|
Posted on 01/18/2005 10:40:50 PM PST by SAMWolf
|
|
 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
|
| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
|
|
Here the South lost an important cavalry battle -- and one of its greatest generals.  General J.E.B. Stuart Sheridan doughtily barked that Meade had only himself to blame for the holdup since he had countermanded Sheridan's orders to the cavalry. Realizing he had spoken hastily and unfairly, Meade put his hand on Sheridan's shoulder in a conciliatory gesture and said, "No, I don't mean that." But Sheridan was in no mood to be mollified. Shrugging off Meade's friendly hand, he arched his bushy eyebrows and snorted, "If I am permitted to cut loose from this army, I'll draw Stuart after me and whip him too." Sheridan's prophetic statement, uttered in a burst of anger, expressed his conviction that the cavalry should constitute a compact striking force rather than a nondescript appendage of the infantry for such chores as picket escorts, wagon train guards, and courier duties. In April, Sheridan had called on Lincoln prior to taking command of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac and informed him, "I'm going to take the cavalry away from the bobtailed brigadier generals. They must do without their escorts. I intend to make the cavalry an arm of the service." When Meade repeated to Grant Sheridan's boast about whipping Stuart, the commander in chief, who had learned to respect Sheridan in the West, quizzically replied, "Did Sheridan say that? Well, he generally knows what he is talking about. Let him start right out and do it." And losing no time, the cigar-puffing Grant found Sheridan and gave him oral orders to cut loose from the Army of the Potomac with his cavalry, pass around Lee's right, threaten Richmond and in so doing draw off and attack Stuart. Then, after exhausting his rations and forage, he was to replenish his supplies from Ben Butler on the James. Upon completion of his mission, he would rejoin the Army of the Potomac. Grant anticipated that Sheridan's expedition would disrupt Lee's communications and draw off Stuart's cavalry which had harassed his overland campaign.  General Phillip Sheridan Sheridan assembled his division commanders, Gregg, Merritt, and Wilson, and briefed them on their mission against Stuart. "I know we can beat him," Sheridan confidently asserted, "and in view of my recent representations to General Meade I shall expect nothing but success." Sheridan indicated that the three cavalry divisions would move in a single column around Lee's right flank unless Stuart successfully interposed in which case the Federal cavalry would rejoin the Army of the Potomac by making a wide sweep around Lee's left via Gordonsville. The magnitude of the maneuver pleasantly surprised his lieutenants who were accustomed to hit-and-run forays against limited objectives. Following this council, the horde of bluecoat troopers cooked three days' rations and packed half a day's forage on their saddles. To increase their mobility, the officers stripped the command of unserviceable animals and cumbersome equipment such as wagons and tents. The only bulky impedimenta taken were the indispensable ammunition trains, two ambulances per division, and a few pack mules to lug the baggage. At daylight on May 9, Sheridan's well-closed column of fours proceeded to Hamilton's Crossing beyond Fredericksburg and thence southward on Telegraph Road toward Richmond. Sheridan, astride his great black charger, rode in the vanguard accompanied by his headquarters flag bearing red and white twin stars. The scrappy cavalry commander set a leisurely pace for his thirteen-mile column which residents in the area reported took four hours to pass a given point. Little Phil's initial objective was the north bank of the North Anna River just south of Chilesburg where his troopers could forage before meeting Stuart.  Sheridan at Yellow Tavern Sheridan's 10,000 troopers had been moving at a walk for about two hours and had passed Massaponax Church, ten miles south of Fredericksburg, when Jeb Stuart learned that his new cavalry adversary was initiating a large-scale maneuver. The fact that Sheridan was heading south with his entire corps warned Stuart that the expedition's objective must be a major one: Richmond, the railroads, or both. Jeb himself had spent the last few days fending off Union infantry and cavalry to enable Lee's advance First Corps under R.H. Anderson to get into position at Spotsylvania Court House. With Grant threatening to outflank the Army of Northern Virginia, Stuart felt obliged to leave Rosser's and Young's brigades of Wade Hampton's cavalry division to cover Lee's flanks. To cope with Sheridan, Jeb dispatched Wickham's cavalry brigade of Fitzhugh Lee's division, which galloped toward Sheridan's rear. Then after informing General R.E. Lee of what was happening with the cavalry and promising to notify him "if it amounts to anything serious," he rode off toward Telegraph Road with Fitzhugh Lee and the cavalry brigades commanded by James Gordon and Lunsford Lomax. Altogether, Stuart had 4,000-5,000 troopers to intercept Sheridan's 10,000. Late in the afternoon Wickham caught up with Sheridan's rear guard, the 6th Ohio of Brigadier General Henry Davies' 1st Brigade. Wickham attacked and took some prisoners. The main Federal column shrugged off this jab without halting, turned off Telegraph Road, and proceeded toward Beaver Dam where R.E. Lee had located his advance supply depot on the Virginia Central Railroad.  JEB Stuart at Yellow Tavern At Mitchell's Store, Wickham again spiritedly charged the rear guard, which firmly stood its ground on a hill. After one or two of his regiments had been repulsed, Wickham ordered Captain George Mathews to break the formidable line of bluecoats with a squadron from the 3d Virginia. Confident that "he will go through," Wickham admiringly observed Matthews' column of fours pierce the opposing lines only to have the bluecoats close ranks behind the attackers and maul them. In the ensuing scuffle, Matthews lost eighteen men and was himself mortally wounded while fighting on foot with drawn saber. At this juncture Stuart rode up to a chorus of huzzas from his weary veterans. After conferring hurriedly with Wickham, Jeb decided to divide his forces. He would take Gordon's brigade westward to Davenport's Bridge where he could move in any direction to probe Sheridan's intentions. Fitz Lee was to follow Sheridan with the remaining troopers in case the bluecoats doubled on themselves to rejoin Grant or to strike out in a different direction. About dark, Merritt's division crossed the North Anna River at Anderson's Ford while Gregg and Wilson encamped on the north bank, having engaged Wickham, who boldly struck the rear guard. While Merritt's troopers bivouacked, Brigadier General George A. Custer's brigade captured Beaver Dam Station. Charging into the lightly defended depot, the cavalrymen liberated 378 Union prisoners packed into two trains just about to pull out for Richmond. The Confederate custodians of the depot, apprehensive lest their stores fall into enemy hands, set the torch to the warehouses, which held about a million rations of meat and half a million of bread. Custer's men completed the job by destroying precious medical supplies for Lee's army together with 100 railway cars and two locomotives. The Michigan troopers also tore up the railroad tracks and telegraph lines for ten miles.
|
Today is Norton Update Day. Be sure to download when they arrive.
LOL. This time it really was Sam.
I asked Sam to post it for me because I just had to get some sleep and couldn't wait up for him to post last night. The combination of jet lag and a chest cold put me to bed early.
You forget, I've seen your picture. Humana, humana!
Sam,
You need to change the lead in to, "Some of the Freepers Would Like to Forget About Yellow Tavern", if you please, plus I can name a few others.
What? No mention of his acting(?) career. ;-)
LOL!
Oops. So much for proof reading.
Morning Feather.
Thanks for the ping!
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Isn't that supposed to be "tour de farce"?
"They Live!"
A classic of the cinamatic arts. No doubt about it, it will down in history with Citizen Kane, The Birth Of A Nation, The Wild Bunch, Apocalypse Now, and The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Shameless Plug
Happy Birthday-Robert E Lee
Civil War Home ^
Posted on 01/19/2005 9:38:59 AM CST by Valin
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1323842/posts
/Shameless Plug
sw
I've seen the term enfiladiing fire a few times, but have no idea what it means.
Thanks Sam. From past threads, I knew Stuart didn't survive the War. I've been waiting for the rest of the story.
Quiet in the ranks... Now drop and give me 1200, or something like that, right?
Hiya Sam
BBQ and Beers in Crawford!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
