FOREWORD

One of the more dramatic episodes of the Civil War is the evolution— or, as Eric Wittenberg puts it, the “coming of age”—of the Union cavalry in the eastern theater of operations. In large part it is a story of obstacles surmounted, limitations extended, and mistakes overcome. When the fighting began in the spring of 1861, the mounted branch of the Army of the Potomac was hampered by inexperienced troopers, embryonic support facilities, and leaders whose only claim to authority was seniority in the prewar Regulars. Not surprisingly, for two years the erstwhile store clerks and mechanics in the Union cavalry were outperformed, and often humiliated, by the riders of the Army of Northern Virginia, most of whom had been conversant with horsemanship and weaponry since early youth.

Things began to change early in 1863. Many factors combined to reverse the trend of Union defeat, including the ascension of Major General Joseph Hooker to command the Army of the Potomac. Committed to upgrading the quality of every component of his army, “Fighting Joe” ensured that his horsemen received more modern weapons, more abundant ammunition and equipment, more rigorous training, and more talented, more energetic leaders. Not the least of his reforms was to group his mounted regiments—which previously had been scattered about the Virginia theater in small detachments—into a corps almost ten thousand strong. The power and cohesion that resulted raised the cavalry’s morale to heights that soon produced victories in the field. For the remainder of the war, the confidence and ability of the army’s horsemen continued to grow, until they gained a clear and consistent advantage over their once-invincible opponents.

The story of the Union cavalry in the East has been told before, but in almost every instance as part of a broad study of army or corps operations. Never before has the watershed period between Fredericksburg and Gettysburg received the detail and depth of coverage this study gives it. Wittenberg’s scope and focus enable him to chronicle not only major clashes of arms but also skirmishes, raids, reconnaissances, and other small-scale operations. The story is told, as much as possible, in the words of the participants, a feat made possible by the author’s use of a wealth of first-person sources, many never before cited. Furthermore, he gives due consideration to nonoperational subjects such as organization, administration, and leadership. In sum, The Union Cavalry Comes of Age fills a gap in the literature of one of the most important combat arms of the nineteenth-century American army.

—Edward G. Longacre, author of Lincoln’s Cavalrymen