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June 1863. The American Civil War was two years old, and the U.S.
Army in Virginia was in chaos. Reeling after the recent defeat at
Chancellorsville, the Federals, especially the Cavalry Corps,
scrambled to regroup. Confederate general Robert E. Lee seized the
moment to launch a second invasion of the North. As Lee slipped
away, frantic Federal leaders asked, "Where are the Rebels?" At
this critical moment, the much-maligned Federal cavalry stepped to
center stage. Small but Important Riots is a tactical study of
fighting from June 17 to 22, 1863, at Aldie, Middleburg, and
Upperville, placed within the strategic context of the Gettysburg
campaign. It is based on Robert O'Neill's thirty years of research
and access to previously unpublished documents, which reveal
startling new information. Since the fighting in Loudoun Valley of
Virginia ended in June 1863, one perspective has prevailed - that
Brigadier General Alfred Pleasonton, who commanded the Cavalry
Corps, Army of the Potomac, disobeyed orders. According to
published records, Pleasonton's superiors, including President
Abraham Lincoln, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, and army commander
Joseph Hooker, ordered Pleasonton to search for General Robert E.
Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during a critical stage of the
Gettysburg campaign, and Pleasonton had ignored their orders.
Recently discovered documents - discussed in this book - prove
otherwise.
This book is an operational and tactical study of cavalry
operations in Northern Virginia from September 1862 to July 1863.
It examines in detail John Mosby's first six months as a partisan,
within the context of the larger threat to the Union capital posed
by Jeb Stuart. Previous studies of Mosby's career are largely based
upon postwar memoirs. This narrative balances those accounts with
previously unpublished official contemporary records left by the
Union soldiers assigned to the defense of Washington, D.C. The
formation of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade is fully documented,
along with the exploits of the brigade in the months before George
Custer took command. Largely forgotten events, such as Jeb Stuart's
Christmas Raid, the fight at Fairfax Station during Stuart's Ride
to Gettysburg, as well as the vital role played by Union general
Julius Stahel's cavalry division in the critical month of June 1863
are examined at length.
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