The 1st Delaware Cavalry Battalion participated in the action at Westminster, known as Corbit's Charge, during the Gettysburg campaign in 1863. This engagement occurred as part of the broader military operations surrounding the Confederate invasion of the North that culminated in the Battle of Gettysburg. The action at Westminster represented one of the significant cavalry encounters during this pivotal campaign period.
The article does not provide detailed information about the commanders involved, the specific sequence of events during the engagement, or the tactical decisions that shaped the battle. While the action is identified as Corbit's Charge and is noted as occurring at Westminster, the article offers limited narrative detail about how the engagement unfolded or the specific roles played by Union and Confederate forces during the action.
The 1st Delaware Cavalry Battalion's participation in this engagement marked a significant moment in the regiment's Civil War service. Following this action, the battalion continued its military service, participating in the Overland Campaign in June 1864 before returning to Maryland after Confederate cavalry operations. The regiment remained in the state for the remainder of the war until its mustering out after the conflict's conclusion.
The American Civil War (1861–1865) was the deadliest conflict in American history, killing an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians. The Confederate States of America, formed by eleven seceding Southern states, faced the Union in four years of warfare across 23 states and territories. Major engagements included First and Second Bull Run, Antietam (the bloodiest single day in American history, September 17, 1862), Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), Vicksburg (surrendered July 4, 1863), and Sherman's March through Georgia and the Carolinas (1864–1865). President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, transforming the war's stated purpose to include the abolition of slavery and enabling the enlistment of approximately 180,000 Black men in the United States Colored Troops. Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The war resolved the question of secession and ended American slavery, though Reconstruction would face sustained resistance in its attempt to secure civil rights for formerly enslaved people.
{"union_killed":67,"confederate_killed":30}
{"union":"Company C & D Delaware cavalry (~100)","confederate":"Stuart's cavalry corps"}
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