Chapter 3 (continued)

Soldiers from North Carolina or Virginia, sources differ, led the main column. From the heights above Hanover, Pennsylvania, these troops spotted some of Kilpatrick's cavalry and charged, chasing the Union soldiers through the town and capturing several. The Confederates were returning through Hanover when more of Kilpatrick's force suddenly rode in behind them, firing weapons.

Now it was the Confederates' turn to escape, with Union soldiers in hot pursuit. Town residents added to the tumult, firing rifles out their windows at the now panicked Confederates. Stuart, with several aides, met the retreating soldiers as they rode outside of town. He yelled at them to turn and fight, but the men, terror in their eyes, thundered past Stuart, who soon followed as shooting Union soldiers raced toward him.

Stuart and his aides leaped their horses over a tall hedge bordering the road. Landing in a grassy meadow, the Confederates began firing back over the hedge at Union soldiers still dashing by on the road. Suddenly, other Union troops appeared in the field, riding straight for Stuart who spurred his horse, as did Captain W.W. Blackford beside him. The two plowed through the field as bullets whistled by. The grass whipping at the horses' legs was so tall that the riders couldn't see approaching danger and spotted the deep gully only when they reached the edge. Their horses jumped. Blackford, slightly ahead of Stuart, remembered looking back. "I shall never forget the glimpse I then saw of this beautiful animal a way up in midair over the chasm and Stuart's fine figure sitting erect and firm in the saddle."

Both riders cleared the gully, which was some 15-feet wide. Other Confederates were not so fortunate, tumbling from their horses into the muddy water, then frantically scrambling up the other side of the gully. Somehow, all the Confederates escaped. Federal troops continued to fire at them as they fled, but did not pursue the chase any farther.

Stuart found his way back to his men who were stunned to see him. Word had passed quickly through the ranks that their commanding officer was captured, so his appearance stirred a cheer of relief and admiration. Stuart quickly formed the troops on a hill in defensive positions, preparing for another assault by Kilpatrick's force.

Some distance away, hearing the gunfire, Hampton ordered soldiers to prepare the supply wagons for destruction. If Union troops appeared, they should torch every wagon, he commanded. Hampton then hurried forward with most of his soldiers, arriving in time to bolster Stuart's position. There were more exchanges of gunfire, but Kilpatrick's soldiers did not make another charge.

The Confederate cavalry waited until nightfall to escape Kilpatrick's soldiers, who were positioned to the north and northwest. The Confederates, still leading the cumbersome wagons, headed east in the opposite direction away from Gettysburg,

They rode through the night, eventually turning north, steadily moving farther away from Gettysburg, heading toward where they mistakenly thought Confederate infantry might be found. The ride seemed interminable. The cavalry had captured more prisoners who now rode in the wagons, many of them serving as drivers. More than once, part of the column was forced to halt because a driver, falling asleep, dropped the reins and his wagon wandered off course or simply stopped. Soldiers patrolled up and down the line in the dark, searching out reasons for delays. The tired and hungry wagon mules also caused problems. Now and then, one suddenly darted off the road, hauling a careening wagon with it. Other mules bucked and kicked in protest.

Fatigue gnawed at the soldiers. Entire regiments slept in their saddles, their horses often moving forward only because the other animals headed in that direction. More than one sleeping soldier toppled from his horse with a thud. Once his comrades might have laughed and teased as the fallen rider scrambled to catch and remount his horse, but now they were too tired even to smile.

The next day, July 1, 1863, Stuart still couldn't find Lee's army. Seven days had passed since he had communicated with his general, and now Lee moved blindly toward disaster because Stuart had failed to warn him about Union troop numbers and locations. That same day, Lee's forward units launched attacks near Gettysburg, with Confederate infantry driving Union soldiers back through the town and up onto formidable bulwarks, Cemetery Hill and adjacent Culp's Hill.

Stuart, who didn't learn until that evening of the battle unfolding at Gettysburg 27 miles away, ordered troops to ride all night to reach the battlefield, a command that sparked protest from an officer who warned that Stuart was overestimating the men's stamina. Cavalrymen were so exhausted that they slept even when their mounts jumped fences. Chastened, Stuart rescinded his order and slept an hour himself before leaving after midnight for Gettysburg.

Hampton's troops arrived at the Pennsylvania fields first and almost immediately rode into battle, catching Kilpatrick's cavalry maneuvering toward the rear of Lee's infantry. Hampton halted Kilpatrick's advance by ordering a charge by South Carolina and Georgia cavalry. The Union troops gradually withdrew, but Kilpatrick, in a report filed after the encounter, claimed that he had battled not only Hampton, but a much larger force commanded by Stuart. Kilpatrick also claimed that he whipped the Confederates, apparently not the only instance when after a battle he stretched combat facts in his favor.

Stuart reached Lee's headquarters in the afternoon to find Lee fretting over how slowly Longstreet was moving his two divisions into position for attacks on the Union left. An aide who attended the meeting between Lee and Stuart said, "It was painful beyond description."

Lee reddened when he saw Stuart, writes historian Burke Davis. Fighting to control his rage, Lee may even have lifted his hand as if to hit the cavalry chief, but stopped short of a blow.

"General Stuart, where have you been?" he demanded.

Stuart's usual aggressive composure deserted him. He tried to explain his actions of the past week, but the general was unappeased.

"I have not heard a word from you for days," Lee seethed.

Stuart countered that he and his force had captured 125 wagons.

"Yes, General, but they are an impediment to me now," scolded Lee.

Suddenly, Lee's mood softened.

"Let me ask your help now. We will not discuss this matter longer. Help me fight these people."

That day at Gettysburg, some 16,000 casualties fell in the titanic struggle between two powerful armies. When the fighting was over, the Union still held a tight grip on its defensive positions. Confederates faltered, suffering in part because of inadequate intelligence from the cavalry.

The pain and loss only increased July 3. While infantrymen wrestled in a deadly embrace, Stuart positioned himself on Cress Ridge three miles from the battlefield. His small force held a commanding view of the rolling farmland near the rear of the Union Army. Stuart sent word to Hampton to hurry to his position to reinforce his troops, but was attacked by Union cavalry before Hampton arrived. When Hampton finally appeared, leading a charge, a pitched battle with hand-to-hand combat was already underway.

As Hampton's force rode forward to help Stuart, another unit of Union cavalry countercharged, led by Brigadier General George Custer who raced in front of his troops, riding directly toward Hampton's men. At the same time, Union artillery blasted into the Confederate ranks, sending shrapnel flying and terrified horses rearing. Cavalrymen yelled in pain and fell from their mounts. As some other riders hesitated, reining their animals, they allowed a gap to open in the Confederate ranks, although most of the troops surged forward, closing together.

A Union soldier recalled, "The speed increased, every horse on the jump, every man yelling like a demon. The column of the Confederates blended, but the perfect alignment was maintained.... As the opposing columns drew nearer every man gathered his horse well under him, and gripped his weapon tighter."

Suddenly, other Union cavalry charged from hidden positions, ramming into the flanks of the Confederate column. But this attack didn't slow the Confederate advance toward Custer. The Union soldier remembered, "...the two columns [one led by Custer and one by Hampton] had come together with a crash. and were fighting hand-to-hand. For minutes which seemed like hours, amid the clashing of the sabers, the rattle of the small arms, the frenzied imprecations, the demands for surrender, the undaunted replies, and the appeals for mercy, the Confederate column stood its ground."

Union soldiers fought their way to Hampton and slashed him in the head twice with sabers, piercing his skull. He was also hit with artillery shrapnel. Seriously wounded and bleeding heavily, he crumpled in his saddle. Seeing Hampton wounded likely disheartened the spent Confederates who retreated to nearby woods where they were not attacked again by Custer.

The cavalry battle between Hampton's and Custer's forces occurred about the same time that Confederate Major Generals George Pickett and Isaac R. Trimble and Brigadier General Johnston J. Pettigrew led a futile infantry attack up Cemetery Ridge three miles away.

Some 12,600 men swarmed up the slope, carrying 47 different regiment flags. Their bayonets glinted in the hot sun as artillery fire blew the soldiers apart. In a final, awful charge into a torrent of Union gunfire, some 100 men managed to scale the stone wall and briefly push back Union lines. For a few moments, their Confederate flags waved atop the wall before a hail of bullets felled these soldiers.

About the same time, Kilpatrick led a rear assault on Lee's infantry. Kilpatrick's troops attacked nearly impregnable positions held by Confederate Brigadier General Evander Law's Texans and Alabamians who had carved out defensive sites behind rock walls and boulders.

Kilpatrick's soldiers from West Virginia charged repeatedly against Law's troops, amid devastating losses. Some tried to break through to the Confederates by hacking with sabers at a wood fence barring their way, even as they were torn apart by bullets.

In the midst of the carnage, Kilpatrick remained on his horse, creating an easy target. Turning to Brigadier General E.J. Farnsworth, he ordered him to lead the Vermont cavalry in another charge.

"General, do you mean it?" Farnsworth asked, incredulously. "Over this ground, against an infantry brigade? These are too good men to kill like this."

Kilpatrick angrily fired back. "Do you refuse to obey my orders? If you're afraid, I'll lead this charge."

Farnsworth, outraged, demanded, "Take that back!"

"I didn't mean it," Kilpatrick shouted.

Relenting, Farnsworth said, "General, if you order the charge, I'll make it, but it must be your responsibility."

Kilpatrick ordered him to proceed. The cavalry surged forward, passing by retreating Union troops who begged them to turn back. The Vermonters, ignoring the pleas from their fellow soldiers, charged and quickly suffered staggering losses. Farnsworth was among the casualties. As he lay wounded, a Confederate soldier stood over him, demanding his surrender. Instead, Farnsworth turned his pistol on himself and fired, killing himself.

As time passed, critics concluded that Kilpatrick on more than one occasion recklessly and needlessly endangered the lives of his troops. Some of the men under Kilpatrick's command must have agreed with the assessment because in a flash of gallows humor they nicknamed him "Kill-cavalry."

Chapter 4: Hampton Takes Charge

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