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:
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