Brandy Station

Fought on June 9, 1863, near Brandy Station, Virginia, this clash stands as the biggest cavalry battle of the Civil War and the largest ever waged on American ground. Some historians know it instead as the Battle of Fleetwood Hill. It opened the Gettysburg campaign, pitting Union horsemen commanded by Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton against the Confederate cavalry of Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart.

Pleasonton struck first, sending his troopers against Stuart's camp in a surprise assault at daybreak. The struggle raged for hours, with momentum swinging back and forth between the two sides, yet Union forces eventually pulled back without ever locating the infantry of Gen. Robert E. Lee, which lay encamped nearby at Culpeper. The engagement proved significant in

Background

After its triumph at Chancellorsville in May 1863, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia poured into Culpeper County, Virginia. Gen. Robert E. Lee directed the buildup of forces around Culpeper as plans took shape to push the conflict into Pennsylvania. Hunger plagued the Confederate ranks, and their gear had fallen into disrepair. Capturing horses, supplies, and provisions for his men became Lee's driving motivation for moving north. Beyond resupply, such a campaign held the promise of menacing Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, while bolstering the peace faction gaining momentum in the North. By June 5, the infantry corps commanded by Lt. Gens. James Longstreet and Richard S. Ewell had settled into camps throughout the Culpeper area. Stuart positioned his cavalry along the Rappahannock River, six miles to the northeast, serving as a protective screen to guard against any surprise Union movement against the main army.

The bulk of the Confederate horsemen settled into camp near Brandy Station. True to his flair as a dashing cavalier, Stuart asked Lee to attend a grand review of the mounted forces. On June 5, this spectacle unfolded near Inlet Station, roughly two miles southwest of Brandy Station, with almost 9,000 troopers and four horse artillery batteries staging a mock battle. That same review ground survives largely intact today, save for a Virginia police station now occupying a portion of it.

Lee had missed the original event, so the display was staged again on June 8 for his benefit, though this time it amounted to nothing more than a parade, without any mock combat included. Even at this reduced scale, both cavalrymen present and journalists covering the event grumbled that Stuart was merely indulging his vanity while wearing out the horses needlessly. Lee then directed Stuart to push across the Rappahannock the following day, striking at Union outposts and shielding the army's northward march from detection or Union interference. With this offensive drawing near, Stuart called his weary horsemen back to their bivouac near Brandy Station.

Battle

Fog blanketed the Rappahannock River when Buford's men splashed across near Beverly's Ford around 4:30 in the morning on June 9, scattering the Confederate pickets stationed there. This marked the first of two significant surprises Pleasonton's force managed to spring that day.

Aftermath

The toll on the Union side reached 907 men: 69 dead, 352 injured, and 486 unaccounted for, most having fallen into enemy hands. Confederate forces lost 523 in comparison. Roughly 20,500 soldiers took part in what became the war's largest engagement fought mainly between mounted troops. Rooney Lee, son of Robert E. Lee, numbered among the wounded, having taken a serious injury to the thigh. He was moved to Hickory Hill, a plantation near Hanover Court House, where Union forces captured him on June 26.

Stuart maintained he had won the day, pointing to his control of the battlefield when fighting ceased and his success in beating back Pleasonton's assault. Southern newspapers largely disagreed with this assessment. The Richmond Enquirer observed that Stuart's reputation had taken a hit because of the enemy's recent maneuvers. Meanwhile the Richmond Examiner mocked his troops as an overrated cavalry force that paid the price for carelessness and poor leadership.

Pleasonton drew criticism from his own officers, who felt he failed to press his advantage and finish off Stuart's forces. Hooker's orders had called for Pleasonton to scatter and eliminate the Confederate horsemen stationed near Culpeper, yet Pleasonton later insisted his mission had been limited to probing Culpeper's defenses in force, an explanation that conveniently excused his conduct.

This clash marked the first occasion when Union horsemen proved themselves equal to their Confederate counterparts in both ability and resolve. The fact that Stuart was caught off guard twice, despite cavalry's traditional role in preventing such surprises, hinted at further troubles awaiting him during the Gettysburg campaign.