back! Go back! I'd rather die than be whipped."

The men rallied and rushed to the firing line. They fought so well that
Sheridan lost the way to Richmond and the Capital of the Confederacy was
saved.

The wounded Commander was taken to the home of his brother-in-law,
Dr. Charles Brewer, in Richmond. He had suffered agonies on the rough
journey but bore his pain with grim cheerfulness.

He had sent a swift messenger to his wife.