The Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry, also known as Rush's Lancers, was a completely volunteer unit and one of the finest regiments to serve in the Civil War. Tracing their history from George Washington's personal bodyguard during the Revolutionary War, many of the men of the Sixth Pennsylvania were the cream of Philadelphia society, including Richard H. Rush, grandson of Dr. Benjamin Rush, Maj. Robert Morris, Jr., great-grandson of the financier o...
The northwestern third of the Commonwealth of Virginia finally broke away in 1863 to form the Union's 35th state. The authors chronicle these events in an unprecedented study of the social, legal, military, and political factors that converged to bring about the birth of the West Virginia.
One of the few Confederate battlefield victories in the dark days of 1865 occurred at Aiken, South Carolina, on February 11, 1865. Aiken itself had little strategic significance to either side, Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman had intended to by-pass the small resort town. Sherman intended that his cavalry commander, Maj. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick head off in the direction of Augusta, Georgia to confuse the Confederates of his true target, Colu...
Although many books on Gettysburg have addressed the role played by Brig. Gen. John Buford and his First Cavalry Division troops, there is not a single book-length study devoted entirely to the critical delaying actions waged by Buford and his dismounted troopers and his horse artillerists on the morning of July 1, 1863. Award-winning Civil War historian Eric J. Wittenberg rectifies this glaring oversight with ¿The Devil¿s to Pay¿: John Buford...
In 2014, Eric J. Wittenberg published ¿The Devil¿s to Pay¿: John Buford at Gettysburg. A History and Walking Tour, an award-winning study of Union cavalry delaying actions at Gettysburg. Fast-forward four years to 2018 and Wittenberg¿s latest release, a companion Western Theater study entitled Holding the Line on the River of Death: Union Mounted Forces at Chickamauga, September 18, 1863.This volume focuses on the two important delaying action...
Just before dawn on June 9, 1863, Union soldiers materialized from a thick fog near the banks of Virginia's Rappahannock River to ambush sleeping Confederates. The ensuing struggle, which lasted throughout the day, was to be known as the Battle of Brandy Station--the largest cavalry battle ever fought on North American soil. Meticulously captured by historian Eric J. Wittenberg, these events marked a major turning point in the Civil War: the w...
The events at Appomattox Court House in Virginia on April 9, 1865 have long been considered the end of the Civil War. However, there were still Confederate armies in the field. Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, commander of the Union armies operating in North Carolina, still faced a 31, 000 man Confederate army commanded by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. In addition, another 60, 000 Confederate soldiers remained under arms east of the Mississippi River....
The Army of the Potomac s mounted units suffered early in the Civil War at the hands of the horsemen of the South. However, by 1863, the Federal cavalry had evolved into a fighting machine. Despite the numerous challenges occupying officers and politicians, as well as the harrowing existence of troopers in the field, the Northern cavalry helped turn the tide of war much earlier than is generally acknowledged. It became the largest, best-mounte...
Gettysburg's Forgotten Cavalry Actions examines in great detail three of the campaign's central cavalry episodes. The first is the heroic but doomed legendary charge of Brig. Gen. Elon J. Farnsworth's cavalry brigade against Confederate infantry and artillery.
The three-day Battle of Gettysburg left 50, 000 casualties in its wake, a battered Southern army far from its base of supplies, and a rich historiographic legacy. Thousands of books and articles cover nearly every aspect of the battle, but not a single volume focuses on the military aspects of the important movements of the armies to and across the Potomac River. This book is the first detailed military history of Lee¿s retreat and the Union e...
Few aspects of the battle of Gettysburg are as misunderstood as the role played by the cavalry of both sides. Protecting the Flank at Gettysburg: The Battles for Brinkerhoffs Ridge and East Cavalry Field, July 2 - 3, 1863 by award-winning author Eric J. Wittenberg is the first and only book to examine in significant detail how the mounted arm directly affected the outcome of the battle.
The Army of the Potomac's mounted units suffered early in the Civil War at the hands of the horsemen of the South. However, by 1863, the Federal cavalry had evolved into a fighting machine. Despite the numerous challenges occupying officers and politicians, as well as the harrowing existence of troopers in the field, the Northern cavalry helped turn the tide of war much earlier than is generally acknowledged. It became the largest, best-mounte...
The Battle of Monroe's Crossroads, March 10, 1865, was one of most important but least known engagements of William T. Sherman's Carolinas Campaign. Now in paperback, here is the only book-length account of this combat. As Sherman's infantry crossed into North Carolina, Maj. Gen.
Eric J. Wittenberg is the author of Gettysburg's Forgotten Cavalry Actions and the coauthor of Plenty of Blame to Go Around, among numerous books. Gordon C. Rhea is the author of several books on the Civil War, including To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13�, 1864 and The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5� 1864.
Though West Virginia was founded for the purpose of remaining loyal to the Union, severing ties with Virginia, home of the capital of the Confederacy, would prove difficult. West Virginia's fate would be tested on its battlegrounds. In August 1863, Union general William Woods Averell led a six-hundred-mile raid culminating in the Battle of White Sulphur Springs in Green Brier County. Colonel George S. Patton, grandfather of the legendary World...
