The unveiling and rededication of the portrait of Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, CSA, on the Wall of Honor of the Patrick County Veterans’ Memorial Building will be held at 10 a.m. on May 12.
The date happens to be the 152nd anniversary of Gen. Stuart’s death on May 12, 1864, after he was wounded on May 11 at the Battle of Yellow Tavern near Richmond.
This special pastel portrait was painted by Jeb’s cousin in 1889 at the request of Jeb’s wife, Flora, on the 25th anniversary of his death, according to a news release from the J.E.B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust.
The portrait has been hung and stored in various places throughout the county and was eventually mounted on the wall of the Patrick County Courthouse in 1972. That ceremony was attended by J.E.B. Stuart IV and other family members.
After the portrait’s removal from the courthouse in 2015, the Patrick County Board of Supervisors voted to restore the painting and hang it in the administration building’s “Wall of Honor,” which memorializes Patrick’s war heroes through the decades.
County and town officials, along with Stuart Birthplace Trust members, will be present for the rededication. A special guest and J.E.B. Stuart impersonator and Civil War reenactor, Wayne Jones, will be one of the speakers for the occasion.
To contact the J.E.B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust, call 276-251-1833 or write to laurelhill@jebstuart.org.
