The Second Cavalry Division of the Army of the Potomac in the Gettysburg Campaign (Classic Reprint) PDF Download

Author: David McMurtie Gregg
Publisher: Forgotten Books
ISBN: 9780364623473
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Book Description
Excerpt from The Second Cavalry Division of the Army of the Potomac in the Gettysburg Campaign First, because the war would be of such short duration, that it would be ended before cavalry could be properly organized, equipped and drilled. Second, that the expense attending its organization and maintenance would not justify its employment. Lastly, that the character of the country in which war would be waged was such that mounted troops could not be successfully employed. The disaster at Bull Run convinced our governing authorities that the war was not to be ended in sixty days. It was determined to raise a great army in which the different branches would be represented in proper proportions. Cavalry regiments of young, ardent patriots, well mounted, well equipped and drilled, were put in the field, and were ready for the performance of the proper duties of that arm. But another hindrance arose, and one that long continued, and that was its misuse, which resulted mainly from the lack of proper corps organization. In the first and second years of the war there would be found here and there temporary brigades, but too often regiments were attached to army corps and broken up to serve at division and brigade headquarters. Instead of conserving its strength, it was wasted on useless details for duty that might well have been omitted, or have been performed by another arm of the service. This policy differed from that pursued by the enemy. Its cavalry, composed of the best class of the young manhood of the South, who were accustomed to the saddle and the use of fire arms, under the leadership of such able soldiers as Stuart, Hampton and Lee, was kept well in hand for large undertakings, and rode about very much at will, inflicting much damage upon our lines of communication and capturing or destroying material and supplies. Notwithstanding the disadvantage mentioned, in the Peninsular campaign and in other fields occupied by the Army of the Potomac in 1862, its cavalry did creditable and in many instances distinguished service. In 1863 it entered upon a career of distinction that placed it abreast with the other arms of service. In February of that year the cavalry corps was organized under the command of Brig.-General George Stoneman. The corps was composed of three divisions, the regular reserve brigade and artillery. The Regular Brigade was commanded by Brig.-General John Buford; the 1st Division by Brig.-General Alfred Pleasanton; the 2d Division by Brig.-General William W. Averell; the 3d Division by Brig.-General David McM. Gregg. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.