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Cavalry Corps/Army of the Potomac Civil War Facts
The first organization of the cavalry into one command was made in April, 1863, and Maj. Gen. George Stoneman was placed at its head. It numbered 11,402 men present for duty, and was divided into three commands under Gens. Pleasanton, Buford and Averell. Stoneman's corps made a raid on the Confederate rear during the Chancellorsville Campaign, but, owing to various causes, the movement did not produce the favorable results expected. Hooker, being dissatisfied, relieved Stoneman and put Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasanton in his place.
On June 9, 1863, the corps was engaged at Beverly's Ford, Va., in a battle which was largely a cavalry affair on both sides. From this battle dates the efficiency of the cavalry arm of the service in the war. Particular regiments had often demonstrated their efficiency on previous occasions, but until this battle the cavalry had not shown its ability to act as an independent body. Pleasanton took about 9,000 sabres to Beverly Ford, 1/3 of which, however, were not engaged, Duffie's Division having been detached to hold a position elsewhere. The three divisions were commanded by Gens. Buford, Duffie and Gregg. A proper compliment of horse artillery was attached, and 2 brigades of infantry were also present in support. Casualties at Beverly's Ford, 484 killed and wounded, not including captured or missing.
More hard fighting occurred at Aldie and Middleburg (June 17th and 19th), one of the passes of the mountains which screened Gen. Robert E. Lee's advance into Pennsylvania, the cavalry losing in these two actions 66 killed, 177 wounded, and 161 missing; total, 404. At Gettysburg, the Cavalry Corps was still under Pleasanton's command, with Buford, Gregg and Kilpatrick as division-generals, and numbered 11,000 sabres and 27 guns. Two brigades of horse artillery -- Robertson's and Tidball's, 9 batteries-- were attached to the corps previous to this campaign.
Cavalry fought with cavalry at Gettysburg, the fighting occurring mostly on the extreme right of the Union line. Kilpatrick had a fight, also, on the left, in which Gen. Farnsworth was killed. The casualties in the Cavalry Corps at Gettysburg amounted to 90 killed, 352 wounded, and 199 captured or missing; total, 641, the heaviest loss falling on Custer's Michigan Brigade. Buford's Division had the honor of opening this historic battle, his long skirmish-line of dismounted troopers holding the Confederates at bay until the I Corps arrived on the field. The Cavalry made some brilliant charges during the course of this battle, in which sabre cuts were freely exchanged.
Upon the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac, in April, 1864, Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan was placed in command of the Cavalry Corps. The 3 divisions were commanded by Gens. Torbert, Gregg (D. M.), and Wilson, and contained 32 regiments of cavalry, numbering 12,424, "present for duty, equipped." This does not include the cavalry--1812 in number--attached to the IX Corps; nor the horse artillery which acted in conjunction with the mounted troops. The campaign of 1864 was marked by the hardest fighting and greatest loss of life which had hitherto fallen to the lot of this arm of service. Most of the time it was cavalry fighting cavalry, in large numbers, by brigades and divisions.
As the men fought dismounted and with carbines, the battles closely resembled infantry engagements, and being well supplied with horse artillery there was but little difference in the character of the fighting. Among the more important of these dismounted cavalry battles in Grant's campaign, might be mentioned Todd's Tavern, May 8; Hawes' Shop, May 28; Trevilian Station, June 11; St. Mary's Church, June 24; Dinwiddie Court House, March 31; Five Forks, April 1; and Appomattox, April 9, 1865.
In August, 1864, Sheridan was promoted to the command of the Army of the Shenandoah, and took with him the 1st and 3rd Cavalry Divisions--Merritt's and Wilson's. General Torbert was assigned to the command of the cavalry forces in the Shenandoah, and his 2 divisions were reenforced by Duffie's and Averell's Cavalry Divisions of the Army of West Virginia. The cavalry fighting in the Shenandoah was a serius of brilliant affairs, interspersed with skirmishes, which cost the corps a serious loss of life.
Upon Sheridan's return to Petersburg he brought back with him Devin's and Custer's Divisions, which, added to Crooks' (formerly Gregg's) Division, restored the organization to its original formation, General Merritt being in command of the three divisions. The corps started on the final campaign of 1865 with 37 regiments of cavalry, numbering 13,820 present for duty, or about 11,000 carbines available for action. During the last ten days of the cam-paign--from Five Forks to Appomattox--the corps took a prominent and meritorious part in the operations which culminated in the surrender of Lee's Army. The cavalry were a conspicuous and attractive feature of the Grand Review at Washington, after the close of the war. Soon after that event, most of the regiments were mustered out of service.
Among the heavy losses of the cavalry the following casualties are worthy of note; they indicate clearly the hard fighting done by this arm of the service
It will be observed that over 1/4 of these losses are made up of captured, or missing, men. This was unavoidable, as the cavalry operated almost entirely within the enemy's lines, and without the support of other troops. Repeatedly, they made daring raids, which carried them a long distance from their own army, and in which any small detachment was always liable to be cut off by the vigilant enemy which hovered around the flanks and rear of the raiding column.
The cavalry of the Union Armies, including both Eastern and Western, lost 10, 596 officers and men killed or mortally wounded in action, and about 26,490 wounded who survived.
Major Battles:
Stoneman's Raid
Chancellorsville
Greenwich
Beverly Ford
Aldie; Middle-Burg
Upperville
Hanover
Gettysburg
Monterey
Fairfield
Hagerstown
Williamsport
Boonsborg
Falling Waters
Shepherdstown
Manassas Gap
Kelly's Ford
Brandy Station
Culpeper
Raccoon Ford
White's Ford
Rapidan
James City
White Sulphur Springs
Buckland's Mills
Stevensburg
Mine Run
Averell's Raid
Barnett's Ford
Kilpatrick's Raid
Kautz' Raid
Parker's Store
Todd's Tavern
North Anna
South Anna
Yellow Tavern
Meadow Bridge
Milford Station
Hates' Shop
Hanover Court House
Ashland
Old Church
Cold Harbor
Trevilian Station
St. Mary's Church
White House Landing
Nottoway Court House
Stony Creek
Wilson's Raid
Ream's Station
Staunton Bridge
Moorefield
Luray
White Post
Smithfield
Berryville
Opequon
Woodstock
Waynesboro
New Market
Tom's Brook
Cedar Creek
Hatcher's Run
Newtown
Rood's Hill
Darbytown Road
Bellefield
Sheridan's Raid
Mount Crawford
Dinwiddie Court House
Five Forks
Amelia Springs
Sailor's Creek
Clover Hill
Appomattox
**This list covers only the more important of the numerous battles in which the Cavalry of the Army of the Potomac were engaged. It would be almost impossible to enumerate all the minor actions and affairs in which it participated, as not a day passed but, somewhere, at least, a battalion or regiment was under fire. From Beverly Ford to Appomattox, a "dead cavalryman" could have been seen any day of the year in answer to Hooker's famous query.**
