“Why, we could lick them in a month! Gentlemen always fight better than rabble. A month—why, one battle—”
Corporal Stuart Tarleton (1842-July 1863) was the twin brother of Brent Tarleton and one of Scarlett O'Hara's many beaus, though he was engaged to India Wilkes. He died with his brothers in The Battle of Gettysburg.
Appearance[]
Like all Tarletons, the twins had red hair. Stuart looked identical to his brother Brent , and they both had long legs, being 6'2". They had brown cheeks from playing in the sun.
Personality[]
Both Brent and Stuart were well-mannered, but rambunctious. They pulled many pranks and were energetic and disobedient to their teachers. In their studies, they were both lazy. Both Stuart and Brent were naive in having dreams of glorious battlefields, being excited about the war coming. Later on, they became more realistic and grave about the situation, after losing their brother.
Biography[]
Stuart and his brother Brent were raised at Fairhill plantation with their four sisters and two brothers by their mother, Beatrice Tarleton, a famed horse breeder.
During his childhood, he often visited both Tara and Twelve Oaks. While he got engaged to India Wilkes, she soon bored him and Stuart ignored his fiancé more and more to spend time with Scarlett O'Hara.
By 1861, Brent and Stuart had been expelled from the Universities of Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia. Tom and Boyd had followed them to each university, refusing to be educated by people who wouldn't accept their younger brothers. Both twins were very excited for the war to start and enlisted along with their brothers.
When he found out that Scarlett O'Hara was marrying Charles Hamilton, Stuart threatened to shoot Charles. He realised that Scarlett was no longer an option for him, and he'd have to settle for India.
All things changed when Boyd Tarleton died in Virginia, his body undiscovered. Both twins returned home for furlough in a depressed mood. Stuart's knee was also injured around this time. Brent and Stuart died moments from each other and their brother Tom in The Battle of Gettysburg (1863).
All boys (save Boyd, whose remains were never discovered) were buried at Fairhill. Between the graves of Brent and Stuart was a stone which read: “They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided.”
Trivia[]
- In the film, Stuart's engagement to India Wilkes is not mentioned because of the deletion of Honey Wilkes. While in the book, Honey hates Scarlett because she married Honey's beau Charles and India blames Scarlett for Stuart losing interest in her, in the film Charles is India's beau as Honey is omitted, and so Stuart is left with no fiancé.
- Somehow, Brent achieved a much higher military rank than Stuart.
- It is likely that Stuart knew of his brother's secret engagement to Carreen O'Hara.