Bay City, Michigan 48706
Front Page 03/28/2024 09:23 About us
www.mybaycity.com June 22, 2013
(Prior Story)   History ArTicle 8227   (Next Story)


Cavalry clash at Gettysburg pitted Custer vs. Stuart.

GETTYSBURG @ 150: Recalling the Michigan Cavalry Brigade's Heroism

Anniversary Events to Draw 200,000 to Pennsylvania Battlefield

June 22, 2013       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

Printer Friendly Story View

An estimated 200,000 visitors are expected to attend the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg that begins next Wednesday, June 26, 2013 and runs through July 7.

Most of the visitors, even those from this area, will not be aware nor be told of the major contributions by soldiers from the mid-Michigan area.

The small Pennsylvania farming town a century and a half ago saw nearly that many soldiers dressed in blue and gray, some of them astride charging steeds and many from Michigan.

Some 50,000 would die in the three days of perhaps the most contentious fighting of the war. The fight pitted 97,000 federals commanded by Gen. George G. Meade versus 75,000 rebels under the incomparable Gen. Robert E. Lee.

A crucial cavalry clash on the John Rummel farm three miles east pitted Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's 4,800 "Invincibles" against Gen. David M. Gregg's 3,400 Union riders, some of the 5th Michigan Regiment having the advantage of being armed with Spencer repeating rifles vital to even the numerical score.

One of the cavalrymen, George Armstrong Custer, of Monroe, Michigan, a flamboyant brigadier general at age 21, became one of America's most famous military men.

The fact that Custer died in a blaze of controversy at the hands of Chief Sitting Bull and his braves at the Little Big Horn in 1876 doesn't detract from the glory of 3 July 1863 at Gettysburg.

Custer, his golden curls bobbing under a broad-brimmed hat topping a coal-black uniform, led the Michigan Cavalry Brigade in what may have been the most important action of the Civil War.

The importance of the Michigan charge east of the battlefield is emerging under the cascade of millions of words by thousands of historians who are still piecing together what happened there.

Custer's complete report of that action against the equally flamboyant Confederate J.E.B. Stuart does not appear in the Official Records of the Civil War. His full report was lost and only fragments have been found.

But the conclusions by key historians all seem to be pretty much the same: Unless Custer and his Wolverines had stopped Stuart, Wade Hampton, Fitz Lee and the rebel horde of horsemen, chances are all we Northerners would be speaking with Southern accents today.

The rebel strategy was to have Stuart's cavalry, "The Invincibles," flank the defenders and slam the rear of the Union infantry line at the same time George Pickett's 15,000 men charged the center.

"As the two columns approached each other the pace of each increased, when suddenly a crash, like the falling of timber, betokened the crisis," recalled trooper Stephen W. Sears. "So sudden and violent was the collision that many of the horses were turned end over end and crushed their riders beneath them."

The fragments of Custer's report that survive offer only brief comment on the heroic performance of the brigade, comprised of the 1st, 5th, 6th and 7th Michigan Cavalry units.

The Seventh is of particular interest to history buffs in the Saginaw-Bay City area, since local men made up a significant share of the unit's membership.

Second Lieutenant James G. Birney IV, 19, of Bay City was among the field and staff officers, along with Capt. Daniel H. Darling and Captains William Clipperton and Bradley Thompson, all of East Saginaw and Second Lieutenant Robert Sproul of Birch Run.

Young Birney was wounded and captured but escaped; he was brevetted captain for bravery at Gettysburg. Marv Kusmierz, bay-journal.com historian, summarizes Birney's activities in the battle: "As an officer in the famed 7th Cavalry - Custer's brigade, he valiantly led his men in a charge at Gettysburg where he was severely wounded by a slash to the head from a Confederate's saber. Minutes before, his color bearer was shot dead and Birney dismounted, took the colors, rallied his men and continued the charge. After emptying his revolver and his horse shot from under him, Captain Birney used the flagstaff as a pike and continued in hand to hand combat. He was at that point severely wounded, captured and taken prisoner. He escaped his captors, returned to his regiment and continued to fight."

The ceremonial sword presented to Capt. Birney was acquired by the Rotary Club of Bay City a few years ago and presented to the Bay County Historical Society Museum.

Capt. Benjamin Partridge of Bay City, with the 16th Infantry, was wounded on Little Round Top 2 July 1863 as he joined with the gallant Col. Joshua Chamberlain of Maine to repel the rebel invaders in another key part of the conflict.

Brig. Gen. David Bell Birney commanded III Corps after Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles lost his leg when struck by a cannonball. His unit's steadiness in the Wheatfield, the Peach Orchard and Devil's Den is now rated by historians as a vital part of the victory.

Paul D. Walker, author of "The Custer America Forgot," says: "Gettysburg was the high tide for the Confederacy because the South came so close to winning the greatest battle of the war. Had Lee won, he might have gone on to Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Baltimore or even Washington, transferring the center of activity to the North.

"A successful invasion would have also brought foreign recognition, which was so important to the survival of the Confederacy. At several points during the three day battle, the South almost routed the Union forces. The last bright hope came with Stuart on the third day, but Custer, with his Wolverines, was there to smash the effort."

Col. William Brooke-Rawle, in his 1878 book "Right Flank at Gettysburg," commented: "Had Stuart succeeded in his well-laid plan, and with his large force of cavalry, struck the Army of the Potomac in the rear of its line of battle, simultaneously with Pickett's magnificent and furious assault on its front when our infantry had all it could do to hold on to the line at Cemetery Ridge. The merest amateur in the art of war can readily see what the result would be."

The insight of a participant like Brooke-Rawle would seem to be confirmation of the value of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade/Custer triumph to the battle, the war and the overall Union victory.

###

Printer Friendly Story View
Prior Article

February 10, 2020
by: Rachel Reh
Family Winter Fun Fest is BACC Hot Spot for 2/10/2020
Next Article

February 2, 2020
by: Kathy Rupert-Mathews
MOVIE REVIEW: "Just Mercy" ... You Will Shed Tears, or at Least You Should
Agree? or Disagree?


Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

More from Dave Rogers

Send This Story to a Friend!       Letter to the editor       Link to this Story
Printer-Friendly Story View


--- Advertisments ---
     


0200 Nd: 03-24-2024 d 4 cpr 0






12/31/2020 P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm

SPONSORED LINKS



12/31/2020 drop ads P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm


Designed at OJ Advertising, Inc. (V3) (v3) Software by Mid-Michigan Computer Consultants
Bay City, Michigan USA
All Photographs and Content Copyright © 1998 - 2024 by OJA/MMCC. They may be used by permission only.
P3V3-0200 (1) 0   ID:Default   UserID:Default   Type:reader   R:x   PubID:mbC   NewspaperID:noPaperID
  pid:1560   pd:11-18-2012   nd:2024-03-24   ax:2024-03-28   Site:5   ArticleID:8227   MaxA: 999999   MaxAA: 999999
claudebot