Confederate and Union Calvary

Confederate and Union Calvary. . , Civil War armies consisted of three major components: infantry, artillery, and cavalry. The Cavalry's primary role was to support the infantry and artillery, gathering intelligence, scouting, screening the movements of the army, and serving as the "eyes and ears of the army.", In the early years of the war, the Confederacy had the advantage in mounted troops. The agrarian South's concept of the cavalry's potential derived from its traditional interest in horsemanship. The region had come to war with men who had gained familiarity with horses through daily necessity., By contrast, the Northern cavalry soldiers' largest obstacle was inexperience, and total unfamiliarity with mounted warfare. Raw cavalry recruits needed to learn to fight and maneuver on horseback to become an effective combat unit. It often took at least a year to train a reasonably competent cavalryman and his mount. Another advantage for the Confederacy was Stuart's organization of his cavalry in a cohesive unit directly under him. This method gave the Confederates a numerical superiority early in the war, over the scattered and out-stretched Union cavalry, which were organized and attached to infantry units., In June 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee requested that Stuart perform reconnaissance to determine whether the Union Army was vulnerable and open to attack. Stuart and his troopers set out on a 150 mile complete circumnavigation of the Union army. Known as the "Ride around McClellan," the maneuver brought Stuart fame and embarrassment to the Union forces. Stuart was the only cavalry commander about whom Lee would say, "He never brought me false information.", A tremendous military advancement for Union cavalrymen came in 1863 with the advent of a new weapon, the breech-loading Spencer carbine that could fire seven shots in 30 seconds. Southern factories had neither the equipment nor the know-how to produce repeating rifles. One Union soldier wrote, "the Confederates are getting rattled; they are afraid of our repeating rifles. They say we are not fair, that we have guns that we load up on Sunday and shoot all the rest of the week.", By May 1864, the tide had begun to turn and the Union cavalry was now on the ascendancy., , Grant, Sheridan, and Custer , The Union Cavalry's The Terrible Swift Sword , "I think there is very litle room for doubt that old Virginia will again be bathed in blood this spring and summer." Jeb Stuart in a letter written to George W. C. Lee, 1864., By the spring of 1864, President Abraham Lincoln had placed in command the victor of the battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg and Chattanooga; Ulysses S. Grant. He would command the title of Lieutenant General. One of Grant's first military decisions was to place Gen. Philip H. Sheridan in charge of the Union cavalry. Sheridan, a physically small man, caused Lincoln to remark to Grant, "The officer you brought from the west is rather a little fellow to handle your cavalry.", To which Grant replied, "You will find him big enough for the purpose before we get through with him.", The Union's youngest brigadier general, George Armstrong Custer was only 24 years old, and considered one of the finest horse soldiers in the Union army. Custer was placed in command of his home state of Michigan's tough cavalry fighters known as the "Wolverine Brigade." Custer's Wolverines would fight in every major campaign of the Army of the Potomac from the battle of Gettysburg in 1863, to the surrender of the Confederate forces at Appomattox in 1865.