Small but Important Riots

Description

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 It is based on Robert O’Neill’s thirty years of research and access to previously unpublished documents, which reveal startling new information.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 ignored their orders. Recently discovered documents—discussed in this book—prove otherwise.
  This tactical study of fighting in June of 1863 is placed within the strategic context of a campaign—the result of thirty years of research at repositories across the country and research in unpublished records at the National Archives. Robert F. O’Neill is a retired police officer and current instructor at Moser Training Solutions of Colorado Springs, Colorado. He lives in Virginia. O’Neill is the author of Chasing Jeb Stuart and John Mosby: The Union Cavalry in Northern Virginia from Second Manassas to Gettysburg.
  List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. A Small, Neat, Dapper, Dashing Little Fellow
2. Rebuilding the Cavalry Corps, May 20–June 9
3. Reorganization, June 10–11
4. Conflict and Controversy, June 10–15
5. An Army on the Move, June 13–16
6. Stuart Moves into the Loudoun Valley, June 16–17
7. Hooker’s Ruse, June 16–17
8. Hard Work Lay Ahead, June 17
9. The Aldie Haystack Charge, June 17
10. The Fiery Ordeal, June 17
11. Men of Maine, June 17
12. Cut All to Pieces, June 17–18
13. I Have Never Seen as Many Yankees Killed
14. He Goes Where He Pleases, June 17
15. Find Out Where the Enemy Is, June 18
16. The Engagement Was Resumed with Spirit, June 19
17. Enthusiastic Anticipation of an Exciting Time, June 20
18. Small but Important Riots, June 21
19. The Hottest Fighting I Ever Did, June 21
20. In No Previous Collision Have They Manifest Such Implacable Hate, June 21
21. A Horrid Looking Sight, June 21
22. We Were after Them, June 22
23. Continuing Controversy
24. Continuing Success
Appendix A. Order of Battle
Appendix B. Casualties
Appendix C. Horses, Ordnance, and Regimental Strength
Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Index