Disunion follows the Civil War as it unfolded.
Neither side in the Civil War lacked for blowhards and glory seekers among its general officers corps. Many still command our attention 150 years later, and theirs are the names we often tend to recognize, while the steady, unassuming sort – those who did their jobs and sought no recognition – have often gone unheralded.
Few general officers deserve more credit from the historians for initiative, courage and fine soldiering ability than John Buford – and few have received less. In his classic "Army of the Potomac" trilogy, Bruce Catton epitomizes the view taken by most Civil War chroniclers, describing Buford simply as "a solid man who was hard to frighten and who was greatly admired by the men of his division." He was, in fact, a good deal more, and at Gettysburg, he was responsible for saving the day, the battle and, arguably, the Union.
Born in Kentucky in 1826, John Buford was descended from a long line of soldiers. He entered West Point in 1844, graduating four years later, 16th in his class of 38 – a ranking neither as impressive as that of Robert E. Lee, who graduated second, nor as ignominious as that of the two Georges, Custer and Pickett, each of whom finished last. He requested service in the cavalry, and was brevetted a second lieutenant in the First and then the Second Dragoons. Years of service on the Western frontier followed, during which Buford distinguished himself in numerous Indian engagements, including the bloody Battle of Ash Hollow, fought against the Sioux in 1855.
Buford served in Utah under Gen. Albert S. Johnston, during President Buchanan's ill-advised campaign against the Mormons. While stationed at Fort Crittenden, Buford studied cavalry theory and tactics, adopting the then-radical concept that cavalry could be better served by fighting as mounted infantry. This approach to combat would serve him well six years in the future, when his small force confronted the Army of Northern Virginia outside the small town of Gettysburg, Pa.
When the Civil War began, although Buford was a member of a slave-owning family and was offered a Confederate commission by the governor of Kentucky, he cast his lot with the Union. Initially assigned a desk job in Washington, in mid-1862 he was given command of a cavalry brigade, and fought with distinction at Second Bull Run. In the course of reorganizing the Army of the Potomac, Maj. Gen. George McClellan named Buford his chief of cavalry, a position he retained after Gen. Ambrose Burnside assumed command. When, in turn, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker took over from Burnside, he gave Buford command of the Cavalry Corps, Reserve Brigade, First Division. Buford subsequently fought at Chancellorsville, and later gained the advantage over Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's famed rebel cavalry at Brandy Station.
On June 30, 1863, Buford led the 3,000 men of his First Cavalry Division into the town of Gettysburg, looking for the enemy. Late in the afternoon he found them, when his scouts reported that enemy patrols had recently left the town, heading west on the Cashtown Pike. Buford stationed pickets, under the command of Col. Tom Devin, to cover the countryside and the roads leading in and out of town. Devin was sure they were dealing with only a small contingent of rebels, and assured his commander that he could easily handle whatever came along; Buford, who strongly believed that they were about to confront the bulk of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, quickly disabused him of the notion. "No, you won't. They will attack you in the morning and they will come booming – skirmishers three-deep. You will have to fight like the devil until supports arrive."
If West Point, years of combat experience and common sense had taught Buford anything, it was to claim and maintain the high ground. His small force stood alone between the rebels and the hills outside the town. It would take Maj. Gen. John Reynolds several hours the next day to bring up his I Corps, and Buford realized that if he withdrew and allowed Lee to claim the high ground, the battle – and quite possibly the war – could be forfeited. The only course was to fight a delaying action against an overwhelmingly superior force, no matter the cost.
With what light remained, Buford rode the countryside about, getting the lay of the land and visualizing what was to come on the morrow. That night, he seemed to be everywhere at once, puffing on his pipe. By the light of a bright moon, he sent scouts to the north and west, and warned his troops, "Look out for campfires during the night and for dust in the morning." He sent a messenger to Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade – who had assumed command of the Army of the Potomac from Hooker only two days before – informing him of the situation. Meade replied that Buford was to hold the line and await infantry support next day from generals Reynolds and Oliver Howard.
Before dawn on what promised to be a hot July 1, the Yankee cavalry stood waiting the appearance of the Rebel force. The fields about were rich with growing crops, and for a brief moment, the scene was peaceful and idyllic. With the rising sun, a long column of butternut figures marched eastward toward Buford's position. As he had predicted, their lines of skirmishers was three deep, and coursing over the wheat fields along the Cashtown Road. Ironically, they were commanded by Gen. Harry Heth, alongside whom Buford had fought during the campaign against the Sioux in the mid-1850s. Reportedly, Heth had been leading his men toward Gettysburg in search of shoes and supplies; instead, he found John Buford.
Rebel skirmishers and four federal soldiers from the 9th New York Cavalry first spotted each other near Willoughby Run, and fired a few desultory rounds – thus beginning the Battle of Gettysburg.
Using his two unsupported cavalry brigades as mounted infantry, Buford dismounted his men and stationed them along a ridge just a few miles from town, in the path of the oncoming rebels. One man in four stood to the rear holding the horses for the others. This effectively left him with only 2,200 men – stationed at wide intervals – to hold the high ground. The line was anything but formal, with Buford's men taking cover as best they could, aiming their breech-loading Spencer carbines from behind trees, bushes and fence posts. Buford strategically placed his six cannon for maximum effect. Lt. John Calef, commanding the guns, aimed one cannon at a group of rebel officers nearly a mile distant, and fired. As Bruce Catton understates it, "The flash and the echoing report and the bursting shell notified the Confederates that they were expected."
Buford surveyed the battle from the tower of a Lutheran seminary on a nearby ridge. It seemed there was no end to the Rebel forces, and without infantry support, he knew his delaying action was doomed. He sent messengers to apprise Reynolds of his situation, and to encourage him to hurry up. Meanwhile, the numerically superior Confederate riflemen and artillery were hammering Buford's thin line, and taking a heavy toll. Calef's well-managed cannon replied, but the force of the guns was all on the rebels' side.
When he received word of Buford's position, Reynolds galloped on alone, ahead of his infantry. Reynolds reined in at the tower, asking, "What's the matter, John?" to which Buford shouted, "There's the devil to pay!" He filled Reynolds in, whereupon Reynolds sent off a note to Meade, reading, "I will fight [the enemy] inch by inch, and if driven into the town I will barricade the streets and hold him aback as long as possible." South of Gettysburg, the Union infantry quickened their pace toward the sound of the guns on what has come to be called Seminary Ridge. When he saw the rapidly approaching files of blue uniforms, Buford stated with relief, "Now we can hold the place."
Throughout that long, bloody day, Buford's men continued to fight alongside the Union infantry, which included the legendary black-hatted Iron Brigade. It was a hard-fought struggle, involving bitter hand-to-hand fighting, as well as the loss of General Reynolds to a sniper's bullet. After the first day of battle, Buford wrote of his small force, "The zeal, bravery, and good behavior of the officers and men on the night of June 30, and on July 1, was commendable in the extreme. A heavy task was before us; we were equal to it, and shall all remember with pride that at Gettysburg we did our country much service."
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Most of Buford's men spent a rainy night on the line of battle, between Cemetery Ridge and Little Round Top, while his pickets watched for enemy action from a peach orchard along the Emmitsburg Road. The next morning brought yet more fighting, beginning as early as 5 a.m. By now, Buford's men and horses were exhausted, their ranks badly thinned, their supplies and ammunition nearly gone. At around 11 a.m., Meade ordered Buford to withdraw his drained and depleted force for "re-fit." The order directed him to proceed to Taneytown, Md., 14 miles distant, and from there, to convey supply trains to the railhead supply base at Westminster. Here he could rest his men and mounts, and replenish his supplies.
Buford's actions at Gettysburg had delayed the enemy long enough for the federals to halt their advance. As Buford intended, he had deprived Lee of the high ground, and in so doing, had contributed immeasurably to slanting the outcome of the battle toward the Union.
Buford sought no recognition for his stand at Gettysburg. Perhaps the best description of the man's character comes from the contemporary historian and brevet brigadier general Theophilus Rodenbough: "Buford despised the false flourish and noisy parade of the charlatans of his service. He avoided too … the proper praise due his glorious actions, his bravery and dash, without ostentation or pride, his coolness and able management; and above all, the care of his men endeared him to all."
Later that year, Buford was stricken with typhoid. He grew increasingly infirm, finally taking to bed in the Washington home of his friend, Gen. George Stoneman. As Buford's condition worsened, Stoneman pressed the administration to promote his comrade to the rank of major general. On Dec. 16, President Lincoln concurred, writing, "I am informed that General Buford will not survive the day. It suggests itself to me that he will be made Major General for distinguished and meritorious service at the Battle of Gettysburg."
Buford's devoted aide, Capt. Myles Keogh, presented him with his promotion as Buford lay on his deathbed. After Keogh convinced him the advance in rank was genuine, the dying general replied, "It is too late, now I wish I could live."
Buford passed in and out of delirium throughout the day. His wife, Pattie, was hurrying to his bedside from their home in Rock Island, Ill., but she would not arrive in time. John Buford succumbed at 2 in the afternoon. Ever the soldier, as Captain Keogh held him in his arms, he uttered his last words: "Put guards on all the roads and don't let the men run to rear."
The following day, The New York Times printed Buford's obituary, stating, "He was considered the best field cavalry commander in the service, and was noted for his coolness and judgment under fire. He was … a man of generous nature and warm impulses. … The country has lost a noble spirit and a brave defender." Memorial services for Buford were held in the nation's capital, with the president in attendance.
If death was to be his fate during the war, this was not the death that John Buford would have wished. Nor was it the death ordained for Keogh, his valued aide. That would occur more than 12 years in the future, while in the service of the greatest glory hunter of them all. Keogh would perish in the wilds of Montana Territory, on the side of a grassy hill. At its foot ran a narrow tributary that the Lakota called the Greasy Grass. To the ill-fated soldiers of the Seventh Cavalry, it was the Little Big Horn.
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Ron Soodalter is the author of "Hanging Captain Gordon: The Life and Trial of an American Slave Trader" and a co-author of "The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today." He is a featured writer and columnist for America's Civil War magazine and a frequent contributor to Civil War Times and Military History.
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