September 2017
Civil War News
Brandy Station and the Evolution of the Union Cavalry The Union Cavalry Comes of Age: Harwood Church to Brandy Station, 1863. By Erick J. Wittenberg. Maps, photographs, appendix, index, bibliography, 411 pp., 2017. The History Press, www.arcadiapublishing. com, $24.99 paperback. Reviewed by Walt Albro
At many times during the cavalry battle of Brandy Station, the fighting descended into a melee involving sabers and pistols. As one of the Union brigade commanders, Col. Judson Kilpatrick, watched on June 9, 1863, he noticed something that displeased him. He spied a Confederate officer whom he had known while a cadet at West Point—a person whom he had never liked. The colonel spurred his horse into the fray and engaged the Rebel officer, who fired his pistol, but missed. Both men drew their sabers and vigorously slashed away at each other. Although cut on the arm, Kilpatrick still managed to kill his opponent. Then, Kilpatrick rode back to his troops, explaining, “That rights a wrong.” The colonel’s brash action was representative of the new, bolder, more aggressive cavalry of the Army of the Potomac that emerged during the Battle of Brandy Station. This book is a detailed analysis of how that cavalry evolved: from an embarrassment in 1862 into what ultimately would become the world’s finest corps of horse soldiers by 1864. Eric J. Wittenberg’s original hardcover book, which has been out of print for eight years, is reprinted here in paperback. The author focuses on a series of all-cavalry engagements in 1863, including Hartwood Church, Stoneman’s Raid, Kelly’s Ford, Alsop’s Field and Brandy Station. Under Maj. Gen. George McClellan in 1862, the cavalry arm never reached its potential. Little
Mac had little respect for volunteers, who comprised the bulk of the horse soldiers. He believed that it took two years to train a good cavalryman, and he did not expect the war to last that long. So McClellan broke up the volunteer units and used them mostly as vedettes, messengers or headquarters’ guards. The situation improved when Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker was appointed commander of the Army of the Potomac. He implemented a plan that consolidated the cavalry into a single corps. Hooker named Maj. Gen. George Stoneman as the corps’ first commander. The author argues that Stoneman’s Raid, during the Battle of Chancellorsville, was actually a success, and not a failure, as Hooker claimed. Because of Hooker’s criticisms, Stoneman and Brig. Gen. William W. Averell have been underappreciated by most historians. In fact, the author says, both made critical improvements that bolstered the cavalry’s growing effectiveness. The Battle of Brandy Station was the coming-out party of the new and improved Northern cavalry. Not only did commander Alfred Pleasonton catch Jeb Stuart and the Southern cavalry by surprise, but he also fought them on an equal basis—in other words, he gave as good as he got. Although Brandy Station was a confusing engagement, with some locations captured and re-captured multiple times, one of the virtues of this book is the clear and understandable description and overview of the action. I was particularly impressed by the large number of colorful quotes gathered from diaries and letters of front-line participants. This personalizes the story and enlivens the narrative.
31
Detailed Treatment of Little-Known Battle on the James River U.S. Colored Troops Defeat Confederate Cavalry. By Edwin W. Besch. Photos, notes, index, bibliography, 292 pp., 2017. McFarland, www.mcfarlandpub. com. $35 softcover. Reviewed by Gould Hagler
Edwin Besch has conducted extensive research and accumulated a great store of factual information on the small battle at Wilson’s Wharf on the James River, fought on the afternoon of May 24, 1864. In addition to describing the battle itself (in one 36-
page chapter), Besch provides: mini-biographies of the principal commanders (the Federals’ Edward Wild, the Confederates’ Fitzhugh Lee and others); short histories of the units involved; coverage of controversies related to the use of black troops; a summary of Benjamin Butler’s James River Campaign; and an analysis of the conflicting estimates of the size of the forces engaged and the number of casualties. A final chapter discusses the preservation of Fort Pocahontas, which was completed at the wharf soon after the battle. The author relies on numerous primary and secondary sources, and is to be commended for his prodigious research, which he pursued from 1993 to 2016. Unfortunately, the quality of the writing and editing is uneven. The facts are not properly marshalled to create a coherent and unified whole. The reader would be better served if the many long quotes from other sources were distilled into more comprehensible narration and more concise analysis. The book is further weakened by digressions, repetitions and barely relevant minutia, as well as stylistic eccentricities
and organizational shortcomings that distract and confuse the reader. The only map in the book is not a map of Wilson’s Wharf but of the unrelated Battle of Yellow Tavern. Faust’s Encyclopedia has no entry on Wilson’s Wharf. Long’s Almanac devotes a total of five words to this affair on the James. Besch’s work fills the void and tells us much about a small but significant engagement. There is much to be found in this book, but the reader must labor to find it. Gould Hagler is the author of Georgia’s Confederate Monuments: In Honor of a Fallen Nation (Mercer University Press, 2014). His new book on Alabama’s Confederate monuments is to be published by Indiana University Press.
ks e e
m o c .
d y r n
he
History, Competition & Camaraderie
Walt Albro is a writer and editor who resides in Rockville, Md. He serves as a director of the Monocacy National Battlefield Foundation, Frederick, Md.
The N-SSA is America’s oldest and largest Civil War shooting sports
Digital Issues of CWN are available by subscription alone or with print plus CWN archives from 2012 at CivilWarNews.com
organization. Competitors shoot original or approved reproduction firearms at breakable targets in a timed match. Some units compete with cannons and mortars. All teams represent a specific Civil War regiment or unit and wears the uniform they wore over 150 years ago. Dedicated to preserving our history, period firearms competition and the camaraderie of team sports with friends and family, the N-SSA may be just right for you. For more information visit W W W. N - S S A .O R G