... on the morning of July 1 on and around McPherson's Ridge/Emmetsburg Road? Two books I have say "two regiments of Cavalry (plus a battery of rifled guns)" and "Buford's division minus two regiments detached."
I know I have a book somewhere with average unit sizes but can't locate it, so does anyone have the number of cavalry men fighting that morning?
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I happen to have a copy of A Generation on the March-- The Union Army at Gettysburg by Edmund J. Raus, Jr., which I bought at the Battlefield Visitors Center back in 1989. This is a comprehensive Order of Battle of the entire Army of the Potomac including unit strength and brief biographical profiles of commanding officers at Regimental level for Infantry and Cavalry, and at Battery level for Artillery.
Here's the breakdown for Buford's 1st Cavalry Division:
1st Brigade (Col William Gamble):
8th Illinois Cavalry: 491
12th Illinois Cavalry/3rd Indiana Cavalry (provisionally consolidated into one unit): 588
8th New York Cavalry: 623
Total: 1702
2nd Brigade (Col Thomas C. Devin):
6th New York Cavalry: 407
8th New York Cavalry: 395
17th Pennsylvania Cavalry: 448
A & C Companies, 3rd West Virginia Cavalry: 59
Total: 1309
3rd (Reserve) Brigade (Brig Gen Wesley Merritt)-Detached from Division to security for rear echelon until 3 July. Did not fight on 1 July:
6th Pennsylvania Cavalry: 366
1st US Cavalry: 392
2nd US Cavalry: 510
5th US Cavalry: 454
Total: 1622
Division Artillery:
Battery A 2nd US Artillery: 80 (6 guns)
Battery K 1st US Artillery: 122 (6 guns)-Detached with Merritt's Brigade and did not fight on 1 July
Bottom line: Buford had 3011 cavalry troopers and 80 artillerymen with 6 tubes on July 1.
Thank you MadTom. That's about 1500 more than I estimated, but then in another book I read after posting this that the Union cavalry had been consolidated into a single division just prior to Brandy Station. Buford and his men performed magnficently.
This article in Civil War Times Illustrated mentions that 1 man was posted to care for (hold) 3 horses after the men dismounted, so that left about 2000 effectives, more or less.
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What Buford did by predicting the outcome of the battle before it happened was the product of a military genius.
He predicted the amount of Lee's troops plus having knowledge of the North's troops totals, figured out that by owning the high ground, the North had the greatest chance of winning an eventual battle.
And to top it off, he guessed Lee would fight there and not bypass Gettysburg. He also knew this was going to be an epic battle that could decide the lives of many men and have a long term effect on the whole war.
So, his stubborness of owning the high ground gave the North the strategic advantage in a strong defensive position.
IMO, the North had more succes to this point in the war as a defensive entity than an offensive one. Something perhaps Buford held also in opinion.
I'm of the opinion that the Army of the Potomac was always better as a defensive entity than as an offensive one. Outnumbering the ANV by 2.5:1 and even 3:1 and with a huge logistical advantage, Lee was constantly able to stalemate the AoP's offensive thrusts until he simply didn't have the manpower to stop them crossing the James, and even that didn't stop his army from keeping Grant's army out of Petersburg for 9 months. Even the AoP's greatest victory was a defensive battle.
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I think the early confederate victtories scared the heck of out their commanders like McClellan and Burnside. These 2 were very hesitant to begin with and even became even more wary of taking chances later.
I think the AoP strategy in 1863 was one of a very defensive one even though at this time they were chasing Lee. But again, they were chasing Lee to protect Washington DC and the main areas of the North.
Bottom line: Buford had 3011 cavalry troopers and 80 artillerymen with 6 tubes on July 1.
A thought just occurred to me, had Stonewall Jackson been alive, I doubt he would've agreed with Lee's strategy on the third day of the battle of Gettysburg.
When the Story Lady tells us about the naughty boy who blew up his goldfish.
If Stonewall J. was still alive, the third day strategy of walking over an open field waiting to get slaughtered, this scenerio, would never had existed.
shareJMHO, had Jackson been alive, the AoP would have never ventured north of their earlier defensive position around Pipe Creek unless Lee seriously tried to capture Philadelphia or Baltimore. No matter what Lee's tactics might have been, he simply didn't have the logistics and supplies to occupy northern soil or to fight a sustained campaign in MD or PA.
There are just so many "what ifs?" about this campaign, it's fascinating.
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Indy, I don't agree. Meade had pressure to get the confederates out of the north from politicians. I think much of the campaign up to the first day might have gone the same. Assuming going into the First Day it did, Jackson would have had more troops than Hill and Ewell did. However, Jackson's strength as a commander was movement as in Chancellorsville, not open battle, like Groveton and Kernstown. Meade, though, was set on his Pipe Creek defensive line (a superior defensive line) and had Jackson come at him in earnest, Meade would have likely withdrew. Only speculation can deduce what might have happened next.
shareLol, I never argue (well, rarely) about "what if's" because there're simply so many variables and possible variables to be considered... who knows? In a book I read recently, one Southern woman had written "when God first intended for the South to lose the war, He had to take Gen. Jackson out of the picture." Jackson's death changed soooo many things I think it's impossible to even guess at all the variables that were changed.
Obviously, Hill and Ewell weren't Jackson, indeed would have still been under Jackson. Despite Lee's words, Jackson, not Longstreet would have been Lee's "old warhorse. Would Stewart still have rode out to the East? Would Brandy Station have happened? Would Lee have travelled the same path in the same manner that led to Gettysburg?
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Very good point. David Martin, in his book about the first day at Gettysburg, covers some points about what might have happened if Stonewall had been there. Of course, had Stonewall still been alive, I think he would have pushed harder to capture Harrisburg, but again, like you said, who knows.
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