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Civil War Cavalry
Civil War cavalry was
considered the eyes of the army, instructing respective commanders of the enemy’s movements. Cavalry, however, also
screened its own army, covered flanks, disrupted enemy communication and supply lines, and operated as a mobile strike
force.
The role of the cavalry
at the beginning of the Civil War was very limited. Horsemen of both armies were initially limited to patrolling and scouting,
guarding supply trains and railroads, and providing escorts to generals (American Civil War Cavalry Organization). They were only used in battle as shock troops, a tactic which dated back to the Romans. A favorite jibe from the infantry
was: "Did you ever see a dead cavalryman?" The foot soldiers believed the cavalry to be "dandies on horseback" who never saw
much fighting and always had the easy life. Certainly, the dash and spirit of the more flamboyant cavalry leaders provided
the newspapers with many stories of harrowing rides and gallant duels in the saddle. Southern troopers commanded by General
J.E.B. Stuart had the grandest reputations of being the best horsemen, ready to ride on a raid at a moments notice or rush
to the front to do battle just as the tide was beginning to turn. Of course, truth was very different from the romantic descriptions
of newspapermen. Soldiering on horseback was a hard life with plenty of danger. The cavalry's military role had dramatically
changed by 1863 and the armies were making use of their horse soldiers in more combat situations. Cavalry divisions were utilized
by commanders as advance scouts and as a mobile fighting force. These new strategies culminated in the largest cavalry battle
of the war fought on June 9, 1863 at Brandy Station, Virginia. Brandy Station was the opening clash of the
Gettysburg Campaign.
During the Civil War, the
cavalry had five major missions:
1) Reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance
screening.
2) Defensive, delaying actions.
3) Pursuit and harassment of defeated enemy forces.
4) Offensive actions.
5) Long-distance raiding against enemy lines of communications, supply depots, railroads, etc.
Union troopers of General
John Buford's Division opened the Battle of Gettysburg against Confederate infantry of General Heth's Division on July 1st.
The cavalrymen were limited by their numbers and the moderate range of the carbines they carried, but were able to deter the
Confederate skirmishers for a few hours until Union infantry arrived. While the armies did battle around Gettysburg,
cavalry units skirmished in Hunterstown, Pennsylvania,
and on several roads east of town.
Cavalry were dependent on
fast movement so a trooper’s first priority was care of his horse. Each cavalry regiment had a blacksmith who shod and
cared for the animals in camp. On active campaign, a trooper had to look out for his own animal and care for it. If the horse
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 horse pulled up lame or was injured. It sometimes
meant the trooper became a foot soldier until another horse could be obtained. The armament of a typical cavalryman at Gettysburg included a light steel saber, a pistol and a carbine. By
the time of the Battle of Gettysburg, 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.
Confederate cavalrymen traveled
lighter than their Union counterparts and were not usually armed with the more modern carbines. Short, muzzle-loading carbines
were more common in southern regiments, including imports from England.
Some Southern troopers preferred to leave their sabers behind and carried extra pistols instead of sabers, for close work.
Southern arsenals attempted to mass produce breech loading carbines, even making copies of Union carbines made by the Sharps
Rifle Company. Attempts at mass production of the weapon failed and southern cavalrymen relied upon a varied stock of captured
and imported arms.
Cavalry regiments were composed
of ten companies of 100 to 110 troopers each. There were five squadrons in a regiment, a squadron being a combination of two
companies. This was later changed and the regiments were divided into three battalions. Cavalrymen could fight either mounted
or on foot in a staggered skirmish line. Fighting on foot did eliminate some of the unit's firepower as one soldier was designated
as a holder for four horses, including his own, while the other three troopers were detailed to the firing line.
The Army of the Potomac's Cavalry Corps, commanded by General Alfred Pleasonton, was made up of three divisions and
included two brigades of Horse Artillery- batteries with enough horses for drivers and gunners alike. Each division had two
to three brigades which either acted in concert with the remainder of the corps or acted as scouts and escorts when the army
was on the move such as during the Gettysburg Campaign.
The cavalry of the Army of Northern
Virginia, commanded by General J.E.B. Stuart, was organized into one large division, divided into brigades, and accompanied
by six batteries of horse artillery. General Stuart was legendary amongst cavalry leaders for his daring exploits and raids
around the slower moving Union forces. Southern writers composed songs and poems about his exploits. The morale of his troopers
was very high and they fancied themselves as superior horsemen. One even boasted that twenty northern horsemen were no match
for a single Confederate cavalryman. But Stuart's men were thwarted at Gettysburg
by determined Union cavalry regiments which were better armed and led by experienced officers who had learned some of their
tactics from the foe. Cavalry not only opened the battle, but closed it in a fierce contest east of Gettysburg. In a decisive showdown on July 3rd, Union General David Gregg's Cavalry Division
thwarted a drive on the Union right flank by General J.E.B. Stuart's Cavalry. The battle was fought dismounted until a last
desperate charge to break through the Union positions was beaten back by General Custer's Michigan Brigade. From Gettysburg on, cavalry would never be the same.
Sources: Edward G. Longacre, The Cavalry At Gettysburg, Fairleigh Dickinson
University Press, Rutherford, 1986; John S. Mosby, Stuart's Cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign, Moffat, Yard & Company,
New York, 1908; David F. Riggs, East of Gettysburg, Custer vs. Stuart, Old Army Press, F. Collins, CO, 1970;
Mark Nesbitt, 35 Days To Gettysburg, The Campaign Diaries of Two American Enemies, Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA, 1992;
Robert F. O'Neill, Jr., The Cavalry Battles of Aldie, Middleburg, & Upperville- Small But Important Riots, June 10-27,
1863, H.E. Howard Inc., Lynchburg, VA, 1993; Heros von Borcke, The Great Cavalry Battle of Brandy Station, Palaemon Press
Ltd., Winston-Salem, NC, 1976.
Try our internal search engine, type, for examples: Cavalry, Cavalry
Engagement, Cavalry Charge, Cavalry Experience, Cavalry Battle, Gettysburg Cavalry, etc.
Recommended
Reading: Nathan Bedford Forrest: In Search
of the Enigma (Hardcover: 528 pages). Description: Nathan Bedford Forrest’s astounding military abilities, passionate temperament, and tactical ingenuity
on the battlefield have earned the respect of Civil War scholars and military leaders alike. He was a man who stirred the
most extreme emotions among his followers and his enemies, and his name continues to inspire controversy. In this comprehensive
biography, Forrest is properly illuminated as the brilliant battlefield tactician--and the only Confederate cavalry leader feared by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Historians Eddy W. Davison
and Daniel Foxx offer a detailed explanation of the Fort Pillow
"Massacre" unraveling the facts to prove that it was not indeed a massacre. The book also discusses Forrest’s role in
the Ku Klux Klan and how he came to be its first grand wizard. Continued below...
Dispelling
several myths, this is a study of the complete Forrest, including his rise as a self-made millionaire in Memphis,
his remarkable success leading the Seventh Tennessee Cavalry, and his life following the Civil War. Although the book is filled
with vivid battle narratives, it goes beyond Forrest’s military life to examine other aspects of this enigmatic leader—his
role as husband and father, for example, and his dramatic call for full citizenship for Black Southerners. Edwin C. Bearss, historian emeritus, National Park Service, states: "Recommended as must reading
for those who want to know Forrest and his way of war."
Recommended
Reading: The Cavalry at Gettysburg: A Tactical Study of Mounted Operations during the Civil War's Pivotal Campaign,
9 June-14 July 1863. Description: "For cavalry and/or Gettysburg
enthusiasts, this book is a must; for other Civil War buffs, it possesses the qualities sought by students of the conflict.
. . . [It] bristles with analysis, details, judgments, personality profiles, and evaluations and combat descriptions, even
down to the squadron and company levels. The mounted operations of the campaign from organizational, strategic, and tactical
viewpoints are examined thoroughly. The author's graphic recountings of the Virginia
fights at Brandy Station, Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville, the Pennsylvania encounters at Hanover, Hunterstown, Gettysburg,
and Fairfield, and finally the retreat to Virginia, are the finest this reviewer has read under a single cover.
Continued below...
For those who
enjoy the thunder of hoofbeats, the clang of sabers, and the crack of pistols and carbines, this book has all of it. Generals
and privates share the pages, as the mounted opponents parry and thrust across hundreds of miles of territory from June 9
to July 14, 1863."-Civil War Times Illustrated (Civil War Times Illustrated).
Recommended
Reading: Plenty of Blame to Go Around: Jeb Stuart's Controversial Ride to Gettysburg (Hardcover). Description: In June 1863, the Gettysburg Campaign
is in its opening hours. Harness jingles and hoofs pound as Confederate cavalryman James Ewell Brown (JEB) Stuart leads his
three brigades of veteran troopers on a ride that triggers one of the Civil War's most bitter and enduring controversies.
Instead of finding glory and victory-two objectives with which he was intimately familiar-Stuart reaped stinging criticism
and substantial blame for one of the Confederacy's most stunning and unexpected battlefield defeats. In Plenty of Blame to
Go Around: Jeb Stuart's Controversial Ride to Gettysburg,
Eric J. Wittenberg and J. David Petruzzi objectively investigate the role Stuart's horsemen played in the disastrous campaign.
It is the first book ever written on this important and endlessly fascinating subject. Continued below…
Stuart left
Virginia
under acting on General Robert E. Lee's discretionary orders to advance into Maryland and
Pennsylvania, where he was to screen Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell's
marching infantry corps and report on enemy activity. The mission jumped off its tracks from virtually the moment it began
when one unexpected event after another unfolded across Stuart's path. For days, neither Lee nor Stuart had any idea where
the other was, and the enemy blocked the horseman's direct route back to the Confederate army, which was advancing nearly
blind north into Pennsylvania. By the time Stuart reached
Lee on the afternoon of July 2, the armies had unexpectedly collided at Gettysburg,
the second day's fighting was underway, and one of the campaign's greatest controversies was born. Did the plumed cavalier
disobey Lee's orders by stripping the army of its "eyes and ears?" Was Stuart to blame for the unexpected combat the broke
out at Gettysburg on July 1? Authors Wittenberg and Petruzzi, widely recognized for their study and expertise of Civil War cavalry
operations, have drawn upon a massive array of primary sources, many heretofore untapped, to fully explore Stuart's ride,
its consequences, and the intense debate among participants shortly after the battle, through early post-war commentators,
and among modern scholars. The result is a richly detailed study jammed with incisive tactical commentary, new perspectives
on the strategic role of the Southern cavalry, and fresh insights on every horse engagement, large and small, fought during
the campaign. About the author: Eric J. Wittenberg has written widely on Civil War cavalry operations. His books include Glory
Enough for All (2002), The Union Cavalry Comes of Age (2003), and The Battle of Monroe's Crossroads and the Civil War's Final
Campaign (2005). He lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Recommended
Reading: Brandy Station, Virginia,
June 9, 1863: The Largest Cavalry Battle of the Civil War (Hardcover). Description: The winter of 1862-1863 found Robert Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and Ambrose Burnside’s
Army of the Potomac at a standoff along the Rappahannock River
in Virginia. In December 1862, outnumbered Confederate forces
had dealt the Union army a handy defeat in the Battle of Fredericksburg. A demoralized Union army was waiting for spring and
revitalization. The latter came in late January 1863 in the form of Major General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker. Relieving
the disgraced and outmatched Burnside, Hooker reorganized his troops, establishing regular drills, procuring adequate rations
and instituting company colors, thereby giving his soldiers back their fighting spirit. Lee, also with his eye on the spring
campaign, concentrated on maintaining his strength and fortifications while struggling with the ever-increasing problem of
adequate supplies. Continued below…
As the spring
campaign--and Hooker’s new fighting approach--began, cavalry units from both sides took on an increased importance.
This culminated in the largest cavalry battle of the war, fought near Brandy Station, Virginia on June 9, 1863. Compiled from various contemporary
sources, this volume details the contributions of cavalry units during the spring campaign of 1863. Although the work discusses
early encounters such as the Battle of Chancellorsville, the main focus is the Battle of Brandy Station, which marked the
opening of the Gettysburg campaign and Lee’s last offensive
into the North. Here, forces commanded by J.E.B. Stuart and Alfred Pleasanton fought a battle which ranged over 70 square
miles but left no decisive victor. At the end of the day, Confederate troops were still in possession of the territory and
counted fewer casualties, yet Union forces had definitely taken the offensive. While historians still debate the significance
of the battle, many now view it as a harbinger of change, signifying the beginning of dominance of Union horse soldiers and
the corresponding decline of Stuart’s Confederate command. Appendices contain information on individual units with recorded
casualties and a list of West Pointers who took part in the battle. Photographs and an index are also included.
Recommended
Reading: Battle Tactics of the Civil War (Yale Nota Bene) (Yale
University Press). Description: Was the Civil War really the birthplace
of modern battlefield tactics? Paddy Griffith argues that despite the use of new weapons and of trench warfare techniques,
the Civil War was in reality the last Napoleonic-style war. Rich in description and analysis, this is a book of interest both
to military historians and to Civil War buffs. "Belongs on the shelf of every historian, Civil War buff, and military tactician."
-- Maj. James T. Currie, Army. "Provides a fresh and provocative appraisal of the [Civil] War. . . . An essential read for
anyone interested in the subject." -- Military History Illustrated. Continued below...
About the Author:
Paddy Griffith, formerly a senior lecturer in war studies at the Royal
Military Academy at Sandhurst, England, is the author of several
other books on military subjects, including Battle Tactics of the Western Front: The British Army's Art of Attack, published
by Yale University Press.
Recommended
Reading: Civil War Cavalry & Artillery Sabers (Swords) (Hardcover). Description: The ultimate guide to sabers of the Civil War. This huge resource is easily the
most important sword book written in decades, and is lavishly illustrated with 1,400 photographs, 60 of them in color. An
important extra feature is that it also includes all sabers from the prewar period, right back to 1833. Every make and every
known variation is covered with full history, tables and illustrations. Photographs include hundreds of close-ups showing
the small features that tell one saber apart from the others. A truly groundbreaking work. Several photos not seen. Each photo
is accompanied by a detailed description.
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