Brandy Station: The Largest Cavalry Battle Of The American Civil War | History Of Warfare | Timeline

this channel is part of the history hit Network [Music] [Applause] the Thunder of hooves which shook the peaceful Virginia Air on the morning of June 9 1863 was the herald of the largest Cavalry battle ever fought on American soil by evening the untarnished refutation of the Confederate Cavalry under Jeb Stewart had begun to fade a little but even as the rebel star began to wane a new name had begun its meteoric rise to fame a name that would forever Grace America's military Hall of Fame George Armstrong Custer [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] on the 5th of June 1863 General Jeb Stewart held a grand review of the Cavalry of the army of Northern Virginia ten thousand hard-bitten Veterans of the Confederacy paraded past the salutary base and performed a number of exercises to the accompaniment of cannon fire and cheering from the assembled crowds in the evening a grand ball was held these men had enjoyed an uninterrupted series of Victories over their Yankee counterpart stretching back unbroken to 1861. and they were justifiably proud of their own record and the glittering reputation of their illustrious Commander J.E.B Stewart better known to history as Jeb this was to be the finest Hour for his command the absolute Zenith of Southern confidence and pride in southern arms foreign [Music] the glittering review of the fifth however was not graced by the revered figure of Robert E Lee a man idolized and worshiped by his men Lee had been engaged Elsewhere on important business undeterred Stewart organized a second Grand review for the sole benefit of the great General on the 8th of June the whole glittering spectacle was once again followed by another ball this conspicuous excess caused a few eyebrows to be raised especially among those who began to wander as Stewart's eyes might have been diverted from his real Purpose By The seductive Allure the Pomp and Splendor of Marshall display not for nothing was the phrase pride comes before a fall banded around the army these dark mutterings were loud enough to reach even the ears of major Heros Von Bork the Inspector General of the Rebel cavalry they grumbled at the useless waste of energy especially that of the horses furthermore they complained that the command was being worried out by a military foppery and display been called the finest light Cavalry in the world appeared to be in danger of overconfidence cameraman by their very nature are filled with Dash Drive the idea of being very impressive to the ladies and so forth so you said right through history there have been examples of Cavalry which I was put getting out of control maybe on and part of that would be due to the sublime self-confidence I can say that as a person who knows many modern Calvary officers here at Santos for example there are of a type examples you've got the Scots Grays of course at Waterloo not stopping at their objective but charging straight on for the enemy guns and thereby being massacred you have very much the same thing happening of course in balaclava under different circumstances Cavalry again carrying out an impossible order but with a quick Dash Panache bravado but it's an effect I love a camera particularly like the heavier ones seem to be rather more as I would say careful about if you love history then you will love history hit our extensive library of documentary features everything from the ancient origins of our earliest ancestors to the daring mission to sink the bismar history hit has hundreds of exclusive documentaries with unrivaled access to the world's best historians we're committed to Bringing history fans award-winning documentaries and podcasts that you cannot find anywhere else sign up now for a free trial and timeline fans get 50 off their first three months just be sure to use the code timeline at checkout [Music] that's covering one of all countries of all ages like cameraman might be slightly shall we say Devil May care but it is strange that history has got quite a few examples and indeed the Gettysburg campaign has one too of Cavalry going out on great what you might call military parades really rather than anything totally useful for the war there's a case of Jonathan's gone Chevrolet or great horse ride in the 14th century when he went right through the center of France for about four weeks and went back came back to where it started off with having fought no battle having burnt no villagers having done nothing at all except possibly impress the local people or the Splendor of the Cavalry and we may well find Jeb Stewart before this uh as a result of the battle of Brandon station being tempted to do something of the same sort in 1863. there was indeed an element of conspicuous display on the part of the Confederates which in military terms could probably be justified by the Boost it gave to the morale of the men the ten thousand Horsemen gathered together by Stewart was to be the largest ever assembled by the Confederacy and they undoubtedly made an imposing presence but the ostentesis show of June 5th did not go unmist by the federal intelligence Network John Buford the commander of the U.S first Cavalry division only 12 miles away at Warrington Junction filed this fairly accurate report on June 5th all of the available Cavalry of the Confederacy is in Culpepper County Stuart the two Lees Robertson Jenkins and Jones are all there the Confederate Cavalry Force which so concerned Buford had won it Spurs the hard way in two years of battle with the numerically stronger and even better supplied enemy that's not to say however that Stewart's men were without fault they were hard Fighters for sure but they were also highly undisciplined with a large streak of arrogance which showed from the top down and this could lead to moments of extreme discomfort for the Confederate High command their lack of disciplines Frank chiefly from the fact that they were all volunteers who supplied their own horses they were there because they believed in their cause and because they wanted to be the superior attitude of the Confederate Cavalry with regard to their own merits is best summed up by one who was there George Baylor fought throughout the war in the ranks of the 12th Virginia cavalry although he was of English extraction by 1863 Baylor was nonetheless as loyal a rebel Soldier as any [Music] he described in his Memoirs the reaction of The Proud Rebel cavalrymen to the arrival of a rule-bound brigadier general [Music] morning just part of the Culpepper five I was surprised at the number of absentees during roll call and Company B I frankly disclose the fact that some of these boys had gone home some to get fresh horses others to get winter clothing and I assured him that they would be back in a few days the general then said you think they'll ever come back to which I replied indignantly I know that they will come back they are gentlemen Wales at the Downey General I will have some of these gentlemen shot I mounted and returned to Camp consoling myself with the thought that if any of those gentlemen were shot then a general not so much a gentleman will be shot also the Confederate Army was of course a rebel Army uh and rebel arm is Right Through History have had a tendency towards indiscipline they're not I must say in every single case but for good examples there's a period of the Jacobite Revolt in the 45 when although the rebel Scots Highlanders did not actually loot much in their advance to Derby yet they tended to go home when they felt things were going a bit adverse for the cause and the same thing that happened the previous Century it said more when Lord favisham suddenly finds he's facing monmouth's Army which had been something like 6 000 only two weeks before he's only got four thousand facing him at the Battle of sejamore because again they've gone home other examples that spring to mind of course is Washington's continental army which in its early days was highly indisciplined indeed there were a number of major mutinies and officer mutineers of that not the rank and file refusing to Soldier anymore was that effect Garibaldi had a great deal of travel in Italy with many aspects many sections of his red shirts they were free man men fighting for a cause and they believe therefore their interpretation of their was very much up to them and that tends to be a feature of Rebel armies and of course there are other examples of very highly disciplined Rebel troops can't imagine anything more disciplined than Oliver cromwell's Ironside heavy caressier Cavalry in the English Civil War they would rally after the charge ready to fight again and were way ahead in terms of professionalism than Prince Rupert's famous dashing Cavaliers who who never knew when to stop but would disappear off the battlefield after a local success to go and loot the baggage and things of that nature so you have to be careful careful here it goes either way so in general terms it is true to say that Cavalry of a rebel Army and indeed the Infantry of a rebel Army for that matter to have a tendency to be indisciplined despite this lack of Polish the Confederate Cavalry had proved more than a match for the union Horsemen in every Battlefield so far in the war they looked upon the Yankees with undisguised scorn and considered themselves so superior to the federal Cavalry that it was almost beneath contempt a mounted joke to be ridiculed and made fun of at every turn Baylor summed up the superior attitude of the rebels in his Memoirs when he mischievously related the confusion caused in the mind of the U.S Brigadier General White discomforted by the presence of a much smaller force of Rebel Cavalry at Winchester in 1862. the Yankee pickets and outpost with daily attack and communication between Winchester and Harper's very broken General white unable to keep the way open became so much alarmed that after spark in many of his larger guns and destroying a large amount of his his ammunition but he has to evacuated Winchester retiring on Harper's Ferry now actually threatening him were about 100 men of our company but this is how he described Us in his letter to General halek Martinsburg West Virginia September 6 1862. General I have the honor to report that in accordance with the telegraphic order of Major General haddock the troops under Mark command evacuated the fortifications near Winchester Virginia Fallen back on Harpers Ferry without opposition Owen to the uh authenticated presence of three or four brigades of the enemy in the valley it was impracticable to bring all the government properly accumulated at the post poor wife he magnified one company into three brigades and in his great hate to get away his imagination created intentions and embodied things and known to him to a large extent Baylor's mock sympathy was not altogether misplaced the federal Cavalry had indeed performed very poorly so far in the war they were easily spooked and quick to retreat numerous shake-ups changes and rearrangements had all failed to produce results on the eve of the battle of Brandy Station the latest set of changes had just taken place with Alfred Pleasanton assuming command of the federal Cavalry Corps of the army of the Potomac a force of some 11 000 men whom he found in a very sorry state in taking this command I cannot do myself such an injustice as to remain silent as to the unsatisfactory condition in which I find this core I shall use every exertion to bring it to a state of efficiency at the earliest possible moment so dismal was the performance of the federal Cavalry that the favorite rhetorical question asked by the long-suffering infantryman had become whoever saw a dead cavalrymen this hoary Old Line had even been uttered by generals of repute hooker included it was less than complementary towards the Cavalry on in his reply to pleasanton's initial dismal report on the Cavalry Corps he replied the general desires that you will spare no labor to place the Cavalry in a high state of efficiency at the earliest practicable moment he cannot but feel that the force of this arm has been greatly impaired from water system organization and judicious employment if the overall performance of the Cavalry core was less than outstanding it was not for want of good material properly LED and organized the men were undoubtedly capable of great feats of Valor in their ranks with some very brave and courageous young soldiers among them the young George Armstrong Custer who had become an American Legend in the war but even his youthful vigor and unflinching bravery were tinged by naivete in the early years of the war the inexperienced young men who composed the bulk of the federal Cavalry Corps were always likely to be out fought by their proud Foe for whom the horse was a way of life he left us this account of his first action I realized that I was in front of a company of old and experienced soldiers all of whom would have an eye upon their new lieutenant to see how he comparted himself when Under Fire as we rode toward the enemy on the other side of the Hill a lieutenant Walker anxiously inquired of me Custer what weapon are you going to use in the charge from my earliest Notions of the true cavalrymen I'd always pictured him bearing Aloft his curved saber and cleaving the skulls of all that came in contact with him so I promptly replied the saber oh but could you have seen some of the charges that were made while thinking of them I cannot but exclaimed glorious War at this stage in that glorious War the vice-like hands of economic strangulation had yet to fasten upon the Confederacy Southern Spirits were still high and these High Spirits were echoed in the ranks of the leaders the revered leader of the horsemen against whom the young Custer would be pitted was Jeb Stewart [Music] in 1863 Stewart was approaching the Pinnacle of his Fame he basked in the public adoration which resulted from the Undisputed superiority his Confederate Cavalry enjoyed over its Federal opponents with Stuart in Culpepper County with five full Cavalry brigades each of about two thousand men they were supported by a battalion of horse artillery numbering 24 guns with a further Four Guns permanently attached to Jones's Brigade in command of the first brigade was Brigadier General Wade Hampton next came Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee the Second Son of Robert E Lee in command of the third Brigade was his cousin Rooney Lee nephew of the great Commander Brigadier William Jones better known as Grumble commanded the next Brigade and finally there was Beverly Robertson's Brigade Jeb Stewart the leader of this Grand assembly was a colorful man whose Cavalier attitude and love of life could be seen in his love of music attached to Stewart's command was a virtuoso banjo player by the name of Samson D Sweeney nominally he was a courier but in reality he was the key to Bringing color and Life to an otherwise drab military scene a musician par Excellence who lifted the spirits of all who heard him [Music] Stewart loved his banjo music and would command Sweeney to play for them at every available opportunity wherever Stuart went sweetie went to eston cook a member of Stuart staff recollected the man Stewart's banjo player Sweeney was the constant inmate of his tent he rode behind him on the March and went with him to social gatherings Stewart wrote his most important dispatches and correspondence with the rattle of the gay instrument stunning everybody Stewart would turn around from his work burst into a laugh and join uproariously in Sweeney's chorus if ever the spirit of wild and hilarious mirth spoke from any instrument it spoke from the notes of Sweeney's banjo wild and hilarious indeed was the spirit of Jeb Stewart and his men loved him for it the soldiers of the federal Cavalry Corps on the other hand had little opportunity to grow to love their Commanders the frequent changes is the federal High command searched in vain for a winning combination meant that there was little opportunity to develop a rapport between the commanders and their men General Alfred Pleasanton who now commanded the northern Cavalry Corps had taken over from General Stoneman on May 22nd only 17 days before the Battle of Brandy Station 's command was organized into three divisions of Cavalry each amounting to about three thousand men in theory they were supported by a division of horse artillery amounting to around 58 guns although only 12 were actually present at the Battle of Brandy Station [Music] the first of pleasanton's Divisions was commanded by Brigadier General John Buford next came the division of Brigadier General David gregg the third division was commanded by a Frenchman Brigadier General Alfred dufay also attached to Pleasanton for Brandy Station were two weak brigades of infantry commanded by Brigadier generals Russell and Amos these were attached to Buford and Greg respectively despite his extreme youth Custer had already begun to shine in battle and the active Pleasant and warm to the young man and recruited him to his staff in return Custer gave the officer his unequivocal support and admiration the day I rode into Cam Falmouth I was summoned to the headquarters tent of the first Cavalry division there to be greeted by Brigadier General Pleasanton curly he said I want you to be my special Aid I'll make no bones about it you're a man after my own heart pure rambunction well will you accept indeed I will sir I answered it once and we shook on it these were the men of the great Cavalry forces which were gathered together on June 9 1863 they were the largest body of horse soldiers who would ever be brought against each other in America but the Cavalry has an important branch of the army was already in decline by the 1860s it had been eclipsed by the greater Firepower of the Infantry and by comparison with the vast infantry forces on the Move in the procedure to Gettysburg the Cavalry forces seemed almost modest in the vicinity of Culpeper County Robert E Lee had gathered his sixty thousand strong Army of Northern Virginia together for a second invasion of the North opposing him was General Joe hooker with a hundred and ten thousand defectives by invading the North Lee hoped to lure hooker away from Richmond thus taking the federal pressure off the hard-pressed capital of the Confederacy after the hard-won Confederate victory at Chancellorsville the Yankees had been content to occupy well-fortified positions and wait regardless of the federal strength in numbers the Confederates felt it provided they could lure the federal army into the open they could defeat the Yankees once more Lee therefore sought to provoke a pitched battle by moving North and encouraging the Yankees to leave their defenses he knew if he threatened the north they could not stay dug in and would be forced to follow Lee was to achieve his objective but the outcome would be rather different from the one he had intended for the Drive North would produce the terrible three-day Battle of Gettysburg the beginning of the end for the South before that dramatic event however there was the small matter of the great Cavalry battle at Brandy Station to be settled first having got wind of Lee's planned invasion of the north the commander of the army of the Potomac Major General fighting Joe hooker knew that he had to act swiftly to prevent a recurrence of the unfortunate events of the Chancellorsville campaign Booker therefore ordered Pleasanton with the federal Cavalry Corps to attack Stewart's Cavalry Corps which had been masked for its ill-advised review in Culpepper County with their inferior numbers the rebels fought a mobile War Stewart's Cavalry was the eyes and ears of the Rebel Army on the March and hooker knew that their destruction would seriously hamper if not avert the proposed invasion Federal intelligence believed the rebel Cavalry to be still massed near Culpepper Courthouse Virginia a pleasant rural area of verdant Farmland ideally suited for Cavalry actions Pleasanton therefore planned to trap his adversary in a three-pronged attack Crossing Beverly's forward on the early morning of June 9 1863 would be buford's division supported by amos's Brigade of infantry they would clear away any opposition then move to Culpepper to the south at Kelly's Ford two further divisions under dufay and Greg with Russell's infantry would also Advance into Confederate lines dufay was to make for stevensburg then head north to Rendezvous with Buford in the vicinity of Brandy Station following dufay was to be Greg's division these men would complete the third arm of the combined thrust on Brandy Station once joined the three columns would move upon the main Rebel body thought to be at Culpepper Courthouse as aide de Pleasanton George Armstrong Custer was present at the briefing and later recalled the scene in his memoirs all the GIC said our Scouts report that Lee is moving up the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains towards Harper's Ferry we can only suspect by this that he's planning another invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania we've got to stop him before he crosses the Potomac Jeb Stewart is protecting his right with ten thousand horse knockout Stuart and you paralyzed Lee he can advance without mounted protection and support nor can he be guided with any degree of certainty knock him out I say that's the time and place to hit him if you can cut him to pieces at least Shake him up put him on the Run harass him anything to stop Lee dead in his tracks take your entire core and leave tomorrow and bear in mind Al the element of surprise is essential to Our Success the element of surprise however was not to be the sole Preserve of the Yankees almost as soon as they were laid Federal plans began to go awry Stewart's Cavalry was not at Culpepper courthouse's hookah thought they were in fact capped around the fields of Brandy Station The Clash of arms would come much sooner than expected the famous Prussian military philosopher of earlier in the 19th century talks a great deal about the effects of friction and uncertainty in war if you like the model factor which almost always comes about but mulker a little later than the American Civil War would again say very sensibly no plan survives the first five minutes of battle because war is very much the realm of the unexpected sometimes you get Mutual surprise as in this case a brandish station and really both sides are wander into each other and then suddenly find themselves in a military situation or it's neither had foreseen one of the major roles of Cavaliers we have already said is reconnaissance in here you have both cameraman Jeb Stewart the most famous cameraman of his particular generation in America and Pleasanton the commander of the Union Cavalry each of them really charged the duty of looking out and finding out about the enemy's Army wherever it happens to be blundering into each other as if by Fate but then of course Jeb Stewart has this very flashy tendency he wants to be a prince mura all cameramen of this period were government absolutely adored pince murad's reputation from the Napoleonic period full of Dash and beautiful uniforms or playing the actual banjo or whatever it happens to be this was meant to be the mentality mental ethos of a Cavalry commander so I think in this case both these two generals but gesture are perhaps more than Pleasanton on points allowed themselves for taking completely by surprise by the capricious hand of Providence the entire Rebel Cavalry Corps had planned to cross the Rappahannock River by the same Ford as the union foes on exactly the same day this had been intended as a Prelude to a move to screen the right of Lee's army as it moved North so the rebels were not at Culpepper courthouse for the Yankees expected to find them on the morning of June 9th but at Brandy Station in preparation of a moved across the same river as the Yankees the stage was now set for a Titanic Cavalry Clash Custer's letter to his wife Libby written on the eve of the engagement recalls the tension of the coming battle I will wake the general at 2 am and at 4 we cross the Rappahannock to strike at Brandy Station under Culpepper I am in excellent health and spirits and I'm feeling as fit as a fiddle and never felt better in my life but the chance of my being killed tomorrow is just as great as ever before in case anything happens to me burn all my letters although the federal plan of action appeared fairly straightforward on paper in practice as always in life the reality was far less simple Greg who is to cross at Kelly's Ford and take the rebels from the South had intended Duffy's division to precede his own column but the Frenchman's division got lost on route to Kelly's Ford and there was a long delay as dufay's troops marched and counter-marched trying to find the right Crossing Point there was a great deal of confusion as troops milled back and forth so it was well after 9am by the time Greg's command crossed the fort by which time buford's column to the north was already engaged in action against the Confederates the Battle of Brandy Station had begun to the north of the tardy Columns of defe and Greg Beaufort had crossed the Ford and begun to form his lead Brigade ready for action as the Early Morning Mist cleared around them the federal troopers were greeted with the sight of attempting Target the South Carolina artillery camp the Confederate pickets managed to raise the alarm but only just in time caught completely unawares the man of the South Carolina horse artillery were hastily attempting to withdraw their guns the sudden appearance of the Yankees had led their half-dressed Crews to LEAP from their bivouacs none of Stewart's guns had ever been captured and the Frantic Gunners were doing their best to avoid being the first the Union Cavalry had succeeded in fighting their way right up to the Confederate guns but they were forced back by the staunch resistance of the gunners and by accurate sustained musket fire from dismounted Confederate cavalrymen hurriedly thrown together fortunately in their hour of need help was at hand and as the Yankees charged among the guns they were met by men from the 6th Virginia Cavalry of Rumble Jones's Brigade and a fierce hand-to-hand engagement broke out which became a running battle as More Union troops were fed into the battle only to be matched by fresh Rebel cavalry the fierce action was described by George Bailey early on the morning of the night the ball was opened north of Brandy Station the enemy driving in our pickets and attacking the reserve of the sixth Virginia Cavalry about 6 A.M our regiment was capped nearby and was hastened forward to reinforce the sixth and the fight soon became animated charge and counter charge first one side then the other being a Victor uh first onset was with the six Pennsylvania Cavalry and as we drove them back from our guns which are almost in their grasps to the wards from which they'd emerged another regiment issues forth to their aid met and repulsed our attack and they soon themselves were repulsed these charges and counter charges continued till noon without any decisive advantage to either side but with considerable loss to both in men and horses as Baylor recorded the action soon became General and charge followed counter charge a huge running fight developed and the rebels were hard-pressed as urgently needed reinforcements arrived they were fed piecemeal into battle as quickly as possible by the harassed staff of Stewart's headquarters based around Saint James's Church [Applause] but gradually a Confederate line of defense was drawn up which prevented any further Yankee Advance toward Culpepper by now it was obvious that the federal Cavalry would not penetrate the Confederate Lines by a direct assault Pleasant and therefore ordered Buford to open a new line of attack on the Confederate positions by way of Fleetwood Hill in order to outflank the rebels Percy windham's Brigade was dispatched to complete the job at any moment Pleasant unexpected dufay and Greg to arrive from the south which he felt would prove too great a shock for the Confederates to withstand the Trap was about to be sprung unaware of the danger which threatened from the south Stewart was frantically bringing up his remaining brigades to feed into the battle but in the meantime his Defenders on Fleetwood Hill were stretched desperately thin pleasanton's decision to attack Fleetwood Hill was an inspired one although even he could not have known that the rebel lines were so thinly spread on Fleetwood Hill and that only a single gun lay between them and disaster as Rooney Lee struggled to reorganize and move from U Ridge in the north to take up position on the threatened Hill the approach of the Yankee Cavalry was stayed by a single Rebel gun frantically wheeled into position at the desperate urging of major McClellan of Stewart's headquarter staff there was no Rebel Cavalry anywhere near but a few rounds fired at long range proved sufficient to convince Windham that other guns lay behind the crest and that he could be riding into a trap Wyndham therefore halted his man to ensure that they were deployed properly and his own guns brought up prior to the charge this vital delay brought the necessary relief to the Confederates and in those few desperate moments help arrived in the form of a Detachment of the 12th Virginia cavalry filling the Gap just in time the rebels charged up one side of Fleetwood Hill just as Percy Windham released his lead regimen the first New Jersey on the other completely unaware of the proximity of the other both sides hurtled towards the crest the rebels reached the crest first but the Yankees were not far off George Baylor was with the 12th Virginia when the summit of Fleetwood Hill was gained we discovered the enemy which proved to be the first Maryland coming up the Southern Slope in platoons with its flags and guidons fluttering in the breeze closely followed by the first Pennsylvania and the first New Jersey on our left these Federal regiments presented a beautiful but awe-inspire insight to our little troop but Lieutenant Bruce in obedience to orders gave the command to charge and down the slope we started striking into the head of the column thrown into round and confusion but our success was short-lived for the first Pennsylvania now charging by force of numbers pressed our company back up to the top of the hill and when the residue of the 12th regiment came up the fight for possession of the Hill became General once again the battle had become a desperate man-to-man struggle with widespread and Confused fighting as each side strove for superiority but there was worse still to come for the southerners at this desperate juncture Greg finally arrived with the additional federal troops of the U.S second division [Applause] things now look desperate Stewart in command of the Rebel Cavalry was stunned and taken completely by surprise early on the morning of the ninth he had dispatched Beverly Robertson's Cavalry Brigade to cover the crossing over the river at Kelly's Ford Robertson was aware of the huge Federal Force crossing the river but had done nothing to prevent their movement to the West Greg was therefore able to join the battle at the worst possible moment for Stewart Stewart was livid at the appearance of the federal Cavalry that Robertson had been detailed to halt after the battle Stewart was highly critical of Robertson's inactivity which had left his column exposed at a critical moment his own report left an ominous question mark for Robertson to fill Robertson kept the enemy in check on Kelly's Ford Road but did not conform to the movement of the enemy to the right of which he was cognizant so as to hold him in check or thwart him by a corresponding move of a portion of his command in the same direction his detailed report will I hope account for this regardless of the reasons Greg's unexpected arrival was a major blow to Stewart's command which was now fighting for its life the general himself was seen in the thick of the fight which was carried on with the sword Firearms rifles and any other weapon the men could find eventually The Experience told and the battle gradually went the way of the more experienced Confederates but it was to be a near-run thing as Baylor recalled General stood in person now joined us in the fight and the contest was renewed with increased Vega and agendas to its personal leadership without much regimental or company organization but more as a bodyguard several times enemy reached our guns which had taken a position on the hill and become a rallying point but after a desperate struggle had been driven back in confusion and with great loss we were now fighting Greg's entire division of Cavalry and Russell's Brigade of Infantry at this juncture the 6th 7th and 11th Virginia Cavalry of Abigail came up and charged an enemy captured their guns and drove them back away from grounding station causing Greg to retreat in crowd and confusion and so the days fight was virtually ended now it was the turn of the Confederates to charge the union artillery and once again their greater experience made them equal to the task the sixth Virginia Cavalry better known as the Comanches for their Fierce hand-to-hand fights rode straight through a Detachment of three guns from Captain Martin's sixth New York battalion killing 30 of the 36 Gunners and capturing the guns the fierce fight was described by Thomas kitchen a New Jersey officer one Rebel sabered three Gunners and seemed almost Supernatural there was no call for a surrender or offer of one until nearly all our men were killed or wounded as the southerners gained ground and the battle gradually turned in favor of Stewart's men the federal Cavalry was saved from out and out Disaster by a brilliant charge by the first main cavalry these men known as the Puritans for their sober disposition relieved the southern pressure which had begun to look ominous so the Battle of Brandy Station Drew to a close the union commanders felt that they had achieved all they were going to their men were fought out and the exhausted Rebels were clearly going to allow them to withdraw in good order Buford took his weary Troopers back over Beverly's Ford while Greg in the untouched Columns of dufay crossed back by the Rappahannock Ford the tired men of Stuart's command simply let them go this time there would be no route of the Yankees we'd fought all day without anything to eat or drink I was no food or water for our horses we were glad of the opportunity for both to get refreshment the lost her cause was severe both in Maine and in horses not as severe as that of the enemy General Pleasant in the missile loss of 907. well General Stewart reports his loss of 480. there were other battles during the war between opposing Cavalry forces were equally as large numbers were involved but they were fought in large part by this mounted Calvary station was unique in the fact that it was a distinctly Cavalry fight well the enemies Cavalry and Infantry suffered a repulse and a Severe loss the cavalry gain confidence in themselves and this sir body of man who part of this time had afforded us more Amusement than work had now emerged as a body of man who would be Fullman worthy of our Steel Brandy Station marked a turning point in the fortunes of the federal cavalry no longer would they be seen as inferior citizens for JEB Stuart too his personal status had taken the first major blow a previously subservient press began to criticize his command the Richmond Observer commented the more the circumstances of the late Affair at Brandy Station are considered the Less Pleasant to they appear if this was an isolated case it might be excused under the convenient head of an accident or chance but this much puffed Cavalry of Northern Virginia have been twice if not three times surprised since the battles of last December and such repeated accidents can be regarded as nothing but the necessary consequences of negligence and bad management if the war was a tournament invented and supported for the pleasure and profit of a few Vain and weak-headed officers well these disasters might be dismissed with compassion but the country pays daily for the blunders which encourage the enemy to overrun and devastate the land with the Cavalry which is daily learning to despise the mounted troops of the Confederacy it is hard time that this branch of the service be reformed Jeb Stewart being a very colorful character was also a very touchy one and believing that he'd been slighted by the outcome of Brandy Station and the feeling of his reputation as being the boo Sabra of the Confederate Army and into all the armies of America at that period he felt he had to re-establish his reputation so it seems although we have no documentary proof of this but he decided to take his Cavalry on a broad show-off sweep through Union territory way around behind in the rear of the Union Army instead of carrying out his vital reconnaissance role of passing back information to Robert E Lee at every day exactly where the enemy were and where they seemed to be moving towards he drops the classical row of Cavalry before the battle and Nelson of course in the Trafalgar campaign had always spoken of his frigates as the eyes of the fleet and similarly Cavalry in the later or mid 19th century had her primary Duty was reconnaissance Royal but stood up for his own reasons thought he knew better and as a result removes all the intelligence data which he was desperately waiting for and only turns up in the end in the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg far too late to affect the issue this is an example of how not to use Cavalry in war if the criticism of Stuart in the newspapers was hard to take the general quite properly bit his lip as he knew that things could have been much worse the third Yankee column under dufay had played hardly any part in the battle it had been late in starting and although he had reached his objective at stevensburg dufay had failed to support Greg in his struggle at Brandy Station by marching straight to the sound of the guns dufay insisted on retracing his steps Southward by which time Greg's men were beyond help by a combination of ineptitude and bad generalship dufay had managed to miss almost the entire battle a battle in which his intervention at almost any point but almost certainly have proved decisive 's failure to turn up on the battlefield at a critical time with his command there are plenty of other great examples of this happening in other pairs of History perhaps the most dramatic one I can bring to mind is that a general counter durlon during the Waterloo campaign of 1815. Napoleon decided he wanted to outflank the Prussian position his classical outflanking type maneuver so sent a message by one of his Imperial AIDS the car to Marshall nay asking him or ordering him rather to detach General derlon's first core to move across country to six or so miles between catchabra and linear to fall on the flank of Luca's Army now the problem here was the messenger could not find an a who being one of those extremely colorful generals was right up in the front line covered in battle smoke and hacking at cannons with his saber and all this kind of thing and so on his own authority at the Ada which Imperial AIDS were allowed to do he ordered derlon in the name of the emperor to March off with his core which was in the supporting position behind the combat to go over the hills and far away to linear now nay didn't take that too nicely he take his whole of his own chief of staff and sends him rushing across the country to head off durlan who's marching towards linear and with an order of immediate Recall now as a result of this monitoring to and throw between the two battlefields throughout the afternoon and early evening of the 16th of June 1815 General derlon does not appear on either Battlefield as a fighting force and the fact is that had he been involved either at Katra as nay intended or lenient in the role of Poland intended they would have won the campaign of the hundred days so just as it was the case in 1815 so in 1863 in the Brandy Station episode you'll find Duffy playing the role of der long and had Duffy only appeared on that Battlefield they were really decisive Union success but if the news was bad for Stewart quite the reverse was true for George Armstrong Custer he had been mentioned in dispatches cited for gallantry throughout the fight and already he was on the road to the position of general which he craved he was to be America's youngest General and soon the USA would have a new Legend back at GHQ General hooker actually shook my hand and slapped me on the back Captain he said you and general Pleasanton are to be complimented on the successful execution of my orders and needless to say I shall have a great deal more for you to do in days to come I was to be cited for in the General's words gallantry throughout the fight both sides claimed victory at Brandy Station and ironically both were probably right tactically the Confederates won because they held their ground captured the Federal's guns and had inflicted twice as many casualties but the federals had the Strategic Victory because they had finally learned to stand up to the previously Invincible Rebel cavalry and fight it out Toe to Toe although few could have known it that June evening as Jeb Stewart surveyed the field of his victory the high tide of the Confederacy had been reached the Gettysburg campaign was just Round the Corner there the rebel infantry would at last find its match today at Brandy Station in Custer and the federal cavalry Stewart had his first glimpse of the Rebel cavalrys nemesis two years of bitter struggle still lay ahead but the end was now inevitable more men better equipped men and above all confident men led by able young commanders like Custer would ultimately be the Doom of Stewart's Brave command [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Timeline - World History Documentaries

Views: 196,031

Keywords: Timeline World History, Timeline, Full Length Documentary, History Documentary, World History, learn history, history facts, american civil war, brandy station, civil war, american history, u.s. cavalry

Id: 0hUGQ-C6h4g

Length: 52min 6sec (3126 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 11 2023