The FReeper Foxhole Remembers General John Buford at Gettysburg (7/1/1863)

The Battle of Gettysburg has quite possibly drawn more scholarly study than any other battle in American history. It remains a hallmark of the drama surrounding the Civil War. It is for that very reason that the battle's first actions, on July 1, 1863, tend to be overshadowed. However, if it were not for the foresight and stubborn military leadership of Brigadier General John Buford, the events of July 2 and 3 might have been dramatically different. Brevet Major General Henry J. Hunt, who directed the Union artillery's rain of destruction upon Pickett's Charge two days later, wrote that Buford was so "impressed by the importance of the position" (McPherson's Ridge) on July 1 that he had his troopers dismount to hold it until reinforcements could arrive. In his three-volume study, The Union Cavalry in the Civil War, Stephen Z. Starr related that it was Buford and his 1st Cavalry Division that "determined the site of the battle and prevented the Confederate takeover of the town," and if not for him, Gettysburg would not have become the decisive victory for the Union cause that it was.

At Gettysburg, on the first day of battle on July 1, 1863, Colonel Gamble's brigade did the early skirmishing with advance elements of Confederate General Heth's Division as they advanced on the Chambersburg Pike. Arriving in the town, Gamble established his headquarters on the grounds of the Lutheran Theological Seminary. Under the leadership of General Buford, Gamble's men employed a successful "defense in depth" delaying tactic until General John F. Reynolds and his I Corps could come up in support. Gamble was later made a full Brigadier.

John Buford was born in Kentucky in 1826 but was raised in Illinois. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1848 -- 16th in a class of 38 cadets. Prior to the Civil War, Buford served on the frontier fighting Indians and took part in the Utah Expedition against the Mormons from 1858 to 1860.

In July 1862, he was appointed a brigadier general and given command of the Reserve Cavalry Brigade, Army of Virginia. Buford served with great distinction during the Second Bull Run campaign, gaining particular notice for the delaying action his brigade fought against Maj. Gen. James Longstreet's I Corps at Thoroughfare Gap on August 27. During the Second Battle of Bull Run, Buford was badly wounded, and at one point he was reported dead. Nevertheless, by September 17, he had recovered in time to see action at Antietam, as well as at Fredericksburg on December 13. He also served admirably in the Chancellorsville campaign in May 1863. It was Buford's cavalry division that spearheaded the attack on Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavaliers at Brandy Station on June 9, 1863, when his troopers swept into the camp of Brig. Gen. William E. "Grumble" Jones' brigade at Beverly Ford at dawn and took 150 prisoners. Buford then served well at the cavalry battles of Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville, but the zenith of his career was still to come.

Colonel Theodore Lyman, a volunteer aide to Maj. Gen. George G. Meade who met Buford in 1863, gave the following description of the cavalry commander in a letter to his wife: "He is one of the best officers of that arm and is a singular-looking party...a compactly built man of middle height, with a tawny moustache and a little, triangular gray eye, whose expression is determined, not to say sinister...notwithstanding...he is a very soldierly-looking man [of] good natured disposition but not to be trifled with."

After General Meade took command of the Army of the Potomac on June 28, he ordered "a general movement toward Harrisburg," Pa., and sent Buford's cavalry to intercept the enemy. In his instructions to the cavalry on June 30, 1863, Meade stressed the need for the cavalry to render him "reliable information of the presence of the enemy" and that "cavalry battles must be secondary to this reporting."

Buford traveled unchallenged from Frederick, Md., on June 29 and met other commanders at Meade's headquarters. Buford and his corps commander, Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton, had discussed possible enemy contact locations and agreed that Gettysburg was a likely spot. After all, Buford had pointed out, there were "many roads, some ten or twelve at least concentrating there, so the army could easily converge to, or...diverge from this point." That gave Gettysburg, despite its size, strategic importance as a center for command and control.

The Union I Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds, was assigned to the left wing of the Army of the Potomac on June 30, and Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard's XI Corps was close beside the I Corps. Buford's cavalry division was sent ahead to search for the Army of Northern Virginia. Approaching Gettysburg via the Emmitsburg-Gettysburg Road at 11 a.m., Buford found the quaint rural village very quiet and passed through to a depression immediately west of Seminary Ridge. Then, suddenly, the vanguard of his unit spied approaching Confederate infantry. Buford observed Brig. Gen. James J. Pettigrew's brigade marching down the Cashtown Pike to carry out orders from their division commander, Maj. Gen. Henry Heth, to "take his brigade to Gettysburg, search the town for supplies (shoes especially) and return the same day."

Lee's Troops march through Cashtown on their way to Gettysburg

The wording of Heth's order notwithstanding, it was Gettysburg's strategic location, not shoes, that attracted Confederate General Robert E. Lee's attention. Lee's orders to Heth, however, were to avoid a general engagement until Lee could concentrate his forces. Therefore, upon first contact with Buford, Pettigrew quickly disengaged and withdrew toward Cashtown, then set up pickets four miles west of Gettysburg. With great urgency, Buford had Colonel William Gamble's 1st Brigade and Lieutenant John F. Calef's artillery battery emplaced south of the Chambersburg Pike and the old packed roadbed, extending pickets and videttes (mounted pickets) westward. To protect his right flank to the north, Buford ordered Colonel Thomas C. Devin to deploy pickets and videttes from his 2nd Brigade on all roads leading to Gettysburg from the north.

Reynolds arrives at Gettysburg

After scribbling messages to Reynolds and Meade, Buford surveyed the surrounding terrain with an experienced eye. The ridges ran generally north and south to form a basin, in the center of which lay Gettysburg, squeezed from the east and west by a series of long, rather flat hills and ridges. Between each of those features stretched fertile fields and lush pastures. A mile and a half west of the town stood Herr Ridge; 900 yards to the east, across a swale through which meandered a sluggish little stream called Willoughby Run, was McPherson's Ridge; a few hundred yards south of the Chambersburg Pike stood the 17-acre patch of McPherson's Woods and Grove. Oddly, the usual tangle of forest growth was missing there. The grove was long and narrow, extending from the crest of the southern ridge to Willoughby's Run, whose banks offered excellent protection. That watercourse formed a natural line of defense that Buford could put to good use. Another 500 yards to the east, about three-quarters of a mile from Gettysburg, lay Seminary Ridge, where the three-story, brick Lutheran Theological Seminary stood serenely 40 feet above the surrounding meadows. A short distance north of the Chambersburg Pike, Seminary Ridge merged with McPherson's Ridge; from there a single promontory, Oak Ridge, continued northward to Oak Hill, an 80-foot-high knob that dominated the area northwest of Gettysburg. The pike traversed the ridges from the northwest, and about 200 yards to the north, a railbed ran parallel to the road. The railbed was as deep as 20 feet in places, and no track had been laid yet. Nine other roads radiated from Gettysburg to all points on the compass.

The ground formed an excellent arena for hosting a major battle. Buford immediately dismounted his troopers to hold McPherson's Ridge -- the best terrain west of the town -- until infantry could reinforce them. As his brigade commanders pushed out pickets and videttes to the west and north, Buford took an accounting of their strength. Of Buford's three brigades, only two, those of colonels Gamble and Devin, were on hand. His Reserve Brigade, en route to Emmitsburg, would be unavailable for more support, leaving him with just under 3,000 men.

The Eve of Battle,Gen. J Buford, Gettysburg, June 30, 1863

The cavalrymen's newly issued small arms were a point in their favor. The division had recently received its first allotment of Spencer rifles, augmenting the Sharps carbines already in service. The Sharps was a .52-caliber, single-shot, breech-loading weapon that could be fired at a rate of 10 rounds per minute. The Spencer repeating rifle was the first magazine-fed weapon, able to fire seven rapid-fire shots before requiring a reload.

Another factor in the Union cavalrymen's favor was their willingness to dismount and fight like infantry when the situation deemed it necessary. With the shock value of cavalry units largely rendered ineffective by the advances in firearm lethality and accuracy, new tactics were developed focusing on four main components: swift operational mobility outside enemy contact; readiness to dismount and fight on foot when the enemy was close; effective use of new small-arms advances; and posting a mounted reserve that would be ready to make a saber charge at the decisive moment. Buford had been quick to recognize the inadequacies of the old Napoleonic school of cavalry use. While the Southern cavalryman saw his horse as an extension of himself, John Buford once stated that he considered his horse "strictly transportation." He, along with contemporary cavalry professionals such as the 2nd Division commander, Brig. Gen. David M. Gregg, embraced and developed the concept of cavalry as mounted infantry. That tactic produced a mixture of firepower and maneuverability that multiplied the force of a typically understrength cavalry division.

Reynolds & Buford at Gettysburg

The night of June 30 was a busy one for the 1st Cavalry Division. Deploying scouts in all directions, Buford was able "to gain positive information of the enemy's position and movements" by dawn. Buford fanned his cavalrymen out in a 5-mile arc beginning north of Gettysburg, sweeping southwest and ending about a mile and a half from town. That formed a perilously extended defensive line for a force of only 2,748 -- a quarter of whom were detailed to hold horses for the other men. Gamble's 1st Brigade was emplaced along the east bank of Willoughby Run in a 1,000-yard-long line extending south from the railbed across the Chambersburg Pike. North of the railroad, Devin's 2nd Brigade reached to the base of Oak Hill. Moreover, with only six cannons, Buford knew that if attacked in force his division could conduct nothing more than a delaying action for Meade's advancing Union force.

Despite those odds, morale in the 1st Cavalry Division was high. Colonel Devin commented that he thought the Confederates would probably bypass them. Buford sternly responded: "You are wrong. The enemy will attack in the morning. He'll come booming three deep, and we shall have to fight like devils to maintain ourselves until the arrival of the infantry." That caution aside, Buford felt that he was ready for Heth's morning attack. He wrote later, "My arrangements were made for entertaining him."

At 5 o'clock on the morning of July 1, 1863, Confederate Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill marched east on the Chambersburg Pike toward Gettysburg with the divisions of Heth and Maj. Gen. W. Dorsey Pender and supported by the artillery battalions of Brig. Gen. John Pegram and Colonel David G. McIntosh, with Pegram's artillery in advance. At 5:20, Buford's advance pickets caught their first glimpse of Heth's division approaching Marsh Creek through the drizzly dawn haze. The farthest Union outposts across Willoughby Run soon came under fire, and the men quickly fell back, as per orders.

Leading his men into the Herbst's woods farm woodlot, just south of the McPherson's farm, General Reynolds was shot in the saddle and died almost instantly. Shot through the neck he reeled from the saddle and was taken to the rear.

Upon reaching Herr Ridge, Heth deployed Brig. Gens. James J. Archer's and Joseph R. Davis' brigades to the right and left of the Chambersburg Pike, with Brig. Gen. James J. Pettigrew and Colonel John M. Brockenbrough in reserve. The first ranks of Confederate skirmishers went trampling down Herr Ridge through the fields of wheat and across pastures with guns at the ready. The Union troopers silently trained their seven-shot Spencers at their advancing foes. Just as the Rebels splashed through Willoughby Run, they were staggered by a terrific burst from the concealed cavalrymen. Concurrently, the six guns of Lieutenant John Calef's battery of horse artillery fired deadly salvos into Archer's men. "My troops at this place had partial shelter behind a low stone fence, and were in short carbine range," wrote General Buford in his after action report. "Their fire was perfectly terrific, causing the enemy to break." Confused by the ferocity of Buford's massed fire, the Rebels withdrew to re-form for another assault.

Statue of General John Buford depicting him looking off towards the South Mountains which Lees Army crossed on the way to Gettysburg

Buford's men continued to fire furiously, holding Heth at bay for a full hour. Buford's pickets scattered themselves at intervals of 30 feet behind post-and-rail fences and kept up a rapid fire with their Sharps and Spencers, some firing up to 21 shots per minute with the repeater -- 10 times the Rebels' rate of fire. The Confederates, however, began to sense that only a small force was opposing them. Supported by artillery, they began to intensify their fire against Buford's horse soldiers, destroying two of Calef's guns. Taking refuge behind rocks and trees, Buford's skirmishers were slowly forced back across Willoughby Run onto the crest of McPherson's Ridge. There, Buford placed his dismounted cavalry along the banks of Willoughby Run, extending his line to the left as far as the Hagerstown Road and to the right to the Harrisburg Pike. He then placed an artillery battery on the Chambersburg Pike. With Devin's brigade holding the line from the Chambersburg Pike to the right and Gamble's line holding to the left of the road, Buford maintained a firm defensive position.

Photo by Rob Nixon

Because smoke began to obscure the battlefield, Buford climbed to the cupola in the Lutheran Seminary in order to better view the field. As the commander climbed the tower stairs, he glimpsed the scene before him and was filled with foreboding. "The Rebel infantry flowed forward like a human river escaping its banks," he later wrote. "Menacing rows of cannon were limbered and swung around...pointed toward [the] men." If support did not arrive soon, his gallant cavalry could not hold. Buford sent couriers galloping off to Reynolds and Meade to request infantry support.

Using the cupola as his command post, Buford directed the action for another desperate hour, fending off Confederate probing attacks. But by 9 a.m., Buford could see that Gamble's troopers were being pushed back across Willoughby Run. To the north of the Chambersburg Pike, Davis' Mississippi brigade was advancing in spite of Archer's repulse.

Buford in the cupola of the Lutheran Seminary

Buford descended the stairs to personally inspect Gamble's condition. He stationed a signal crew in the cupola of the seminary to monitor the battle and to search southward for a sign of Reynolds' approach. Sometime before 10 o'clock, the lookouts discerned a faint dust cloud approaching from the south. Buford, summoned to the cupola to observe the welcome sight of those oncoming reinforcements, had barely finished climbing the stairs when Reynolds, who had galloped a mile in advance of his column, drew up below and called out, "What's the matter, John?" Buford responded, "The devil's to pay!" After a hurried conference, Reynolds asked if Buford could hold until the infantry began arriving, to which he replied, "I reckon I can." As Reynolds galloped south to move up his I Corps, Buford's line was hotly engaged.

Shortly after 10 o'clock, Buford's cavalry began to show signs of weakening under the mounting pressure from Heth's division. As Gamble's men methodically fell back, Confederate skirmishers began to swiftly climb the slope, gaining momentum as another brigade supported them on the left. As Archer's men reached the crest of the ridge, they were met with a thunderous volley of musketry from the crack "Iron Brigade" of Brig. Gen. James Wadsworth's division, whose troops were advancing at the double-quick to relieve the battered cavalrymen. Gamble's men, who had to be dragged from the line by the officers, shouted encouragement to the black-hatted brigade: "We have got them now! Go and give them hell!" When Reynolds, at the forefront of the counterattack, entered McPherson's Woods to direct the emplacement of the men, a Confederate sharpshooter fired a single round into the back of Reynolds' head, killing him instantly.

Buford's men were withdrawn and redeployed to the flanks and rear to provide security as Union infantry filled the line. The battle lines continued to sway and writhe as each force struggled to surmount the other. In the afternoon, Buford learned from Devin's videttes that Confederate Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's II Corps was massing in the north and quickly informed the commander of the Union XI Corps. As the forces joined at 1 p.m., the troops of Howard's XI Corps, exposed to a terrific enfilade that made their position untenable, broke and retreated east into Gettysburg, compelling the I Corps to follow suit. Once again, Buford stepped in, fighting a rear-guard action to allow the Union army to reach the safety of Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge. Gamble's and Devin's men fought bravely on Seminary Ridge and the plains north of town.

That evening, Buford assisted Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock, sent to take command of the field, in the consolidation of the day's survivors and the construction of protective earthworks. Soon the fishhook-shaped defensive line was prepared for the next phase of the battle.

John Buford's gravesite at West Point Cemetery in New York. Buford was commissioned Major General on his deathbed. He died on December 16, 1863.
Photo provided by Eric J. Wittenberg

That ended the first day's battle at Gettysburg. Despite the odds they faced and the carnage of the next two days, Buford's troopers escaped with a total of 16 dead, 82 wounded, 38 missing and 13 horses killed. In the next two days, Lee's quest for a decisive victory ended in bitter failure. Had Lee been able to press through Gettysburg and take the heights of Cemetery Ridge and the Round Tops, the battle, and perhaps the war, might have ended differently. Buford's recognition of the value of the terrain at Gettysburg, his willingness to dismount his troopers and make a stand and his possession of the best small-arms technology of the day were deciding factors in the battle's outcome. In the final assessment, however, the most important factors were the courageous and tenacious leadership of Brig. Gen. John Buford and the indomitable spirit of the troopers of the 1st Cavalry Division, which presented the Union with the opportunity of victory at Gettysburg. As author and historian M.F. Steele ably put it in 1921, Buford's valiant stand was "the most valuable day's work done by the cavalry in the Civil War."

Unfortunately for the Union, its greatest cavalry corps leader of 1863 was not destined to see the following year. In November 1863, Buford went on sick leave after contracting typhoid fever. He succumbed to the disease on December 16.

Michael S. Grogan

Additional Sources:

home.epix.net/~rplr
www.hammergalleries.com
www.utm.edu
www.allenscreations.com
www.pumpwarehouse.com
www.memberbbb.com
www.hrosecure.com
www.virginialighthorse.freeservers.com
www.morrisville.edu
www.mmcwrt.org
www.drumbarracks.org

June-July 1863
The Devil's Call

Since Chancellorsville, as much was asked of the cavalry as it could deliver. They'd done most of the fighting, lived in their saddles, and took a heavy casualty toll. Buford's men were allowed four days to rest and refit before being ordered to pursue Lee. Guarding the rear of the newly-formed "Left Wing" commanded by Major General John Fulton Reynolds, consisting of the 1st, 3rd, and 11th Infantry Corps, Buford crossed the Potomac at Edwards Ferry on June 27. Upon reaching Frederick MD, Buford caught and hung a spy named Will Talbot, who admitted he was a member of Confederate Elijah White's Comanches. Buford had a note pinned to the body announcing that the corpse was to hang three days and that anyone cutting him down early would hang the remainder. When the townspeople complained of the spectacle, Buford, in an obvious reference to the June 28 promotions to brigadier general of Wesley Merritt, Elon J. Farnsworth, and George A. Custer, in dry humor stated that he hung him rather than send him to Washington for fear that "they would make him a Brigadier General." Much of the Army of the Potomac, on its march northward, would pass by the hanging Talbot. Talbot was as much of a message evidencing Buford's viciousness in dealing with spies as it was a vignette of the dark reality of war to the marching blue army behind him.

On the same day that the three "boy generals" were promoted, Hooker's offer to resign was accepted and General George G. Meade placed at the helm. Hooker had just dispatched the cavalry "in the direction of Gettysburg and Emmitsburg" to ascertain the movements and position of the Rebels. Buford was ordered by Pleasonton to proceed to Gettysburg by way of Emmitsburg, with orders to cover the left flank of the army. The new commander, Meade, decided to continue the pursuit. It is unsure whether Pleasonton's claim that he ordered Buford to hold Gettysburg, an important rail and road junction, "at all costs" was a contemporary order or a post-battle embellishment, but the old Dragoon would soon recognize the importance of the area and the favorable terrain surrounding it.

On June 29, Buford sent his Reserve Brigade under Merritt to Mechanicsburg (now Thurmont), Maryland, to guard the Catoctin mountain passes and the divisional trains. To the call of "Boots and Saddles" the First and Second Brigades left at 9 am, following the base of South Mountain to Pennsylvania. Crossing the Mason-Dixon line into the Keystone State, all the troopers, especially those of Devin's 17th Pennsylvania, "raised their caps and lustily cheered, again and again" for their home soil.

Reinforced by 21 year-old 2nd Lieutenant John Calef's Battery A, 2nd US Artillery, and its 75 men, the brigades continued on dangerous winding roads and steep cliffs, finally reaching the summit of the Monterey Gap pass in the South Mountain ridge. As Buford peered through the pass in the approaching dusk, he saw Confederate campfires in the valley farm fields below. To no one in particular, Buford prophesied aloud that "Within forty eight hours the concentration of both armies will take place on a field within view and a great battle will be fought." It was almost as if, by Dragoon instinct, Buford knew somehow that Lee had just turned his army around on the information of one of Longstreet's paid spies. Buford of course didn't know, but the movement and concentration of Lee's army would underscore the importance of Buford's destination, a little crossroads town in southern Pennsylvania.

Proceeding down the mountain, the troopers went into camp near present-day Fountaindale PA for another restless respite for the exhausted men. At 2 am on June 30, the men began the march to Fairfield, through which they planned to pass on the way to Gettysburg. However, an unexpected run-in with pickets of a Mississippi and North Carolina regiment, which they hadn't seen in the dense fog that morning, reinforced his premonition. After a brief skirmish, Buford wisely broke it off and countermarched south toward Emmitsburg to march to Gettysburg via that alternate different route. Buford was intensely irritated by the lack of warning by the populace, leading to the stumble, as evidenced by his report: "The inhabitants knew of my arrival and the position of the enemy camp, yet not one of them gave me a particle of information... Had any of them given me timely information and acted as a guide that night, I could have surprised and captured this (Rebel) force." Arriving at Emmitsburg, Buford likely consulted with his wing commander Major General John F. Reynolds, after having sent early morning dispatches to both him and Pleasonton about a large Confederate force in the vicinity of Cashtown, only 8 miles from Gettysburg.

Marching along the road between Emmitsburg and Gettysburg, passing Federal infantry along the way, the worn-out troopers arrived in town about 12 noon, following advance scouts from Gamble's Brigade who arrived about an hour earlier. The scouts, pounding into town at full gallop, captured several Confederates who were straggling from Confederate General Jubal A. Early's visit to the town just four days prior. The brigade, along with Calef's artillery, received a rousing welcome from the townspeople. Buford sent a dispatch back to Pleasonton about the "terrible state of excitement in the town" and that the men and horses were at their limit. Setting up headquarters at Tate's Blue Eagle Hotel at the corner of Washington and Chambersburg Streets, Buford declared martial law, closed the saloons to his troopers, and jailed another captured spy.

By mid-afternoon, Buford and his commanders were closely inspecting the terrain around the town. His trained Dragoon eye quickly took note of the network of roads radiating through town like the spokes of a wheel, perfect for infantry to march on. Foremost were the series of hills and ridges north, west, and south of the hamlet. Knowing that a large concentration of Rebel troops was to his west and north, Reynolds and the other Federal corps commanders to his south, any confrontation would be an obvious race for the high ground. The nearly parallel ridges to the west and northwest, in the direction from which Buford suspected the Confederates would advance, seemed ideal to deploy a "defense in depth," a dismounted cavalry delaying-action and active defense designed to buy time for the infantry to arrive. He also inspected the ridges and hills east and south of town, a very defensible fall-back position for the infantry, a perfect ultimate line of passive defense. His Dragoon tactical expertise told him that a delay action in advance of the intended ultimate position for defense, holding until the infantry could arrive in force, had a chance for success. He also knew that timing, planning, and the dedication of his men would be critical. Climbing into the cupola of the Lutheran Theological Seminary west of town with Colonel Devin, Buford was able to see this lay of the land and far out the due-west Chambersburg Pike. By late afternoon, Buford sat upon Grey Eagle near the hotel, alone, in profound thought, staring to the west. The arthritis that had begun to afflict him was getting worse. But any personal matters were unimportant... he had made up his mind to stand and fight. He would commit his brigades. He had committed himself.

The day and evening were filled with preparations. Along with his brigade leaders, staff, and his signal officer Aaron B. Jerome, Buford studied the topography that would play such a crucial role in what he knew was to come. Earlier that day, his troopers had seen a Confederate element (General J. Johnston Pettigrew's) approach to within a mile of town to the west, but they had backed off at the sight of the cavalrymen. If the intelligence was correct, then he knew that the whole of the Army of Northern Virginia, some 70,000 strong, would come to this town the following day. He had to achieve the seemingly impossible, the thought of which might have crippled any other commander than Buford - to hold off an enemy force many times larger than his, perhaps for several hours. A cavalry defense-in-depth delaying action of such magnitude had never been attempted before. He had to hope that the Rebels would come at him piecemeal, a unit at a time, and he had to both deceived and confuse them for as long as could. He could last perhaps those few hours, but not much more.

Buford, though by nature extremely steady under such pressure, was understandably anxious as well. He and his men had a hard month in the saddle, and final destiny would come on the morrow. Jerome observed a meeting that night between Buford and Colonel Devin, in which the ever-anxious for a fight Devin tried to reassure his commander that the brigades could hold off anything the Confederates would throw at them. "You're unduly excited, General. I'll agree to take care of all the Rebels in my front for the next twenty-four hours," stated Devin. The pragmatic Buford looked at the exuberant Irishman and said, "No you won't... you will have to fight like the devil to hold your own until supports arrive... and if we are able to hold it we will do well." Buford's state of mind on this June 30 is evidenced by those who observed him. One of his staff recorded that they "had never seen him so apprehensive, so uneasy about a situation as he was at this time." Additionally, Jerome wrote, "He seemed anxious, even more so than I ever saw him." Buford was convinced he would be attacked in the morning.

The McPherson Farm and ridge

Buford's anxiousness worked to his and the men's advantage. Once described by a staff officer as "anxious by nature, a tremendous worker leaving nothing undone," this trait of Buford's personality perfectly fit his role, and no less conspicuously than on the coming day. Anxious people tend to deal with their anxieties in one consistent way; they must tediously prepare for every single possible contingency, in order to achieve a comfortable confidence in their situation. How well the old dragoon dealt with his anxiety this day would go a long way toward determining the level of his success on the morrow.

As the darkness fell, Buford deployed his men according to his measured tactics along a seven-mile front west and north of the town. The furthest vedettes posted themselves at intervals of thirty feet, using anything - fences, shrubs, trees, as cover. Half of all the horses were kept bridled and saddled, ready to ride, and the men grabbed anxious sleep in shifts. At 10:30 pm, Buford penned an assessment of his situation to Pleasonton: "A.P. Hill's corps... is massed back of Cashtown... rumor says Ewell is coming over the mountains from Carlisle." He also sent a detailed report to Reynolds. Meade was apprised of Lee's position and movements. In the early morning, Buford could conceivably be attacked from three directions, by a force many times larger than his own. For the old dragoon and his troopers, all of whom had been through so much together and who looked to him for reassurance, the test of their lives was coming.

The overcast, warm summer dawn arose. Buford's early warning system kicked in as one of Gamble's vedette posts on the Chambersburg Pike, about four miles from town, sent back word that an approaching Confederate column had been sighted. A shot had been fired by the post, while Devin's vedettes north of town may have exchanged shots with some pickets of Confederate General Robert Rodes' division. At 8 am, upon receiving the news, Buford hastily climbed on Grey Eagle to make the ride from headquarters to the Lutheran Seminary area. When asked by a staff officer what was "the matter," as rifle and cannon shots began booming in the distance, Buford nodded to the west and curtly snapped, "That's the matter!" The deadly business had begun, and there was no sign or word yet from Reynolds. Also, the time for anxiety had passed; now was the time to put all the preparatory deployments into motion.

Forming skirmish and battle lines, Confederate General Henry Heth's men pushed Buford's pickets in from the west. They and Devin's posts to the north were doing a meritorious job of delaying the onslaught. With every fourth trooper holding the horses behind each ridge summit, it was some time before the Confederates determined they were facing veteran Union cavalry. It would take Heth one and a half hours to advance the mile and a half from Wisler's (Knoxlyn) Ridge to McPherson's Ridge. Buford's men were executing his plan perfectly, but time was running short. Sooner or later they would break under the pressure of superior numbers. Confederate commanders felt secure in the fact that they were pushing their enemy back over the ridges toward town, taking very few casualties. But, they were missing the point of the "game" Buford was playing with them. If he could just hold them until Reynolds' infantry could arrive...

Grudgingly and stubbornly giving way, Buford's winded troopers were pushed back to the main defensive line on McPherson Ridge by 9:30 am. There, Buford's battle line was set. But the situation was now very deadly, more so than before. Subtracting the horse-holders, Buford had barely 2,000 effectives to hold off the more than 7,000 Confederates. He could only delay them, not fight them toe-to-toe. Calef's battery was working their guns so fast and furious, the barrels were red hot. Heth positioned his guns on Herr Ridge and pounded away as his brigades formed a massive front line. Buford had given Devin a free hand to the north while he stayed close to Gamble's line, moving between the ridge and the Seminary cupola, glassing for a sign of Reynolds. While riding his line, Buford sat high upon Grey Eagle, seemingly daring the Rebels to shoot at him, while he calmly puffed his pipe. He constantly yelled encouragement to his worn-out troopers, telling them they must "hold this position until Reynolds comes up or die in the attempt!"

He sent Jerome up into the cupola to watch for Reynolds' arrival. As Buford's lines were just about to break, Jerome spotted the First Corps flag of Reynolds, flapping in the humidity of the morning, along the Emmitsburg Road. Jerome yelled down to a staff officer to alert the General. At the news, Buford spurred his horse to the Seminary, ran up the steps to the observation deck, and glassed south. Spotting the advancing blue column, Buford let out the breath he had been holding. "Now we can hold the place."

Statue of civilian John Burns, a Gettysburg resident who joined the Iron Brigade for the first day's battle and was wounded three times. Burns was over 70 years of age at the time

Buford sent out two officers to ride to Reynolds and rush him to the scene. He nearly had to retreat at this point to his next fall-back position, Cemetery Hill, but decided to hold on a little longer while the First Corps moved into line. Buford anxiously stared through the glass as Reynolds spurred ahead of his column and rode to the front. Arriving on the grounds of the Seminary, Reynolds looked up to the cupola and yelled to Buford, "What's the matter, John?" Using his characteristic phrase he yelled back, "The devil's to pay!" Moving down the steps to greet his old friend, Buford was asked by Reynolds if he could hold out until the Corps could arrive in force. "I reckon I can," was the reply. "Let's ride out and see all about it," the wing commander said as he looked at the desperate fighting ahead. Riding to the front, Buford filled in Reynolds on the situation, all the while under infantry and artillery fire. Buford expressed concern over Reynolds' exposure to the missiles. Reynolds simply laughed and moved even closer to the front.

As the commander conferred, Buford turned back, pointing toward Cemetery Hill and Ridge to the east and south, emphasizing that it was the proper position for the ultimate battle line of the army. Reynolds immediately gave a verbal message to an aide to take back to Meade, stating to the army commander that "the enemy are advancing in strong force... I will fight them inch by inch... and will hold them back as long as possible." Reynolds told the aide to run his horse to death if necessary.

Meanwhile, Buford's men were being pounded, with both men and horses going down. Colonel Gamble rode up to Reynolds and cried in his thick Irish brogue, "Hurry up, General, hurry up! They are breaking our line! They are breaking our line!" Bringing his commanders up at the double-quick, the winded infantry got into line, relieving Buford's exhausted, sweaty troopers. As the cavalry fell back between the infantry's lines, some of Gamble's men exhorted the First Corps on by yelling, "Go in and give them hell!" The cavalry moved to the Corps' flank in support.

That hot and deadly morning, Buford's two small brigades had accomplished their mission. They had held off a vastly numerically superior enemy just until the infantry could take the field. His old dragoon ploy had worked, deceiving his foe about both his numbers and his nature. Heth had come to Gettysburg expecting to brush aside green, scared, local militia, but instead had run into the veteran commander and his steadfast men. The small prey had delayed the larger hunter, just barely long enough. But it was enough.

Later in the afternoon, as the Federal infantry was pushed through the town and reformed on the ridges earlier pointed out by Buford, the old Dragoon oversaw the emplacement of his troopers in support of the new line. After Reynolds had been killed around 10:35 am, command of the field fell upon Major General Abner Doubleday. In danger of being flanked by a new Confederate advance, Doubleday sent to Major General Oliver O. Howard, just arrived and now in command, for reinforcement. Unable to spare any, Howard suggested that the courier go find Buford and seek his help. The courier, Captain Eminel P. Halstead (assistant adjutant on Doubleday's staff), found Buford and his two brigades along the Emmitsburg Road. When Halstead advised Buford of Howard's order, the irate Buford set his jaw, rose up in his stirrups, pointed west and yelled, "What in hell and damnation does he think I can do against those long lines of the enemy out there?" Advised again of Howard's order, Buford said, "Very well! I will see what I can do."

It was now about 5 pm. Buford ordered his entire command to trot out into the fields fronting Cemetery Hill, in full view of the Confederates. Colonel Gamble sent out men to remove fence rails, as if to clear the way for a mounted charge. Forming a cavalry line of battle, the exhausted troopers of both brigades stood their ground and stared at the Confederates of Brigadier General James H. Lane's brigade. Union Second Corps commander Major General Winfield S. Hancock later recalled that it was "one of the most inspiring sights" of his military career and lauded the "splendid spectacle of that gallant cavalry, as it stood there unshaken and undaunted, in the face of the advancing Confederate infantry." Lane's infantrymen delivered an ineffective fire, and then began forming "square" to meet the expected mounted assault Gamble's troopers fired at the Confederates, inflicting heavy casualties, then trotted back to their places in line. The maneuver bought the additional time necessary for the Federals to rally on the heights. That night, the veteran Dragoon would assist Hancock, Howard, and Chief Engineer Gouvernor K. Warren in making dispositions for the infantry along the ridges and hills to meet what must surely come as Lee decided to continue the engagement.

Buford's Division, less than a month before, had participated in the largest cavalry battle known to man. Now he had chosen the ground for, opened, and determined the course of, the largest infantry battle of the Civil War. When he and his command was ordered south on July 2nd by Pleasonton to give his men a much-needed rest and refit, his job still would not be over. Lee, his army bloodied and repulsed at Gettysburg, would retreat to safer haven off enemy soil. And Buford, who had chased him here, would now have to chase him again.

My thanks to J. David Petruzzi of www.bufordsboys.com for graciously allowing the use of his material for this thread.

www.bufordsboys.com

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on September 10:
1487 Julius III Counter-Reformation pope (1550-55)
1736 Carter Braxton signed Decl of Ind
1753 Sir John Soane England, architect (Soane Museum)
1836 Joseph Wheeler Maj Gen/Cavalry Commander, Army of Tennessee
1839 Isaac Kauffman Funk US, publisher (Funk & Wagnalls)
1872 Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji India, cricketer/politician
1887 Giovanni Gronchi president of Italy
1890 Franz Werfel Austria, author (40 Days of Musa Dagh)
1893 Al "Fuzzy" St John Santa Ana Calif, actor (Lash of the West)
1907 Fay Wray Alberta Canada, actress-King Kong's main squeeze
1909 Raymond Scott Bkln NY, orch leader (Your Hit Parade)
1914 Robert Wise movie director (Day the Earth Stood Still)
1915 Edmond O'Brien NYC, actor (Sam Benedict, Johnny Midnight)
1927 Yma Sumac [Emperatriz Chavarri], Ichocan Peru, 5 octave soprano
1929 Arnold Palmer golfer (PGA Golfer of the Year 1960, 1962)
1933 Yevgeny V Khrunov USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 5)
1934 Charles Kuralt Wilmington NC, newscaster (On the Road)
1934 Roger Maris Yankee, HR champ (61 in 1961, AL MVP 1960, 1961)
1935 John Palmer Kingsport Tenn, news anchor (NBC Weekend News)
1939 Greg Mullavey Buffalo NY, actor (Tom-Mary Hartman, Rituals)
1940 Roy Ayers LA, disco jazz artist (Fever, You Send Me)
1945 Jos‚ Feliciano Lares PR, singer/songwriter (Light my Fire)
1945 Richard M Mullane Tx, USAF/astro (STS 41-D, STS-27, STS-36)
1945 Tom Ligon New Orleans, actor (Joyride)
1946 James R Hines US, sprinter (Olympic-gold-1968)
1948 Bob Lanier NBA center (Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks)
1948 Judy Geeson Arundei Sussex Engld, actress (To Sir With Love, Berserk)
1948 Margaret Trudeau Vancouver BC, former Canadian 1st lady
1950 Joe Perry Boston, rocker (Aerosmith-Walking the Dog)
1953 Amy Irving Palo Alto, Cal, actress (Yentl, Carrie, Crossing Delancy)
1957 Brian Fitzpatrick Upper Darby Pa, actor (Rick Alden-Loving)
1957 Siobhan Fahey rocker (Bananarama-Venus)
1960 Miranda Wilson Nebraska, actress (Sandra-Santa Barbara)
1963 Carol Decker rocker (T'Pau-Heart & Soul)
1963 David Titlow rocker (Blue Mercedes-Rich & Famous)
1965 Allison Daughtry actress (Guilding Light)

Deaths which occurred on September 10:
1382 Louis I, the Great, King of Hungary/Poland, dies
1419 John the Fearless Burgundy France, warrior, murdered at 48
1842 Letitia Tyler Pres Tyler's wife, dies at 51
1961 Leo Carrillo actor who portrayed Pancho on Cisco Kid, dies at 81
1976 Dalton Trumbo, US writer/director (Johnny Got His Gun), dies at 70
1976 Mordecai Johnson 1st black president of Howard U, dies at 86
1977 Hamida Djandoubi convicted murderer last to, die in the guillotine
1985 Alexa Kenin actress (Mousie-Coed Fever), dies at 23
1990 Samuel Kanyon Doe president of Liberia, assassinated
1991 Yves Montand actor (Lets Make Love, Z), dies at 70
1997 Burgess Meredith, actor (Penguin-Batman, Rocky), dies at 88

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 RIVERS WENDELL B. SEWARD NE.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 PETERSON DOUGLAS B. MINEOLA IA.
[03/01/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1966 TALLEY BERNARD L. BALTIMORE MD.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 TATUM LAWRENCE B. CHATTANOOGA TN.
1971 CORNWELL LEROY J. III TUSCON AZ.
[REMAINS RETURNED 08/94]
1971 IVAN ANDREW JR. SOUTH RIVER NJ
[REMAINS RETURNED 08/94]
1972 MUSSELMAN STEPHEN OWEN TEXARKANA TX.
[REMAINS RETURNED 07/08/81"]
1974 DEAN CHARLES

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
422 St Celestine I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1349 Jews who survived a massacre in Constance Germany are burned to death
1608 John Smith elected president of Jamestown colony council, Va
1623 Lumber and furs are the first cargo to leave New Plymouth in North America for England.
1776 George Washington asks for a spy volunteer, Nathan Hale volunteers
1798 British Hondurus beats Spain in battle of St George
1813 Comm Oliver H Perry defeats the British in the Battle of Lake Erie
1823 Simon Bolivar named president of Peru
1846 Elias Howe patents the sewing machine
1847 1st theater opens in Hawaii
1858 John Holden hits the 1st recorded HR (Bkln vs NY)
1869 Baptist minister invents the rickshaw in Yokohama, Japan
1882 1st international conference to promote anti-semitism meets in Dresden Germany (Congress for Safeguarding of Non-Jewish Interests)
1894 London taxi driver George ("Mac") Smith is 1st to be fined for drunk driving
1899 2nd quake in 7 days hits Yakutat Bay Alaska
1910 Great Idaho Fire destroys 3 million acres of timber
1912 J. Vedrines becomes the first pilot to break the 100 m.p.h. barrier
1913 Cleveland Call & Post established
1913 George W Buckner, named minister to Liberia
1913 Lincoln Highway opens as 1st paved coast-to-coast highway
1919 Indian's Ray Caldwell no-hits Yankees 3-0
1919 NYC welcomes home Gen John J Pershing & 25,000 WW I soldiers
1922 Largest Polo Grounds crowd Meusel, Ruth & Gehrig consecutive HRs
1924 Leopold & Loeb found guilty of murder
1927 France wins its 1st Davis Cup
1930 Charles E Mitchell, named minister to Liberia
1937 2nd American Football League plays 1st game (LA 21, Pittsburgh 0) Cleveland (Los Angeles) Rams plays their 1st NFL game, lose 28-0
1939 Canada declares war on Germany
1945 KLS-AM in Oakland Ca changes call letters to KWBR (now KDIA)
1945 Vidkun Quisling sentenced to death for collaborating with Nazis
1950 Joe DiMaggio becomes 1st to hit 3 HR in a game at Griffith Stadium
1953 Swanson sells its 1st "TV dinner"
1954 12 second shock kills 1,460 in Orleansville Algeria
1955 "Gunsmoke" premiers on CBS TV
1956 Louisville Ky public schools integrate
1960 NY Yankee Mickey Mantle hits 643' HR over right field roof in Detroit
1960 Running barefoot, Ethiopian Abebe Bikila wins Rome Olympic marathon
1961 Mickey Mantle becomes 7th to hit HR # 400
1962 Rod Laver wins the Grand Slam of tennis
1963 President John F. Kennedy federalizes Alabama's National Guard to prevent Governor George C. Wallace from using guardsmen to stop public-school desegregation.
1963 20 black students entered public schools in Alabama
1963 Phillies beat Houston Colt .45s, 16-0
1965 Phillies 10,000th game to a decision since 1900, Phils beat Cards
1966 Beatles' "Revolver," album goes #1 & stays #1 for 6 weeks
1967 Chic White Sox Joel Horlen no-hits Det Tigers, 6-0
1967 Gibraltar votes 12,138 to 44 to remain British
1969 NY Mets sweep Montreal Expos putting them in 1st place for 1st time
1972 Emerson Fittipaldi is youngest to win an auto race World Championship
1972 US Men's olympic basketball teams 1st lose, 51-50 to USSR (disputed)
1973 Muhammad Ali defeats Ken Norton
1973 NY Jets trade pro football's leading receiver Don Maynard to St Louis
1974 Guinea-Bissau gains independence from Portugal
1974 Lou Brock ties (104) & then sets (105) baseball stolen base mark
1974 Teuvo Louhivouri sets cycling distance record of 515.8 mi in 24 hrs
1976 2 airliners collide over Yugoslavia, kills all 176 aboard
1977 Blue Jays beat Yankees 19-3 with 20 hits
1978 Arlyne Rhode sets female footbow distance record (1,113 yds & 30")
1978 4th game of the Boston Massacre; Yanks beat Red Sox 7-4. This ties them for 1st place. Yanks out hit 'em 67-21; score 42-9
1979 3 Puerto Rican nationalists who attempted to kill Truman are freed
1980 Bill Gullickson, sets rookie record of striking out 18
1982 Decca releases Beatle audition "The Complete Silver Beatles" album
1984 Discovery returns to Kennedy Space Center via Altus AFB, Okla
1984 Sean O'Keefe (11) is youngest to cycle across US (24 days)
1986 Bryan O'Connor named chairman of Space Flight Safety Panel
1988 Steffi Graf wins US Open, 1st woman Grand Slam since Court (1970)
1989 Boris Becker beats Yvan Lendl for the US Open championship
1989 East Germans begin their flight to the west (via Hungary & Czech)
1990 19 year old Pete Sampras beats Andre Agassi to win the US Open
1990 1st time since 1966 that all 8 grand slam tennis champs are different
1990 George Bush & Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Helsinki
1990 Hard Rock Cafe opens in Las Vegas Nevada
1990 Iran agrees to resume diplomatic ties with Iraq
1990 Mariner Matt Young becomes 21st AL'er to strike out 4 in 1 inning
1990 1st time in NY Yankee history they are completely swept in a season series, Oakland A's beat them 12 games to 0
1991 Senate Committee begins hearings on Clarence Thomas' nomination

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Belize : National Day/St George's Caye Day (1798)
Hispanics : National Hispanic Heritage Week (Sunday)
US : National Grandparents' Day (Sunday)
Afghanistan : National Assembly Foundation Day (1964) (Wednesday)
Scotland : Fisherman's Walk Day (Friday)
Swap Ideas Day
Yugoslav Navy Day.
National Rice Month

Religious Observances
RC : Commemoration of St Nicholas of Tolentino, confessor/hermit

Religious History
1224 The Franciscans (founded in 1209 by St. Francis of Assisi) first arrived in England. They were originally called "Grey Friars" because of their gray habits. (The habit worn by modern Franciscans is brown.)
1718 The Collegiate School at New Haven, CT, changed its name to Yale. (Congregationalists, unhappy with an increasing religious liberalism at Harvard, had founded Yale, the third oldest college in America, in 1701.)
1734 English revivalist George Whitefield wrote in a letter: 'Pain, if patiently endured, and sanctified to us, is a great purifier of our corrupted nature.'
1794 Blount College -- the first American nondenominational institution of higher learning -- was established in Knoxville. (It later became the University of Tennessee.)
1819 Birth of Canadian hymnwriter Joseph Scriven. The accidental drowning of his bride-to-be the night before their wedding led to a life of depression; yet he also authored the hymn of comfort, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Those who live by the sword...get shot by those who don't."

You might be a redneck Jedi Knight if...
You can levitate yourself using a force from within, but not THE force.

Murphys Law of the day...(Ginsberg's Theorems)
1 You can't win.
2 You can't break even.
3 You can't even quit the game.

Cliff Clavin says, It's a little known fact that...
The air we breathe is 78% nitrogen, 21.5% oxygen, .5% argon and other gases.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.