Conditions at Fort Crittenden were as tense in April 1861 as in the rest of the army and the nation itself. Even the name of the fort its self reflected the tenor of the times. It had been "Camp Floyd" until Virginia seceded from the Union and the then Secretary of War John Floyd resigned his post out of loyalty to his state. The lonely Utah frontier outpost was now named after the loyalist United States Senator from Kentucky John J. Crittenden. This was home of B Company Second U.S. Dragoons.

Dragoons were a strange breed of soldier. They were a mounted arm of the army but were neither cavalry nor mounted infantry. Where cavalry trained to fight from the saddle primarily utilizing the saber and mounted infantry utilized the horse as transportation fighting as infantry on foot, dragoons stressed the ability to fight either in the saddle or on foot. Dexterity, versatility and audacity were the watchwords of the Dragoons. Armed with carbine, pistol and saber, the Dragoons were ideally suited to plains' warfare against the American Indian. The 2nd U.S. Dragoons were some of the best of a hard lot with a reputation as rowdy, insubordinate, tough, no-nonsense fighters.

The captain commanding the 2nd was as hard and as tenacious as his men. Challenged in the southwest where only those with the strongest character and constitutions survived, he was a Dragoon. For him the true school was the American frontier not West Point or Mexico like many of his contemporary Army officers. The frontier had molded him into what he was. A Kentuckian raised in Illinois, he had been in the army since 1848 when, upon graduating from West Point, he had been assigned to the Dragoons and sent west. Now in April 1861 he had been in the Army for 13 years and had served in Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, California and Utah.

As he walked to his quarters this late April spring day he was deep in thought. Word had been received that forces of the Confederate States had fired upon Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. More and more of his fellow officers were choosing to resign their commissions and volunteering to serve in the army being raised by the various southern states that were seceding from the Union. Now it looked like the impacts of the oncoming war were reaching even this far-flung post.

As he made his way across the open parade field it was clear why his soldiers and his peers respected him. He was a singular-looking individual, from his bearing and manner it was obvious that he was an officer comfortable with his position and responsibility. Command and authority came easy to him; he did not need to rely on flash and dash to convince others of his superiority and to demand their respect. He was tall and well built with a tawny mustache and little, clear triangular shaped gray eyes that looked into a person with a no-nonsense appraisal that said here was a man not to be trifled with. His normal expression was one of determination bordering on sinister with a hint of humor. He was a soldier and an officer in every sense of the word who in or out of uniform was deferred to and who by his very presence had a calming effect on others. From his dress it was clear that he was not a dandy ready for the parade but a practical horse soldier who favored old corduroys tucked into the tops of ordinary cowhide boots and a hunting shirt with few accouterments.

As he walked he took out his constant companion that had become and would remain one of his distinguishing features - a large well broken in pipe accompanied by an equally large pouch of tobacco. As he worked the pipe, in a manner of all those who smoke one, the process soothed him giving him time to think and ponder the letter in his pocket. A thoughtful man, he was never one to jump to conclusions or make hasty decisions. He was trained in combat and had the ability to look at issues from all sides before committing. However, once committed he became a tenacious fighter who drove himself and his men mercilessly.

He was from a fighting family; his grandfather had fought in the Revolution and his father in the War of 1812. His wife's father was a Revolutionary War hero and his half-brother, who was his ideal and mentor, had graduated from West Point in 1823. He had spent his entire life preparing for or serving in the Army of the United States. All of this made the letter he was carrying even more important.

He was a true professional military officer who, even though raised in the south and in a family that had owned slaves, had lost most of his connections with his former life. Since West Point he had fought Indians and errant white settlers bent on defying the government of the United States to which he had pledged himself to defend. During the Ash Hollow Campaign in 1855 against the Sioux he had learned the value of flexibility and the true worth of the diverse abilities of the Dragoon. In Kansas in '56 he had seen the bitter results of civil war with its fanaticism and fratricide and had developed a deep hatred of spies and guerrillas. In 1857 he had gone west with Albert Sidney Johnston to address the issues being raised by the Mormons and learned the value of prior planning and preparation as the quartermaster of the expedition when it was almost destroyed by winter weather.

During his service he had developed a love for the army and for the soldiers he was responsible for as well as a confidence in his ability that set him apart from others. He had also developed an ability to read terrain and weather as well as the intent of the opposing forces, essential traits for mounted reconnaissance and one of his fortes that would serve him well in the future.

He was not one to self-engrandize. But as he entered his Spartan room and sat on a stool to think about the letter he had just received from Beriah Magoffin, the pro - Confederate Governor of Kentucky, offering him command over all of the pro-southern militia of the state and a commission as a brigadier general, the Dragoon was convinced that the fate of his army and his nation were in his hands. As he sat, smoked his pipe and contemplated the letter, the Dragoon had no way of knowing what fate had in store for him.

After a stint as an instructor and inspector in the Inspector Generals' Office, he will be saved from "rusticating" by a fellow Kentuckian General John Pope. In August 1862, out of respect for his ability, Pope will then appoint him as a Brigadier General of Volunteers and as replacement for the ill-fated John Hatch as commander of a cavalry brigade. Later after General Joe Hooker assumes command of the Army of the Potomac and reorganizes his cavalry forces into a separate combat corps, the Dragoon will be given command of the Reserve Brigade that later is reorganized into the 1st Division of the Cavalry Corps. In these positions the Dragoon will turn all the lessons he has learned onto his unit making them one of the most effective cavalry organizations on the continent.

Experience has shown him that the traditional large cavalry charges of the past are impossible against foot soldiers armed with modern, accurate long-range rifles. In addition, he knows that cavalry has a role to play on the battlefield, a role in reconnaissance, finding and fixing the enemy, intelligence gathering and preparation of the battlefield for the larger forces. So he will train his command in the manner of his beloved 2nd U.S. Dragoons into a flexible fighting force that can fight effectively mounted and dismounted. This training will affect the course of a battle and the war.

On 9 June 1863, the Dragoon will lead his soldiers in an active engagement that will put this training to the test. At Brandy Station the Federal cavalry will challenge the Army of Northern Virginia cavalry of General J.E.B. Stuart for supremacy of the battlefield. While not in the end defeating Stuart, they will place a mark on the wall of history from which the assent of the Federal cavalry will be measured and the descent of the Confederate arm.

Later during the Army of Northern Virginia's second northern invasion, as the commander of the 1st Cavalry Division assigned to cover the left wing of the Army of the Potomac commanded by General John Reynolds, the Dragoon will make one of the most important decisions of the war. At the crossroads town of Gettysburg, all of his training, experience and personality will be focused on one place and the analysis of one situation. He and his 2400-man dragoon trained cavalry division will face the quickly consolidating Army of Northern Virginia. He will pick the field on which the two armies will meet, starting a train of events which will reflect the high water mark of the Confederacy and arguably the turning point of the entire War.

During this endeavor, his division will fight dismounted representing the only time during the War that cavalry will successfully hold off an infantry attack, albeit for only two hours. This action will slow the forces of General Robert E. Lee just long enough for General Reynolds to deploy his wing to counter them. The Dragoon's decision will result in one of the greatest battles of the War and one of the most important victories of the Army of the Potomac. In later years troopers of the 1st Division will remember the Dragoon as he sat on his old gray horse smoking his big pipe, calmly inspiring them to greater levels of duty.

All of this was in the future as was the fact that by December 1863 he would be dead from a combination of exhaustion and typhoid fever all brought on by years of hard campaigning. Now what faced him was the most important decision of his career and of his life.

As he sat and looked at the open letter, the door to his room opened and in walked his friend and fellow officer, John Gibbon of North Carolina who had already faced the same decision and turned North. "What was your answer, John?"

With the question, Captain John Buford, 2nd United States Dragoons, made one of the most important decisions of the Civil War, "I sent him word I was a Captain in the United States Army and I intend to remain one!"¹ The decision made, as he did with all decisions, the Dragoon moved on to the next issue without a backward thought deliberately folding the letter prior to putting it away.

Select Bibliography:

Catton, Bruce. The Army of the Potomac: Glory Road. Garden City: Doubleday and Company, INC. 1952.

Foote, Shelby. Stars in Their Courses: The Gettysburg Campaign. New York: The Modern Library. 1994.

Gambone, A. M. Hancock at Gettysburg and Beyond. Baltimore: Butternut and Blue. 1997.

Hartwig, D. Scott. A Killer Angels Companion. Gettysburg: Thomas Publications. 1996.

Jordan, David M. Winfield Scott Hancock: A Soldier's Life. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. 1988.

Longacre, Edward G. The Cavalry at Gettysburg. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press. 1993.

__________________ General John Buford: A Military Biography. Pennsylvania: Combined Books. 1995.

Nesbitt, Mark. 35 Days to Gettysburg. Harrisburg: Stackpole Books. 1992.

Phipps, Michael and John S. Peterson. "The Devil's To Pay", Gen. John Buford, USA. Gettysburg: Farnsworth Military Impressions. 1995.

Shaara, Michael. The Killer Angels. New York: Random House. 1974.

Shue, Richard S. Morning at Willoughby Run: July 1, 1863. Gettysburg: Thomas Publications. 1995.

Stackpole, General Edward J. They Met at Gettysburg. Harrisburg: Stackpole Books. 1956.

United States War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.

Volume 12, Parts 1 and 2
Volume 21, Parts 1 and 2
Volume 25, Parts 1 and 2
Volume 27, Parts 1, 2 and 3
Volume 29, Parts 1 and 2

About the author, William C. Lowe

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