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Category Archives: Cavalry
Sheridan and the Franco-Prussian War
150 years ago this month, the Franco-Prussian War broke out. By early September the Prussian/German forces had smashed two French armies, captured Emperor Napoleon III, and were marching to Paris to lay siege to the city. When the war ended … Continue reading
Gettysburg Off the Beaten Path: The First Shot Marker
Part of a series. On the morning of July 1, 1863, the men of Maj. Gen. Henry Heth’s division strode confidently toward the town of Gettysburg. Heth was a recent addition to the Army of Northern Virginia, having served at … Continue reading
Gettysburg Sunday: Cavalry After Church
The last full week of June 1863 had been a stressful time of uncertainty for civilians in southern Pennsylvania, but for the citizens of one little town, safety and confidence seemed restored as Federal cavalry arrived on the warm summer … Continue reading
Posted in Cavalry, Civilian
Tagged Cavalry at Gettysburg, Civilian, Gettysburg, Gettysburg Campaign, gettysburg civilian
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Private McAlpine’s Horse
My own twice-great granddaddy 43-year-old David Jackson McAlpine left Jackson, Tennessee, in October 1861, for a $100 bounty. He probably needed the money. He and Miss Eliza Wells–married on Christmas Eve in 1839–had sixteen children at the time and one … Continue reading
Fall of Tallahassee
Horses’ hooves could be heard pounding the dirt roads outside of town accompanied by the dust clouds associated with it. Brigadier General Edward McCook and his five staffers came trotting in Tallahassee, Florida, the capital of the state. The next … Continue reading
Posted in Cavalry, Civil War Events, Leadership--Federal, Memory
Tagged 1865, 2nd Indiana Cavalry, 7th Kentucky Cavalry, Edward McCook, Florida, Sam Jones, Tallahassee
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The Ends of the War in Rectortown
I’ve come to Rectortown, Virginia, looking for one end of the war, but I’ve unexpectedly found several. (The anniversary of one of them is today, April 21, as it happened.) Thick puffs of clouds that look like smoky cotton balls … Continue reading
Deep South Die Hards vs. James Wilson
1865 saw the Union launch a series of offensives meant to destroy the Confederacy’s last field armies and destroy its remaining industrial infrastructure. Among the offensives was James H. Wilson’s cavalry raid. It was the grandest of the Civil War. … Continue reading
Book Review: Custer’s Gray Rival
Biographies abound of the Confederacy’s more well-known cavalry officers, especially J. E. B. Stuart and Nathan Bedford Forrest. But similar works detailing the lives of the next tier of Confederate cavaliers are less easy to find. Sheridan R. Barringer’s Custer’s Gray … Continue reading
“Ms. Yulee…asked me if I could conceal a very valuable trunk…”
On the night of April 14, 1865 in Greensboro, North Carolina, Confederate Captain Micajah H. Clark with assistance packed into ambulances and wagons Confederate Government archives, baggage of Confederate officials, and $35,000 in currency. Their goal was to secrete these … Continue reading
Kelly’s Ford: Standing Where It Happened
“Mom, I’ve waited about 13 years to come here,” I said in an undertone as we looked at Kelly’s Ford on the Rappahannock River. The river ran low on that August day (just last week), and – though rivers change … Continue reading
Posted in Battles, Cavalry
Tagged Battle of Kelly's Ford, cavalry, Fitz Lee, John Pelham, Thomas W. Colley, Union Cavalry, William Averell
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