Classifying Cavalry

[Jack Torrance]

Originally Posted by KRJ

Ah, General "Kill Cavalry Kilpatrick."

I think Gen Sherman had a soft spot for "Kill Cavalry" Kilpatrick. If I remember correctly Sherman had him transferred to his command in the western theater after the Dahlgren Raid fiasco. Why? I don't know but it's alleged that Sherman needed someone who was a "damned fool" to command his cavalry during the March to the Sea.

[RuselUpsomegrub]

Originally Posted by Pruitt

You forgot to mention that while Pickett's Division was taken at Five Forks, Pickett was at a Shad Fry. If he had been with his troops he would have been captured as well.

Pruitt

My curiosity got the best of me, what the hell is a shad fry???

[Eric Wittenberg]

Shad bake, actually.

This recipe will give you an idea: http://fishcooking.about.com/od/bony...ginia_shad.htm

Shad is a bony fish. It must be cooked slowly in order to make it edible. The photos in this next link will give you a very good idea of how it is often prepared: http://www.instructables.com/id/Shad...ecticut-Style/

On April 1, 1865, Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Rosser hosted a shad bake that was attended by Pickett and Fitzhugh Lee, meaning that the three highest ranking officers were nowhere near the battlefield when Sheridan's attack hit. It was really a poor choice by these three high-ranking officers.

[RuselUpsomegrub]

Don't want to stay off topic too much. That looks like a hell of a lot of work, you learn something every day!

[Von Richter]

Was there ever an incidence of ACW Infantry forming square when threatened by a charge of Cavalry?

[67th Tigers]

Originally Posted by Von Richter

Was there ever an incidence of ACW Infantry forming square when threatened by a charge of Cavalry?

Several. Lane's brigade on 1st July 1863 is the most famous. Compiling from a thread on TMP:

1) 13th US, 69th NY and 2nd Wisconsin at 1st Bull Run
2) 55th Illinois at Shiloh (to protect against infantry!)
3) Lane's Brigade Confederates at Gettysburg 1st day
4) Orphan Brigade at Murfreesboro
5) Confederates at Winchester
6) Confederates at Five Forks
7) Confederates at Sailors Creek
8) 27th Tennessee Infantry, Resaca, Georgia, May 15, 1864:
9) The Thirty-second Indiana at Rowlett's Station, Ky
10) 67th Indiana at Grand Coteau, La
11) 123rd Il returning from an unspecified scout
12) Confederates at Nashville
13) 8th Ga at Olustee
14) 8th NH at Bayou LaForche
15) The 5th Wisconsin Infantry formed a square in the Battle of Willamsburg during the Peninsula campaign
16) The 41st Illinois formed a square at Jackson, Mississippi durin the Vicksburg campaign
17) Companies of the 36th Illinois Infantry formed squares during the Battle of Pea Ridge.

and to repeat a quote from Co. Aytch pp 147-148:

'Halloo! here comes a cavalry charge from the Yankee line. Now for it; we will see how Yankee cavalry fight… They thunder down upon us. Their flat-footed dragoons shake and jar the earth. They are all around us – we are surrounded. "Form square! Platoons, right and left wheel! Kneel and fire!" There we were in a hollow square.

….They charged right upon us. Colonel Field, sitting on his gray mare, right in the center of the hollow square, gives the command, "Front rank, kneel and present bayonet against cavalry." The front rank knelt down, placing the butts of their guns against their knees. "Rear rank, fire at will; commence firing." Now all this happened in less time than it has taken me to write it. They charge upon us, no doubt expecting to ride right over us, and trample us to death with the hoofs of their horses. They tried to spur and whip the horses over us, but the horses had more sense than that. We were pouring deadly fire right into their faces, and soon men and horses were writhing in their death agonies; officers were yelling at the top of their voices, "Surrender! Surrender!" but we were having too good a thing of it. We were killing them by scores, and they could not fire at us; if they did they either overshot or missed their aim. Their ranks began to break and get confused, and finally they were routed…

[Eric Wittenberg]

Actually, the one allegedly formed by Lane's Brigade at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863 was just that--alleged. There is a single source that claims that it happened--Capt. Eminel P. Halstead, of Doubleday's staff. In a post-war MOLLUS paper, Halstead claimed that Lane's Brigade formed square in response to a feinted charge by Gamble's and Devin's brigades late in the afternoon on July 1.

The problem is that Halstead's account is the ONLY one that makes this claim. Winfield Scott Hancock, atop East Cemetery Hill, described Buford's troopers, drawn up in line of battle, as standing "unshaken and undaunted," but made no reference to a square. No contemporary account says anything about Lane forming square. Not one. Buford didn't mention it in his report, nor did Gamble or Devin.

O.O. Howard sent Halstead to Buford with orders to do something to halt the Confederate advance. Buford, operating on the flank, supposedly rose in his stirrups, pointed at the massed Confederate infantry, and asked, "What in hell and damnation am I supposed to do?" Halstead said, "I don't know, General, but those are General Howard's orders."

Buford ordered the two brigades to deploy into line of battle, sent men forward to tear down fences to clear the way, and visibly made ready to make the charge with bugles blowing. The charge itself was never ordered by Buford. It was not necessary.

Having said that, something halted Lane's advance that day. It was probably the sight of two full brigades of cavalry--roughly 4000 troopers--mounted, in line of battle, with sabers drawn, awaiting the order to charge. But there is no evidence that Lane actually gave the order to form squares by echelon, and there is no evidence that they actually did so.

The feint was enough. Lane's advance halted, which allowed time for the Union infantry to fall back safely from its very exposed position on Seminary Ridge to the positions that Hancock and G. K. Warren had prepared on East Cemetery Hill.

What gets lost in the shuffle is that the 52nd North Carolina Infantry of Pettigrew's brigade DID, indeed, form square that day. Col. James K. Marshall was advancing on the end of Chapman Biddle's line on McPherson's Ridge, and was about to overlap it.

Troopers of the 8th Illinois Cavalry, posted to the left of the Union infantry, spotted this advance, realized that Biddle could not see the Confederate infantry due to its being hidden in a swale, and made noisy preparations to charge, including bugle calls, etc. Marshall ordered his regiment to halt and form square the receive the charge, which never came. However, Biddle spotted the movement and ordered his men to fall back to Seminary Ridge, which they did safely.

This episode--notably missing from your list--is well documented. It appears in the entry for the 52nd North Carolina in Walter Clark's compilation regarding North Carolina troops in the war. Marshall was killed during Pickett's Charge, so he left no report, but I have no doubt that he would have mentioned it.

In case it's not clear from this post, I first began researching this episode in 1992 and continue to search for sources about it. I am quite confident that the 55th North Carolina formed square on July 1. The veterans corroborate that.

Lane's brigade, not so much. There are no other accounts--on either side--to corroborate Halstead's claim. As said above, SOMETHING halted the Confederate advance, and it was undoubtedly the sight of Buford's two brigades drawn up, ready to charge. But there simply is no proof to corroborate Halstead's claim.

Most notably, there are no claims that the Confederates formed square when the 5th U.S. Cavalry charged Hood's infantry at Gaine's Mill in May 1862, or when the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry charged Jackson's infantry at Cedar Mountain on August 9, 1862. Both charges failed miserably, although the charge of the 5th U.S. at Gaine's Mill did appear to halt the Confederate momentum and halted the rout of the 5th Corps.

Similarly, there are no claims that the Confederates formed square to repulse Farnsworth's Charge at Gettysburg on July 3. Perhaps they realized that a cavalry charge uphill, into the teeth of two batteries of artillery, was destined to fail miserably and that they didn't feel that they needed to do so.

UPDATE, 10:30 PM: I have put together a lengthy blog post that addresses this issue in great detail, and which includes a rare image of a Union infantry regiment drawn up in a hollow square, on my blog. The post can be found here: http://civilwarcavalry.com/?p=3578