Customer Reviews

The Cavalry at Gettysburg: A Tactical Study of Mounted Operations during the Civil War's Pivotal Campaign, 9 June-14 July 1863

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This book, authored by Edward Longacre, tells the tale of Union and Confederate cavalry during the Gettysburg campaign--from Brandy Station to Lee's retreat to Virginia. As such, it does a good job of describing this subject. Longacre notes the value of this book (Page 9): ". . .no full length book has ever considered the contributions made by the mounted forces of the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac between 9 June and 14 July 1863."

The book begins with the structure of cavalry forces on each side, noting commanders down to the regimental level. The first full chapter described the Confederate cavalry, led by the flamboyant Jeb Stuart. The second chapter, likewise, explores the Union cavalry and its leadership structure. The key players on each side are noted. Confederate leaders of note: Fitzhugh Lee, Wade Hampton, Rooney Lee (Robert E. Lee's son). On the Union side: John Buford, David Gregg, Judson Kilpatrick (whose nickname was "Kill-Cavalry," given his reckless style). Other interesting figures: George Custer, Elon Farnsworth, Irvin Gregg, Thomas Devin, "Grumble" Jones, John Imboden, and Thomas Rosser.

The action begins at Brandy Station, as the Union cavalry showed greater ability than expected and surprised Stuart's cavalry, indicating that the northern mounted arm had become a force to be reckoned with. Then, the ongoing effort by Union cavalry to penetrate Stuart's screen of the southern infantry moving north to ascertain the Confederate columns' structure and progress(to no great success).

The story of Stuart's circuitous raid to the east, losing contact with Lee's army, is well told. As is John Buford's movement to Gettysburg, and his gutsy decision to take on Confederate infantry that would arrive on July 1st to begin the sanguinary struggle. The role of the mounted forces on both sides on the second and third days is well told, with the high point perhaps being Stuart's cavalry taking on the Union forces on the third day, ultimately unsuccessful.

The book closes with the telling of the role of cavalry on both sides as Lee's army retreated to the Potomac.

In the end, this is a useful depiction of the role of cavalry on both sides during the Gettysburg campaign. On both sides, cavalry played an important role. For those curious about the cavalry's place in this campaign, this would be worth looking at.

Edward Longacre's book, "The Cavalry at Gettysburg" is a thorough, well-written study of the mounted arms of both the Union and Confederate armies during Lee's critical Pennsylvania campaign of June 9 -- July 14, 1863. This campaign culminated in the Battle of Gettysburg. As is well known, Jeb Stuart had embarked on a ride-around of the Union army beginning on June 24. He did not rejoin General Lee until late on July 2, well into the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Mr. Longacre examines Stuart's ride and its impact in detail. But he offers as well a comphrensive account of cavalry operations throughout the campaign. This is a subject that is sometimes overlooked, and it is good for those interested in the history of the Pennsylvania campaign to have the information gathered in one study.

An excellent feature of the book is the background Mr. Longacre gives on cavalry operations and on their development in both armies. Mr. Longacre also spends substantial time on the leaders of both the Confederate and Union cavalries -- during the time of this study Stuart for the South and Pleasanton for the North. He explains why the personal, hands-on dashing activities required in cavalry operations tended to attract flamboyant types of leaders.

Mr. Longacre describes well the different fighting styles of the Southern and Northern mounted arms and show too how the North gradually was able to turn its cavalry into an effective fighting force. He finds that the Union was well on its way to doing so by the Pennsylvania campaign, but he concludes that the Union cavalry still was not quite the equal of the Confederate unit during these summer months of 1863.

Mr. Longacre provides detailed discussions of the important and large-scale cavalry battle at Brandy Station, Virginia at the outset of the Pennsylvania campaign and follows it with accounts of engagements at Aldie and Middleburg as the Confederate infantry advanced. There is a good account of the backround of Stuart's ride-around, with Mr. Longacre less critical of Stuart than many other writers. He examines the battles between Stuart and the Union cavalry, particularly at Hanover, before Stuart finally rejoined General Lee on July 2.

The Union cavalry gets even-handed attention. Mr. Longacre offers excellent accounts of Burford's role in delaying the Confederate advance on the first day of the Battle and the significant fighting of Union General David Gregg against the Stonewall Brigade on the evening of July 2. This fighting greatly weakened the Confederate force which attacked Culp's Hill on the far right of the Union line, perhaps saving it from capture.

Mr Longacre offers a detailed account of the sometimes forgotten fighting at the east cavalry battlefield, some 4 miles east of Gettysburg on July 3. This was an important engagement in its own right and included some of the fiercest fighting of the Battle.

The book concludes with an extended discussion of the role of the cavalries following Lee's retreat from Gettysburg. Stuart in particular played an important role in allowing the Confederate army to escape accross the Potomac and various components of the Union cavalry distinguished themselves in pursuit.

This book is a technical study and presupposes a high level of backround and interest in the military history of the Civil War and of the Battle of Gettysburg. But it tells its story well and carefully. More maps would have been welcome.

The Cavalry at Gettysburg is an interesting study of the cavalry on both sides during the Gettysburg campaign. I'd recommend reading it in conjunction with Lee's Cavalrymen, Longacre's latest book.

Longacre gives a good picture of the various roles of mid-19th century cavalry, compares/contrasts ANV and AOP cavalry, and criticizes the current tactics of mounted assault. As in his later work, he opines that Confederates often didn't like to fight with sabers, and I still wish he would provide more documentary evidence for that. His point regarding the difficulties of poorly armed troopers who could either fight only on foot or only mounted, is well taken.

The description of the campaign itself starts with Brandy Station, goes through Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville, and then follows the various cavalry units as they traveled north. The fighting behind the Union right on July 3 gets a lot of time, as does the desperate rearguard action after the battle.

Longacre generally feels that CS cavalry retained the advantage throughout the campaign, for which he more or less blames Federal leadership. He effectively demolishes the argument that Stuart was not following orders or was "joy-riding" during the march into Pennsylvania, and speaks harshly of the performances of Robertson and Jenkins. He goes on to suggest that Federal tactical flexibility would serve them well in upcoming campaigns.

This is a detailed and useful study, made vivid by the use of a fair number of quotes.

Edward Longacre's _The Cavalry at Gettysburg_ continues to deserve an honored place at the top of the Gettysburg canon, which is saying a lot considering how much has been published on America's most written-about battle. This is one of Longacre's earliest books, but it still ranks as one of his best. The volume is exhaustively researched and well written. Longacre excels in his pithy character sketches of the opposing commanders, and his battle descriptions sometimes approach the poetic. This book sets the Battle of Gettysburg in a wider context, which helps us to better understand both what caused it and its outcome. Finally, Longacre ended up teaching me many things about a subject I thought I already knew a lot about.

Longacre has done a splendid job of researching and presenting a reasonably objective and thorough depiction of the role of the cavalry in the Battle of Gettysburg. The first half of the book discusses all of the key events leading up to cavalry's activities at Gettysburg, including earlier battles. His inclusion of a list of commanding officers broken down to the regimental level is a handy reference aid, and his index is very thorough, so those who are primarily interested in the role of one officer or one regiment can quickly find the portions of the book which relate to that officer/regiment. His detailed footnotes and bibliography are also extremely useful, as are the numerous photographs and battle diagrams. And his entertaining prose takes you right into the action and into the minds of the key officers.

I am a middle school student who had to read a Civil War book for History class. The Cavalry at Gettysburg was an okay book unless you are a history buff. It did give a pretty elaborate picture of each mounted Civil War hero and their march to Pennsylvania and the fight for Gettysburg. The book has a lot of people and they are all explained in the first chapter. The problem is that you have to remember them throughout the whole book. Also there were a lot of words I didn't know and had to look them up numerous times.

My favorite chapter was Gettysburg, 2 July. It is filled with interesting quotes and facts as day two of the Battle of Gettysburg goes on. Mr. Longacre does a pretty good job throughout the whole book but this chapter especially.

Although some pages were a challenge, The Cavalry at Gettysburg had a strong backbone and a lot interesting facts. It was a well-written book and might have been more interesting if I was a Civil War buff. Mr. Longacre has written a swell book that actually took me to the Battle of Gettysburg. It was a good book to read!

One of the great controversies of Gettysburg, aside from pointing the finger at Longstreet, was why did the Confederates go blind through Pennsylvania and of course where was Stuart? Longacre gives a highly readable story of how the supremacy of the Confederate Cavalry crested before Gettysburg as the Union begin to have bolder leaders and more aggressive tactics and better mounts. Starting with Stuarts embarrassment at the shock like attack of Union Cavalry at Brandy Station, Longacre explains the difference evolutions of the Cavalry on each side and in detail you see how the Union became more like the Confederates and less like picket line guards in the past. Excellent story of how Stuart took all his top brigade commanders with him leaving Grumble Jones behind to screen Lee's army and with the little known Albert Jenkins virtually leading reconnaissance for Lee's march through Pennsylvania. To me, the best part of the book is about Stuart's misadventures and Lee's army groping its way almost blind through Pennsylvania running into Buford's cavalry equipped with spencer repeater rifles. Great detail on Stuart's final arrival and desperate attempt to ride behind the Union line to disrupt it during Pickett's charge only to be quashed by Custer's attack stopping Stuart completely. In addition, excellent detail on Farnsworth's suicide charge into Longstreet's right flank after Pickett's charge ordered by "Kilcavalry" Kilpatrick. There is also additional detail on the harassment of Lee's retreat by the Union cavalry and Stuarts tired efforts to hold his ground. Excellent book fills the void left by most all Gettysburg books.

This is a well-written, detailed, and balanced account of cavalry operations by both sides. In introductory "State of the Cavalry" chapters for each army, leaders from brigade level up are introduced along with a brief history of cavalry actions up to this point in the war. The heart of the book starts at Brandy Station and continues through Lee's retreat to Virginia. Descriptions of engagements often delve down to the level of individual companies and squadrons that played a significant role. In addition to the engagements, the book covers strategy, orders and their execution, and other motivating factors. Here, the balance is obvious as leaders on both sides receive praise and criticism, and praise for an individual in one section does not preclude pointing out his failures and weaknesses in another.

My only complaint is not an original one - not enough maps. There are only three, and, as the story switches from one side to the other, it can be a bit difficult to keep in sync with who is where, when.

Overall, this book added another layer to my understanding of the events leading up to and including the battle at Gettysburg. Without any overt prodding from the author, the significance of the cavalry in this campaign comes through. It goes well beyond the usual, "Stuart should have been with Lee..."

Mr. Longacre has written an excellent study of the various battles fought during the Gettysburg Campaign. One of his most interesting arguements is that Gen. Stuart should not be castigated for his movements prior to the battle. His disdain for Generals Pleasonton and Kilpatrick of the Union does certainly make one think.

The great thing about the book is it treats in detail aspects of the campaign not touched on in other Gettysburg books, so the well-read Civil War fan will learn something new. He touches upon almost every important player in both the CSA and USA Cavalry. He also touches upon the roles of Meade and Lee in the planning of the Cavalry movements though I wanted a deeper examination of those roles. That is the only thing I feel that could have been expanded upon.

His attentive scholarship shows up in the footnotes where he has utilized a large number of personal letters to give the common trooper a voice as well. A quick study of the Bibliography shows his depth of research.

If you enjoy reading an excellent military review of a talented historian, I highly recommend the book.

For those interested in Gettysburg, most of the literature focuses on the horrific events that occurred on July 1-3, 1863 at or near Gettysburg Township. This work by Edward Longacre transcends those events and by doing so provides materially more information that is necessary to understand this campaign in its entirety. Starting with the movement's inception at the Battle at Brandy Station on June 9th and culminating with the lost opportunity to bag Lee's army on July 14th at Williamsport / Falling Waters, Longacre provides a detailed description of the mounted operations associated with this extended and most pivotal Civil War campaign.

Both mounted arms performed brilliantly and both failed miserably at different points during the five weeks of Gettysburg. Unlike the infantry who fought a single battle at Gettysburg, the cavalry fought nine major engagements and hundreds of minor ones as they alternately sought to protect and disclose enemy troop movements. These engagements unfold chronologically as Confederate troops move up the Shenandoah Valley, enter Pennsylvania, concentrate at Gettysburg and subsequently retreat into Virginia. Thus, in staccato fashion the author describes the battles of Brandy Station, Aldie, Middleburg, Upperville, Hanover, Hunterstown, Gettysburg, Boonsboro, Fairfield, Williamsport and Falling Waters. The troop movements throughout Pennsylvania were much more extensive than is generally reported with the Confederates reaching the Susquehanna River, north and east or Baltimore!

This was one continuous, unabated fight. Nowhere is it better reported, described or recreated than in this concisely, well written account.