He is a National Renowned speaker and the authority on union calvary, particularly operations in the east. What i like about his canon of books, he has been boldly exploring all sorts of things and taking his expiration in neat directions. He is working on a mini script about George Gordon meade. It does not necessarily seem like a cavalry operation to me and it makes him one of the most interesting historians working in the field today. Coming to us from columbus, ohio, to talk about his Award Winning book on john buford, eric wittenberg. [applause] wittenberg it is always up pleasure to be here and i appreciate the opportunity to be here today. It is also always nobody wants to be the guy who goes right after lunch. If anybody falls asleep because of the good food, i promise i wont be offended. And bear with me, im not good at standing still. Chris was talking about the fact that i have written a lot of books, i have a bad case of adult add, which also means i have a trouble standing still. And being a trial lawyer, im used to walking in front of a jury. We are going to talk about great defenses. This particular one is a favorite of mine. Many of you have heard of what john buford accomplished during the battle of gettysburg. It looks like we are having problems with the remote. Lets do this. Brigadier general john buford born march 4, 1846 in kentucky, member of the west point class of 1848, graduated 16th and his class, ends up being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the first degree and and is transferred to the second dragons dragoons. He is known as one of the best horseman in the army. He is known as the best horse doctor in the army. Being a kentuckian, his grandfather and uncle were founders of the horseracing industry in kentucky. They were among the elite thoroughbred breeders. In the early stages of work he war was working in the Attorney Generals Office inspecting horses, found himself stuck behind a desk. John pope made a great decision and plucked john buford out to do some extraordinary work, some of the best of the war. He ended up being slightly wounded at the second battle of bull run. He is struck by a spent ball that leaves a nasty bruise. Instead, he ends up being appointed the administrative head of calvary for the army of the potomac. It is a paper pushing job, doesnt entail field command and he will hold this until the spring of 1863 until john hugger joe hooker orders the massing of the men forming a core structure for the first time. At his own request, john buford was appointed to reserve bridade, which consisted of the four regular cavalry armies and also my favorite, the sixth pennsylvania cavalry. He would command them through the stoneman raid. Let me digress. Imagine if you will, you are a career calvary man. Cavalry man. You have spent your entire adult life as a cavalry officer. Your job is to spend your days mounted on a horse. Imagine you have the most horrific case of hemorrhoids you can possibly imagine and you have poor george stoneman, often described as being di dyspeptic. He made a great scapegoat for hookers defeat at chancellorsville and was not interested in further service under hooker. Stoneman took medical leave to seek treatment for his hemorrhoids and never commanded troops again. This means that pleasanton, ended up becoming the temporary of the calvary core, his appointment doesnt become permanent until 1863. When pleasanton becomes the corps commander, buford becomes the commander of the First Division. In the late spring of 1863, after the battle of chancellorsville, there became a massing of cavalry. Five brigades will ultimately combine forces there. This made joe hooker very nervous. If you remember jeff stewarts first two rides around the army, he was bound and determined he wasnt going to be the victim of the third. As he is watching the concentration of calvary grow, cavalry go, it is the first week of june, he sends orders for an expedition to culpepper county. Remember these words to destroy or disperse the great concentration of cavalry there. This leads to the battle of brandy station. Buford is a Wing Commander, they end up withdrawing. The great concentration is neither destroyed nor dispersed and pleasanton will lie, but that is what he did. He had a terrible allergy to telling the truth, couldnt do it. Just like bill sheridan, a common malady. After brandy station, the armys begin to move north. The confederate cavalry screening the advance of the army into Shenandoah Valley into pennsylvania, and the Union Cavalry will follow. Buford will follow behind with the first cavalry division. He has a proximally 2900 men in his division. Divided into three brigades and the first is commanded by william gamble, an irishman, 45 years old, served as a dragoon in the british army. He then immigrates to the United States where he has a successful engineering practice in evanston, illinois when the war breaks house is fair and Mission Office at northwestern university. With the outbreak of war he is enlisted to join a regiment being formed by john rankling farnsworth, an influential republican congressman who is called the eighth illinois cavalry. The farnsworth big abolition regiment they called it. John farnsworth was a politician. It will fall upon bill gamble to train these troops and they will become one of the finest units in the army. He does not return to duty until after brandy station. He has a veteran brigade consisting of his own eight illinois, eighth new york. Half of the 12th illinois cavalry and half the word the third indiana cavalry. This is thomas devan. City. Nel from new york never had any formal military training. In the spring of 1861 when buford inspects his regiment, he writes i can tell colonel devon devin anything about cavalry anything that he knows. He ended up as a Major General in the first cavalry division. That small brigade consists of 1100 men area in between these two brigades, he has 2900 troopers. Perfect timing. He also will have, as he advances toward pennsylvania, first u. S. Artillery. Now that john tybalt has become a Brigade Commander it is now commanded by this baby faced young man, a member of the west point class of 1863. He has six guns divided into three sections of two. He has approximately 100 men to man those guns. And he is one of those superb regular artillerys who did a great deal to win civil war by the United States. To show you how slow advancement came, when john caleb came he retired, hef was a colonel. Never even made general. They enter pennsylvania late in the day on the 29th of june 1863. They will cross the masondixon line. Buford will then head for fountaindale. He will camp up there that night. He sees hundreds and hundreds of confederate campfires. Hes heard to say, within 48 hours, a great battle will be fought. He was absolutely correct about that. What he sees is camp around the town, which would be up here on the map. Some elements of the division are down watching the mountain passes around jacks mountain. So there is a pass near the fairfield gap. Is also a great water source, picked it on the map. It runs right along here. The morning of june 30, their mission. To get to emmitsburg. Forgive me for digressing. Sometimes you forget things. On the 28th of june, just outside of frederick, maryland. Marshal spotted a guy who is acting very suspiciously. He arrests the man. They find a map. Buford determines a man is a spy but he is ordered to be hanged from a tree. The man is hanged and his body is left there. This enrages the residents of frederick and they sent a delegation out to buford. He doesnt have a lot of patience. They have learned that day that three Junior Officers have been promoted to brigadier general. There are a lot of regular army guys irritated with this. This delegations comes to see him. One of them says, why dont you send that men back to washington to be interrogated. Response . Ufords i was afraid theyd make him a bridadier general. Does that tell you what do you need to show . The vast majority of his column is going to take the road out. The rest of the column is going to run into the 42nd. Buford is under orders to go to emmitsburg. They dont have a lot of troops out there. They fire a couple of shots at each other. It is important intelligence because there is this big force of confederates. Blocking the main road to gettysburg. He will end up breaking off and withdrawing. Goes to emmitsburg. He finds the Head Quarters of john fulton reynold. He is the commander of the right wing of the army. He and buford have worked together extensively. They have a close working relationship area he reports confederates and moves on towards gettysburg, where they will end up coming to the town. There are 10 roads that come together in gettysburg. Confederates have made it all the way up here under command before they are ordered on june 29 that the Confederate Army is going to concentrate right here in the coming days. At cashtown. The entire Confederate Army is going to concentrate. They are also going to join up with long street and and ap hills division. Approximately 11 30 in the morning, captain harry sparks and his company in third indiana clatter into town at the south end of gettysburg and buford will establish his headquarters there. Has seen there is good ground to the north and west of gettysburg. He will begin to develop his scheme. Gamble and devin are sent to the western outskirts of the town to create a network of tickets to pickets to detect the movement of the confederates as it begins. The pride of North Carolina. James johnston pettigrew. It is anticipated that James Johnson pettigrew, graduate of the university of North Carolina will succeed him. He has done very well in the is commanding the brigade. They have been sent on a Reconnaissance Mission to try and find out what union forces are in town. They see this big call him. Big column and they stop short, near a lutheran seminary. They see where the Union Cavalry is going to engage them. The Union Cavalry is not under orders to engage. They send a few scouts out. Pettigrew decides we arent going to have a fight. He turns his column back. They march back to cashtown. Reports he has seen this large force in the town of gettysburg. He says, it cant be. They cant be here, it has to be militia. Rides up and asks what is going on. And hill repeats the same sentiment. It has got to be a militia. Heath gets permission from hill to take the morning of july 1 an advance on gettysburg to look for supplies. In the meantime buford that , night will call together his Brigade Commanders and have an officers call. Buford is going to tell him what his plans are, hes to hold off the confederate infantry for the first corps to come up and relieve them. Tom devin, always spoiling for a fight, the general will hold. Buford says, no, you wont. Theyll come three lines deep, three lines. John buford was going to the defense for the confederate infantry. I used to call it that myself. I came to realize i wasnt wrong that i was wrong about that. A defense in depth typically uses fortifications and field works. Usually prepared positions. The best examples are of a true of calpinsthe battle in the revolutionary war or look at the battle march 10, 1865. Off half ofld shermans army 35,000 strong with three prepared defensive positions. It takes sherman time to push through this one, at the end of that short march day he sees this line over here and on the black river, meaning it cant be turned. He wants no part of it. Elects not to attack. That night under the cover of darkness, his command will leave the field, thus setting the stage for the battle of bentonville. This is the best example of a true defense in the american civil war. What john buford has in mind is what we can call the covering force action. Its a force operating apart from the main force for the purpose of intercepting, engaging, delaying, disorganizing the enemy before he can attack anybody or. In short, to delay an advance to buy time. Any detachment of troops, which provides security for a large force by observation is a covering force. What he is going to do is design a covering force action. Covering force action operates independently from the main army. It is selfcontained, it seeks to become decisively engaged and it trades time for space, allowing the unit to delay the advance of the enemy long enough for the main body to come up and engage. This is what john buford is going to design, it precisely what he implements. They still teach this at west point today. Everyone talks about how novel and unique his tactics were at gettysburg. I have to tell you it was nothing novel or unique about it. Comes out of the 1863 field manual for commissioned officers, which spells out how to layout these tactics and conduct them. Im sure youve all heard the word the mounted sentry in front of an army. It consistently lists two or three men. It can be 50 feet apart. The grand guard is the reserve for the videttes and finally the main body is just what it sounds like. The object is to guard the bridge over the river. The videttes are all the way out here. They can be reinforced by the grand guard. And fighting withdrawal until such time the main body comes up. This is what buford is going to design from gettysburg. Let me just throw something at you. Back when the cold war was still raging, and there were s, it was germanie always believe that the soviet armored thrust would, and a place of a central area of germany. Doctrine that was exactly what i described to you. Today, we ride tanks instead of horses. Using army cavalry to delay the advance of the soviet armory long enough for the infantry to come up. The more things change the more they make it same. Remain the same. Coveringhy bufords force is taught at west point. Erfect delaying action, covering force action. Going to extend them the hanover road. To the Chambersburg Pike. And down to the fairfield road. He knows the confederates are operating in the cash town. This is going to be a primary focus. But this seven mile net is by 700 men, and their job is to send the an early warning. Their job is to provide as much advance notice as possible that the enemy is approaching. In the most important post is this one right here, right in of a of a house blacksmith. Its high ground overlooking the valley of march creek down here. Is commanded by Sergeant Levi schaeffer. He has with him three privates. Morning,n th e sergeant schieffer looks to the west and sees a large billowing cloud of dust. He knows the confederates are coming. He will send a courier to find marsalis jones, the commander of the vidette reserve in that area, and lieutenant jones will come up. And he will borrow his carbine. He will rest it on a fence post and will squeeze off a shot. Let me stop for a moment, i need to dispel a myth for you. You heard that bufords command had spencers at gettysburg. Im going to quote from you one of the great military philosophers of the 20th century. Colonel sherman t. Potter on mash. Horse hockey. Ive personally reviewed the ordinance returns of the 92 of bufords companys that were reported, not one single spencer was reported to be there. It is a physical impossibility. It didnt go into mass production until september of 1863. There may have been a few prototypes but that may have been at. All of the fifth and companies of the michigan cavalry brigade assigned to kill patricks third cavalry division. On june 30, 1863, they were fighting a battle in hanover pennsylvania and nowhere near the battlefield of gettysburg. What buford will accomplish, he will accomplish with single shot carbines. Such as primarily the sharks but the sharps but also including the ballard star and burnside. He designed to cavalry carbine. These weapons trade rapidfire for short range. The effective range is about 300 yards. When lieutenant john squeezes off that shot he hits nothing but dirt because they were well beyond the respect of range. That is not why he fired the shot. It was to send a the alarm. The other picket post open firewall jones goes back to notify the major that the confederates are coming. Harry heath will hear that shot. This is the marker on the grounds of the property, marking the shot where that was first fired. Keep this in mind. Go ahead, jim. This is harry heath, the commander of the division of confederate infantrys that is making this advance on gettysburg. Harry is a member of one of the first families of virginia. His grandfather had commanded the virginia line during the revolutionary war. Harry was also known as the only man in the entire army in Northern Virginia that robert e. Lee called by his first name. He was the kind of guy you would love to have a beer with. Harry is real far from being the sharpest knife in the drawer. He is convinced what is in front of them is the militia. Consequently, he is arranging his forces in a really stupid formation. Why . Because the artillery is out in front. Once these shots open, he then has to spend the next nearly two hours shaking out call him of march and infoline in battle. By virtue of firing the shot that hit nothing but are it, dirt, lieutenant jones has bought two hours. Confederates finally get their stuff together and begin the advance, and as they begin to have two brigades in front. They are now advancing on either side of the pike to the south of the chambers berg pike. His brigade is a good gate but they have been mauled and are out in front. And on the south side we have the brigade of joseph davis. Who is a pretty good lawyer and a pretty good guy. His primary qualification was that he was jefferson daviss nephew. He had a bad day on july 1, a worse day on july 3 and never commands troops in the field again. The joys of nepotism. They are going to advance on the south side of the chambersburg road. And they will take heavy fire from the Union Pickets will eventually drop back and they will fall back as they are designed to do to the intermediate ridge in between bufords final destination. This dark structure you see right at the corner. Thats the Blacksmith Shop and house