Inhoudsopgave:
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The award-winning Civil War historianâs study âmakes the case that Union cavalry had a tremendous effect on the course of the titanic battleâ (J. David Petruzzi, author of The Complete Gettysburg Guide). On July 3, 1863, a large-scale cavalry fight was waged on Cress Ridge four miles east of Gettysburg. There, on what is commonly referred to as East Cavalry Field, Union horsemen under Brig. Gen. David M. Gregg tangled with the vaunted Confederates riding with Maj. Gen. Jeb Stuart. This magnificent mounted clash, however, cannot be fully appreciated without an understanding of what happened the previous day at Brinkerhoffâs Ridge, where elements of Greggâs division pinned down the legendary infantry of the Stonewall Brigade, preventing it from participating in the fighting for Culpâs Hill that raged that evening. After arriving at Gettysburg on July 2 and witnessing the climax of the fighting at Brinkerhoffâs Ridge, Stuart knew that if he could defeat Greggâs troopers, he could dash thousands of his own men behind enemy lines and wreak havoc. The ambitious offensive thrust resulted the following day in a giant clash of horse and steel on East Cavalry Field. The combat featured artillery duels, dismounted fighting, hand-to-hand engagements, and the most magnificent mounted charge and countercharge of the entire Civil War. This fully revised edition of Protecting the Flank at Gettysburg is the most detailed tactical treatment of the fighting on Brinkerhoffâs Ridge yet published, and includes a new Introduction, a detailed walking and driving tour with GPS coordinates, and a new appendix refuting claims that Stuartâs actions on East Cavalry Field were intended to be coordinated with the Pickett/Pettigrew/Trimble attack on the Union center on the main battlefield. |
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