Brandy Station, June 9, 1863
The Opposing Generals: Stuart and Pleasonton
The Battle of Brandy Station was the largest cavalry battle ever fought on
the North American continent. Of the 20,000 soldiers involved, about 17,000 were cavalry. Brandy Station was also the first
battle of the Gettysburg Campagin.
The Confederates had planned for June 9, 1863, to be a day of maneuver rather
than of battle. Two of the army's three infantry corps were near Culpeper, six miles southwest of Brandy Station, poised to
move into the Shenandoah Valley and thence up to Pennsylvania. Major General J.E.B. Stuart, at Brandy Station, was to screen this movement with his 9,500-man cavalry division, while the remaining infantry
corps held the attention of the Union Army at Fredericksburg, 35 miles southeast of Brandy Station.
The Federals knew that Confederate cavalry was around Culpeper, but its intelligence
had not gathered information of the sizeable infantry force behind the horsemen. Army of the Potomac commander, Major General
Joseph Hooker, interpreted the enemy's cavalry presence around Culpeper to be indicative of preparations for a raid of his
army's supply lines. Accordingly, he ordered his Cavalry Corps commander, Brigadier General Alfred Pleasonton, to "break up Stuart's raid in its incipiency."
The Confederates apparently did not expect any harassment from the enemy cavalry.
The day before the important screening mission, the Southern troops conducted a grand review for General Robert E. Lee at Inlet Station, just two miles southwest of Brandy Station. Concurrently, 8,000 Federal cavalry organized into
three divisions, while an additional 3,000 Northern infantry prepared to disrupt the Confederate plans.
Approximately 4:30 a.m. on June 9th, Brigadier General John Buford's column
of 5,500 soldiers splashed across the fog-shrouded Rappahannock River surprising the Confederate pickets at Beverly's Ford.
Nearby Southern horsemen from Brigadier General William "Grumble" Jones' brigade, awakened by the sound of gunfire, "rode
into the fray partially dressed and often riding bareback." They struck Buford's leading brigade, commanded by Colonel Benjamin
F. "Grimes" Davis, near a bend in the Beverly's Ford Road and temporarily checked its progress. Davis was also killed
in the fight ("Grumble" Jones was killed at the Battle of Piedmont on June 5, 1864).
Davis' brigade had been halted just shy of where the Confederate artillery
was camped. Cannoneers swung one or two guns into position and fired down the road at Buford's men, enabling the other pieces
to escape and establish the foundation for the subsequent Confederate line. The artillery unlimbered at the Gee House and
at St. James Church -- structures located on two knolls on either side of the Beverly's Ford Road.
Most of Jones' command rallied to the left of this Confederate artillery line,
while Brigadier General Wade Hampton's brigade formed to the right. The 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry suffered the greatest casualties of any regiment participating in the battle, when it unsuccessfully charged across
a field and into the very muzzles of the guns located at St. James Church.
Realizing that the Southern artillery blocking the direct route to Brandy
Station was a force to be dislodged, Buford determined to anchor his right
on the Hazel River and try to turn the Confederate left. But he found Brigade General W.H.F. "Rooney" Lee's brigade blocking
his advance with some troops on a piece of high ground called Yew Ridge; there were dismounted troopers positioned along a
stone wall in front ("Rooney" Lee is General Robert E. Lee's son). The Federals sustained heavy losses; however, they repulsed
the Confederates and secured the stone wall. Buford's troops, expected a counterassaul, but were amazed at the Confederates' withdrawal.
The Southerners were shifting to meet a new threat, adjusting to their second
surprise of the day. Brigadier General David M. Gregg's Union division of about 2,800 men had orders to cross the Rappahannock
at Kelly's Ford and proceed on roads leading directly into Brandy Station, but discovered his way blocked by Brigadier General
Beverly Robertson's brigade. Gregg, however, realized that there were unguarded roads leading to the battlefield
by a more circuitous route. Following these roads, his lead brigade under Colonel Percy Wyndham arrived in Brandy Station
at about 11 a.m. Between Buford and Stuart was a prominent ridge called Fleetwood Hill. The eminence had been Stuart's
headquarters, but the general was at the front. When Gregg arrived, the only force on Fleetwood was a 6-pounder howitzer,
which had been sent to the rear for want of reliable ammunition. Major Henry B. McClellan of Stuart's staff pressed this gun
into service and sent a desperate plea to his chief for reinforcements. Wyndham, meanwhile, formed his men into line and charged
up the western slope of Fleetwood. As he neared the crest, the lead elements of Jones' brigade, which had just withdrawn from
St. James Church, rode over the crown.
Gregg's next brigade, led by Colonel Judson Kilpatrick, swung around east
of Brandy Station and attacked up the southern end and the eastern slope of Fleetwood Hill, only to discover that their appearance
coincided with the arrival of Hampton's Confederates. A series of confusing charges and countercharges swept back and forth
across the hill. The Confederates finally cleared the hill and captured three guns and inflicted 30 casualties among
the 36 men of the 6th New York Light Artillery, which had attempted to give close-range support to the Federal cavalry
Colonel Alfred Duffie, with a small division, was delayed by two Confederate
regiments in the vicinity of Stevensburg and arrived on the field too late to participate in the action.
While Jones and Hampton withdrew from their initial positions to fight at
Fleetwood Hill, "Rooney" Lee continued to assault Buford. Reinforced by Colonel Thomas Munford, commanding the brigade
of the ailing Fitzhugh Lee (General Robert Lee's nephew), "Rooney" Lee launched a counterattack against Buford. Concurrently,
Pleasonton had called for a general withdrawal. The battle was over.
Despite being surprised by his adversary twice in the same day, Stuart was
able to retain the field. Union losses numbered approximately 900;
Confederate casualties were approximately 500. But the overwhelming superiority that the Confederate cavalry once enjoyed
was gone.
Sources: National Park Service;
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park; Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.
