Horse Soldiers at Gettysburg

Cavalry operations during the Gettysburg campaign have been well covered, but never like this. Most cavalry treatments of the campaign and battle have focused on strategy, operations, and tactics and zoomed in on particular episodes: the Battle of Brandy Station in June 1863 (the largest cavalry engagement on American soil), Jeb Stuarts controversial ride-for-glory that deprived Lee of important intelligence for days, Union cavalry generals John Bufords role in the start of the battle on July 1, and the cavalry battle involving not only Stuart but also George Armstrong Custer east of Gettysburg on July 3. Daniel Murphys book covers the grand sweep of cavalry in the Gettysburg campaign, from Lees crossing of the Rappahannock in early June 1863, through the epic three-day clash in Pennsylvania, to the conclusion of Lees retreat in July 1863. But more than that, in a book blending strategy and tactics and campaign narrative with deep research in primary sources and an equestrians sense for what its like to ride and manage horses, Daniel Murphy brings a horsemans eye to the story of the campaign: how individual cavalrymen experienced the campaign from the saddle and how horseswith special needs for care and maintenancewere in fact weapons that helped shape battles. In this new narrative of Civil War cavalry, author Daniel Murphy gets into the saddle and explores what it was like to be a cavalryman during the Gettysburg campaign. Horse-soldiering was a unique way of doing battle, and Murphy gives it more justice and nuanced description than any author has yet given it.