The Federal Horseman Show Their Mettle: The Campaign and Battle of Gettysburg

With this publication, the third book of The Campaign and Battle of Gettysburg, Kevin A. Campbell begins his discussion of the battles which occurred during the advance of the Rebel army toward the Mason-Dixon line. To that end, this third book, the first of Volume II in the series, addresses the cavalry engagement which occurred on 9 June 1863 around the small railroad siding known as Brandy Station. Confederate cavalryman James Ewell Brown “JEB” Stuart and his division of vaunted horsemen were camped in the vicinity. On the morning of that day, they were surprised by the sudden advance of Federal cavalry under Yankee general Alfred Pleasonton. For the remainder of the day, the two forces charged and countercharged across the countryside and the slopes of Fleetwood Hill. When it was over the Federals had failed to accomplish their goals of dispersing Stuart’s command. Stuart would be lambasted for being caught off guard by the aggressive Union troopers. For two years, Stuart’s riders had ridden circles around the enemy. But the Federals had regrouped and were now on an even footing with their foe. For the remainder of the Gettysburg Campaign, and for that matter, the war, the Federal cavalry arm would give as good as they got from the Southerners. On many occasions they would outdo their rivals. Never again would the Rebel cavalry ride circles around the Northerners. But the fight at Brandy Station, the first major encounter of the campaign, failed to interrupt Robert E. Lee’s timetable. The following day, the Army of Northern Virginia’s Second Corps, under new corps commander Richard S. Ewell, headed north for the Shenandoah Valley and the army’s eventual rendezvous with the Army of the Potomac at the southern Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg. Read more