2nd US Cavalry Co. A / 9th Virginia Cavalry Co. D

Cavalry "The Real Experience"

A web page of the 2nd US Cavalry, Co. A/9th VA Cavalry Co. D Reenactors.

(Last update 3/23/07)

Cavalry in the American Civil War - The real experience.

(Illustration taken from Capt W. Glazier's Three Years in the Federal Cavalry)

To really get an idea you'll need to do some reading.  Check our Bibliography.  The books by Starr are very comprehensive but a bit much to swallow right away.  We suggest The Cavalry at Gettysburg and Sherman's Horsemen as the best two starters.

The cavalry experience in the American Civil War was more like than unlike the experiences of all soldiers during that conflict.  They ate the same, slept the same, got diseased the same, and died the same (smaller numbers) as everybody else.  The major defining factor for cavalry was their difference in role.

The United States Army had just FIVE mounted regiments in 1860.  The First and Second Dragoons (1833, 1836), the Regiment of Mounted Rifles (1846), and the First and Second Cavalry (1855) formed the entire mobile force on the frontier.  When war came in 1861, these units, like all the Regular Army, were recalled to the east, with the Rifles and First Cavalry staying in the "western" theater under Grant and Sherman. Orders in August 1861 changed all these regiments to "Cavalry", numbered First through Fifth according to their length of service.  Our regiment then became the Second U.S. Cavalry.  These few units were joined late that year by a newly formed "Sixth" regiment.  The U.S. Army (as did the Confederate forces) took on several dozens new cavalry regiments volunteered by the states so that the "Regulars" were a small, but potent minority.  In the eastern theater the First, Second, Fifth, and Sixth regular regiments were formed into the "Reserve" Cavalry brigade ostensibly as a professional core with which to bolster the "green" volunteers.  For the most part, everybody had the same job, as follows.

The role of cavalry was in flux during this period.  The great European Napoleonic period examples of massed Cavalry, Hussar, Dragoon, and Currasier formations which often sealed the outcome of battle by headlong saber charges into demoralized or outflanked infantry was fast becoming obsolete.  The widespread use of rifled percussion muskets, with their longer range and accuracy, made mounted formations into big, easy targets.  Large infantry formations could volley fire into oncoming cavalry effectively before the horsemen could get within running distance, thereby reducing the effectiveness of this mounted tactic.

The mounted soldiers combat roles devolved as follows:

• Scouting: Reconnaissance of the surrounding country and enemy movements
• Screening: Preventing the other guy from mounting successful Reconnaissance and defending against any forays into your lines.  This role was utilized both while in defensive and offensive postures.
• Skirmishing:  Being less in numbers than the infantry formations, cavalry combat often included fighting other groups while waiting for the army's main body to arrive.  A good example of this is seen in Buford's stand against Confederate infantry on July 1, 1863 just west of Gettysburg.
• Flanking movements:  Cavalry mobility allowed them to both defend their own army's flanks and attack the enemy's flanks, which were the weaker areas.
• Courier duty:  Often onerous though it seemed, the cavalry was depended upon a great deal to provide messengers for various Generals throughout the war.  We say onerous because this detached duty, like all others which took soldiers away from their units reduced the numbers of carbines and sabers available for combat
• Orderly duty:  Again, many cavalry soldiers were assigned to non-cavalry commanders as clerks and servants.  They cared for officers horses, handled paperwork, escorted officers, and did whatever.  Not popular with us.
• Raiding:  This role, which Confederates used throughout the war, and the Union used successfully later, made use of the cavalry's strong suite.  Mobility and faster rates of weapons fire allowed cavalry formations to run behind enemy lines to created havoc, destroy supplies, gather intelligence, and tie up valuable enemy combat forces.  Look at J.E.B. Stuart's raids in 1862 and 1863, as well as Sherman's cavalry activity during the Atlanta campaign.
• Pitched battle:  In spite of the changed fortunes for cavalry, they still got themselves in real tight places in an all out fight.  See again Buford at Gettysburg, Stuart and Gregg also there, the Federal cavalry in the Shenandoah in 1864, and the cavalry fights at Brandy Station and Trevillion Station.

Life in the cavalry was filled with drill and duty like it was for everyone else with one great exception: that horse.  Caring for the animal took up a few hours each day, and was first priority.  You fed your horse first, cleaned up after him, watered him, and made sure he was shod.  If he failed, you walked.  The war took a tremendous toll on horses and all draft animals.  The federal Army of the Potomac was at one time replacing 500 horses each day.  As a cavalry formation pressed forward on campaign or raids, they took every horse they could find from the surrounding towns and farms, knowing that soon enough they'd be needed.

The fortunes of cavalry during the conflict varied depending on who and where.  While the Confederate mounted forces seemed better used, well led, and more successful early on, the Union cavalry was not.  Suffering from army commanders poor understanding of how they were best utilized, the federal cavalry was broken up in small groups and depleted woefully by much of that onerous detached duty mentioned earlier.  Happily, General Joe Hooker formed his cavalry into a separate corps in early in 1863, thus allowing their needed development into an effective striking force for the rest of the war.  See their activities in May, June, and July that year for examples of the effect.

Cavalry weapons and tactics in the American Civil War were really suited to the classical definition of Dragoons.  While trained and equipped as mounted fighters with saber and pistol, these men also carried carbines, and trained to fight effectively on foot.  The federal cavalry was armed with breech loading carbines which allowed for a faster rate of fire (2x) than infantry with muzzle loaders.  From mid-war on, repeating weapons (chiefly the Spencer) which carried a magazine of numerous shots took the place of single shot carbines for many federal regiments.  This revolution in design gave the federal troopers the added firepower to effectively stand and decide battle outcome.

Please see our suggested reading below for more information on this subject.