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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

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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.

GENERAL JOHN BUFORD, USA

VITAL STATISTICS
BORN: 1826 in Woodford County, KY.
DIED: 1863 in Virginia.
CAMPAIGN: Second Bull Run and Gettysburg.
HIGHEST RANK ACHIEVED: Major General.

BIOGRAPHY
John Buford was born on March 4, 1826, on Woodford County, Kentucky. His family moved to Rock Island, Illinois when he was a child.
Like his older brother, Napoleon Bonaparte Buford, John Buford attended the US Military Academy at West Point.
Graduating in 1848, he served in the dragoons, taking part in various military operations until his regiment marched from Kansas to Washington, D.C., at the beginning of the Civil War.

Buford held a small assignment as inspector at the time. Maj. Gen. John Pope, commander of the army defending Washington, was aware that Buford was one of the most skilled and experienced cavalry officers in the Regular Army, and soon Buford was made a brigadier general and appointed a cavalry commander.
Buford applied his military knowledge from his days as a dragoon officer. One concept he brought to his command was using horses to get troops where they needed to be, then having the cavalry dismount and fight like infantry.
Another idea was to use cavalry in scouting. His brigade, while scouting, captured the famous plumed hat of Confederate Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, as well as a copy of Gen. Robert E. Lee's orders to gather the Army of Northern Virginia against Maj. Gen. Pope.
Buford's intelligence gathering might have helped avert a Union disaster at the Second Battle of Bull Run, if it had been utilized effectively.

Buford led troops at the Battle of Gettysburg, and succeeded in holding off the Confederate forces long enough for Union troops to secure a defense position.

His health deteriorated in the fall of 1863, and he took a sick leave in November. Buford died from typhoid fever on December 16, 1863, in Virginia. His appointment as major general, to rank from the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, was confirmed after his death.

Air Power
Tu-128 "Fiddler"

The Tupolev Tu-128 Fiddler was a derivative of the Tu-98 bomber (which was developed as a tactical transonic bomber), and is probably the largest fighter ever built.

Around 200 were built to patrol areas of Siberia which were not protected by a SAM screen. Its main objective was to intercept B-52 long before they approached the soviet airspace.

The Tu-128 was retired in 1992. was withdrawn from Russian service in 1992.

Specifications:
Manufacturer: Tupolev
Primary Mission: All Weather Fighter Interceptor
Crew: 2
Powerplant: 2 Lyulka AL-21F with 11000kg thrust each

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 19.8 m
Length: 27.43 m
Maximum Weight: 36000kg

Performance :
Max. Speed: Mach 1.6
Range: 1250 km ( mission ) / 3200km (max)
Ceiling: 18300m

Armaments:
Up to 4 long range AAM "R-4" (Range 40km, NATO Name:"Ash") missles

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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.

During our battle analysis of Gettysburg during MIOBC at Ft. Huachuca, the Spencer rifle was identified as the key to Buford's success in holding Gettysburg. He would not have been able to hold his ground long enough to allow Reynolds to bring up the infantry without it, and the volume of fire it produced led the confederates to believe they had encountered a much larger force. It was one of the main factors leading to Heth's decision to fully deploy his forces for battle rather than trying push stright into Gettysburg.