|
He was first on the field – and may have saved the war's
greatest battle for the Union. Brigadier General John Buford
was 37 years old when he led his First Cavalry Division into
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on June 30, 1863. Known to his troops
as “Old Steadfast,” he was considered one of the best
cavalry officers in the Northern army – and he showed why
at Gettysburg. As General Robert E. Lee moved his spread-out
Army of Northern Virginia across Pennsylvania in late June, the
cross roads town of Gettysburg lay on his route of march –
and also in the path of General George Meade’s pursuing
Army of the Potomac. The first to fully reach the field might
win the major battle both armies were seeking. Buford’s
cavalry got there first, and his orders were clear: “Hold
Gettysburg at all costs until supports arrive.”
Buford knew the bulk of Lee's army was arriving from the west,
so he located strong defensive lines for the Federal army on
ridges flanking the town’s west side – with an excellent
fall-back position on Cemetery Ridge to the rear. Buford did
his job – and well. His cavalry was first to engage Lee's
army, and held back its advance until the Federal army began
arriving in force. When Northern troops were finally driven back
on the battle’s first day, they dug in on Cemetery Ridge.
There, they delivered a decisive defeat to Lee's battle-hardened
troops over the next two days, and made Gettysburg the decisive
battle of the American Civil War. General Buford’s choice
of defensive positions on June 30th had enabled the Union to
prevail on the war's greatest field of battle. |