Evolution of Cavalry

On March 2, 1833, acting on a measure presented by Richard Johnson, Congress created the United States Regiment of Dragoons. With the creation of this unit, the U.S. Cavalry was born.

(Right)  Fox, William F. Regimental Losses in the American Civil War (1889). Custer's Brigade, or Michigan Cavalry Brigade, suffered the highest casualties of any Union cavalry brigade during the Civil War. A household name because of "Custer's Last Stand," George Armstrong Custer, who graduated last in the encore West Point class of 1861, was an academic failure by most standards, but he was an indisputable genius on the battlefield. Only when Civil War commenced in 1861, was the potential of the young 22 year old Michigander realized. What Custer, had lacked with pen and paper in the classroom setting, he compensated for it with  prowess and mastery of cavalry tactics in battle. One of the Union's youngest generals at age 23, Custer, known for his recurrent antics at West Point, was now well-known  for unleashing punitive cavalry strikes against Confederate forces during his four year combat classroom. Recognized also for his brashness and overtures of rhetoric, the now mature Custer, reinforcing said reputation, never disappointed on the battlefield. When pen met paper at the cessation of hostilities, this time, when it was most noteworthy, it was Custer who graduated first in his Civil War cavalry class of 1865. Custer's Brigade, attached to the Army of the Potomac, had fought in every major battle in the East and  had lost more men in killed and mortally wounded than any other Union cavalry brigade during the conflict. Reason for the high casualties was elementary: Custer fought, and he fought often. The totals listed appear to be misleading, because the numbers include only those cavalrymen who were killed or mortally wounded. Absent were those who died as prisoners of war, died by disease, and died from causes other than battle. The wounded were also not tabulated. Nevertheless, total casualties, including dead and wounded, for Custer's Brigade exceeded 2,000: 1,509 total fatalities (all causes) and more than 500 wounded. See also Michigan Civil War History.

Cavalry were dependent on fast movement so a cavalryman's first priority was care of his mount, because "no horse, no cavalry," stated one Union trooper. Each cavalry regiment had a blacksmith who shod and cared for the animals in camp. While campaigning, a trooper had to tend to the welfare and wellbeing of his own animal. If the steed was disabled, it was easier for a Northern soldier to get a new mount from the herd which usually accompanied the army. Southerners brought their own mounts with them into service and woe be to the man whose steed pulled up lame or was injured. It sometimes meant the trooper became a foot soldier until another mount could be obtained. The armament of a typical cavalryman at Gettysburg included a light steel saber, a pistol and a carbine. By the summer of 1863, breech-loading carbines were standard issue in all Union cavalry regiments. Two regiments, the 5th and 6th Michigan Cavalry, were armed with Spencer Repeating Rifles, a rifle that held a seven-round magazine. The carbine version of this weapon appeared in the Army of the Potomac after Gettysburg and made a great difference in firepower. On the cavalryman's saddle was strapped his baggage which included a shelter tent, blanket, poncho, saddle bags for rations and a canteen. See also Civil War Cavalry Small Arms, Firearms, and Edged Weapons: A Photographic History and  Civil War Horses.

U.S. cavalry regiments were organized as follows: each regiment contained 10 troops (12 after the Civil War), each troop consisting of 100 men, commanded by a Captain, a 1st Lieutenant, a 2nd Lieutenant, and a Supernumerary Lieutenant. In 1863, changes were made to create a more flexible cavalry. The squadron was dropped, along with the supernumerary Lieutenant, and battalions, usually of four troops, were formed. These were handier on the march (shorter columns) and were a better size to detach than a full regiment.

A regiment was commanded by a Colonel, and had a Lieutenant Colonel, 3 Majors, and staff of an Adjutant, a Quartermaster, a Commissary, and a regimental Surgeon and assistant. The noncoms included: one Sergeant-Major, one Quartermaster Sergeant., one Commissary Sergeant, one saddler Sergeant, a chief farrier or blacksmith, and two hospital stewards.

Each troop, which now numbered 82-100 men, had its 1st Sergeant, Quartermaster Sergeant, a Commissary Sergeant, in addition to five Sergeants, eight Corporals, two teamsters, two farriers, one saddler, one waggoner, and two musicians.

The Southern cavalry regiment was organized along the same lines. On paper, it consisted of ten companies or squadrons, each numbering 60 to 80 privates. Each company was officered by a Captain, a 1st and 2nd Lieutenant, and included five Sergeants, four Corporals, a farrier and a blacksmith. The regimental officers were a Colonel, with a Lieutenant Colonel, a Major and an Adjutant. This was the organization on paper; rarely were units up to strength.

In both Confederate and Union armies, the regiments were formed into brigades; brigades into divisions; divisions into corps. A Confederate cavalry division might have up six brigades, while a Union division typically had two or three brigades. The number of regiments in each brigade varied from two to six, depending on the strength of the units. A corps contained two or three divisions.

Whenever possible, horse artillery was attached to the cavalry, and was followed by its own train of ammunition, supply wagons and rolling forage.

Role of the Cavalry

During the Civil War the cavalry reached its zenith, marking the highest position the cavalryman would ever hold in the American military. Between 1861-1865, 272 full regiments of cavalry were raised to preserve the Union, and 137 for the South in its determination to form its own nation. This number does not include the separate battalions nor the independent companies raised.

Traditionally, cavalry was considered the "eyes" of the army, keeping their commander informed of the enemy’s movements. They also screened their own army, covered flanks, disrupted enemy communication and supply lines, and provided a mobile striking force when needed.

Initially, the U.S. government saw the cavalry as extravagant and needless spending, turning away many units that were offered by individual states for service. Northern politicians subscribed to the theory that it took a good two years to train an efficient cavalryman, and thought the rebellious Southerners would be crushed long before any Federal cavalry could take to the field. For this reason, only seven troops of regular cavalry were available for the first battle of Bull Run.

After that, the opinions of the Union high command regarding cavalry altered significantly. The eyewitness accounts of a full regiment of gray-clad horseman pursuing the routed Federals most likely was crucial to the turnaround. Not only did Lt. Col. J. E. B. Stuart's 1st Virginia Cavalry support the Confederates, but also the four-company mounted battalion of Col. Wade Hampton's Legion and several independent companies. However, both sides split their cavalry up, using troops here and there attached to most of the infantry brigades.

By the end of August 1861, thirty-one volunteer cavalry regiments had been raised for the Union Army. When the first year of the Civil War came to a close, the North had eighty-two new regiments of cavalry.

Cavalry Tactics

Generally, troops were maneuvered in columns of fours, which were flexible and easier to deploy. While older army drill books called for deploying into two ranks for a charge, General St. George Cooke's drill book of '62, and Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler's, called for a single rank. Charges were also made in columns of fours, or double columns of fours. The ideal position from which to launch an attack was from the flank.

In many instances troopers fought dismounted, particularly in the latter part of the war when remounts became scarce, and the mounted cavalry charge was looked upon as reckless. Some circumstances which called for dismounting were: to seize and hold ground until infantry arrived, to fill gaps in lines of battle, covering the retreat of infantry, or where the ground was impractical for mounted cavalry.

On the march, cavalry could cover some thirty-five miles in an eight-hour day under good conditions. However, some raids and expeditions pushed man and beast to the limits. During Stuart's raid on Chambersburg in 1862, his command marched eighty miles in twenty-seven hours; in 1864, Wilson's & Kautz's divisions marched 300 miles in ten days. On Morgan's great raid, his troopers were in the saddle for an average of twenty hours a day.

Troopers often slept in their saddles on such long marches, and the mounts would plod along in a somnambulist state. When there were large bodies of cavalry, the took up a great distance of the road. Jack Coggins, author of "Arms and Equipment of the Civil War," estimates distances thusly; "A horse occupies approximately three yards, and there was a distance of about one yard between ranks. A troop of ninety-six men in columns of fours would be ninety-five yards long." Colonel Kidd of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry noted that Sheridan's column of ten thousand troopers stretched for thirteen miles.

At a walk, cavalry could cover four miles in an hour; at a slow trot, six; at a maneuvering trot, eight; at an alternate trot and walk, five; at a maneuvering gallop, twelve; and at a full extended gallop, sixteen.

Veteran troopers learned to travel as light as possible, living off the countryside. This practice not only spared the mount but enabled the troops to cover ground more rapidly.

Although Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest had no formal military training—indeed, he had only six months of formal education of any kind—he seemed to innately grasp battlefield tactics and the use of mounted troops to destabilize the enemy’s rear. Forrest earned the nickname “the wizard of the saddle” for his lightening raids, and his rear-area strikes became part of the basis for modern warfare strategies and tactics. He was among the most feared commanding officers of the Civil War—Union major general William Tecumseh Sherman once thundered, “that devil Forrest must be hunted down and killed if it costs ten thousand lives and bankrupts the federal treasury.” Much of his success was due to his force of will.

The Federal Volunteer cavalrymen were armed with sabers and revolvers. Initially, some carried carbines or rifles. But as the war progressed, the carbine became the standard issued weapon. A light, curved, cavalry saber eventually replaced the heavier, straight, Prussian type saber. Common models of revolvers carried were percussion Army or Navy model, or a Remington.

The Southern cavalryman also carried saber, revolver and carbine, though some carried a rifle or a muzzle-loading shotgun. The Sharps carbine was often preferred due to its advantage of firing a linen cartridge, whereas others required metallic cartridges.

It wasn't uncommon to find a cavalryman sporting two revolvers, and some, like Mosby's men, carried four. In the latter part of the war, some Union regiments were armed with the Henry rifle, an improvement over the Sharps and Spencer, as it fired up to sixteen shots with great accuracy. See also Civil War Weapons, Firearms, and Small Arms.

Some mounted forces used traditional infantry rifles. However, cavalrymen, particularly in the North, were frequently armed with three additional weapons:

• Carbines, with a shorter barrel than a rifle, were less accurate, but easier to handle on horseback. Most carbines were .52- or .56-caliber, single-shot breech-loading weapons. They were manufactured by several different companies, but the most common were the Sharps, the Burnside and the Smith. Late in 1863, the seven-shot Spencer repeating carbine was introduced, but it was rarely deployed. A notable exception was Union Colonel John T. Wilder, who equipped an entire brigade with repeaters (purchasing these himself and intending to deduct payment from the men's wages embarrassed the Government into paying Wilder for the weapons at $35 apiece) in May 1863, the first unit so equipped. His mounted infantry gained fame as the "Lightning Brigade" for their swift movements. One Confederate stated that Wilder's men could "load on Sunday and fire all week." (Confederate forces were able to use captured breechloaders but were unable to duplicate the metallic cartridges needed by the Spencer.)

• Sabers were used more frequently by Northern cavalrymen. They were terror weapons, more useful for instilling fear in their opponents than as practical offensive weapons; Confederate cavalrymen often avoided them simply because they considered sabers to be outmoded, unsuitable for the modern battlefield. One Southern cavalry commander noted that the only times during the war he used a saber was to roast meat over a fire. (There were instances in the war in which Union cavalrymen taunted their opponents to "Pick up your sabers and fight like gentlemen!") Despite Southern attitudes towards such weapons, there were several notable instances where the saber saw much use by both sides, including the Battle of Brandy Station and the cavalry battles on the third day of Gettysburg. The American Pattern of 1860 Light Cavalry Saber was lighter than the typical European saber, the latter being similar to the older U.S. Model 1840 Heavy Dragoon "wrist breaker". The curved blade of the saber was generally sharpened only at the tip because it was used mostly for breaking arms and collarbones of opposing horsemen, and sometimes stabbing, rather than for slashing flesh. (A notable exception to this was the saber of Nathan Bedford Forrest, which was sharpened on both edges.)

• Pistols, which Southern cavalrymen generally preferred over sabers, were usually six-shot revolvers, in .36- or .44-caliber, from Colt or Remington. They were useful only in close fighting since they had little accuracy. It was common for cavalrymen to carry two revolvers, for extra firepower, and John Mosby's troopers often carried four each.

Though the South had enjoyed superiority within the cavalry branch for the first two years of the war, the tables would be turned by 1863. Southern shortages of manpower, horseflesh and arms, along with vast improvements in weaponry for the North, resulted in a formidable foe on the battlefields. See also Civil War Cavalry Small Arms, Firearms, and Edged Weapons: A Photographic History.

In 1865, Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, depleted and starving, was hounded by Federal cavalry as it headed west from Richmond. Federal troopers overran twenty-four Confederate cannon, holding Lee in place until Federal infantry could arrive, thus sealing the fate of the Confederate Army at Appomattox Court House on April 9.

Appomattox must have been a victory for Federal cavalrymen to savor, no longer the laughing stocks of the Army of the Potomac, but one of the most efficient bodies of soldiers on earth.

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