Brady's Independent Sharpshooters take on Stuart's cavalry during the Gettysburg Campaign.

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Aug 25, 2012
"the fire of the sharpshooters being too hot for rebel human nature"

Interesting letter about the Brady Sharpshooters fighting General Stuart's cavalry. Detroit Advertiser and Tribune July 1 1863, p. 2. col. 2.


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The sentence, "Soon after our fire opened, when the rebels fell back, some of them ran forward to our lines and gave themselves up."
That is a but disconcerting to think a rebel would chance running at a line of skirmishing sharpshooters firing to kill or maim. Obviously my idea of what intentions would be for armed men running my way would solve itself by firing. Hmm...
Lubliner.
 
That's a nice account. I have never seen that one before.

That sort of contemporaneous soldier letter are some of the best sources there are. They were written while the events were very fresh in the minds of the soldiers, and even though they were usually written under a pseudonym, the authors knew that the folks at home would read them carefully, which means that they were usually reliable and factually accurate. That makes them reliable sources.
 
This letter is about the action at Middleburg. I am just now reading the last chapter of The 16th Michigan Infantry in the Civil War by Kim Crawford, the action at Middleburg is covered in a bit more depth in this book, but does verify most of the account in the above letter.
 
No, Bill. It's about the action at Upperville on June 21. There was no involvement of Union infantry at Middleburg. There was, however, Union infantry involved at Upperville. Upperville is six miles west of Middleburg. The letter very specifically says that they marched six miles west of Middleburg. It can only be the Battle of Upperville.
 
No, Bill. It's about the action at Upperville on June 21. There was no involvement of Union infantry at Middleburg. There was, however, Union infantry involved at Upperville. Upperville is six miles west of Middleburg. The letter very specifically says that they marched six miles west of Middleburg. It can only be the Battle of Upperville.

Thank you for clearing this up for me. The chapter in the book is titled "Middleburg" so I assumed the entire action was the Battle of Middleburg. I will have to thumb through that chapter to see if the " Battle of Upperville" term is used.
 
The Detriot Civil War newspapers are indexed and the woman who did this identified the authors of letters if she knew who they were. Giblem is the only information given for their letters so I am uncertain who wrote them. However, whomever "Giblem" is, from his letters he seems knowledgable.
 
The letter also specifies June 21 as the day of the action described, which precludes it from being Middleburg. I just noticed that.
What I find interesting about this action is its pertinence to General Lee's strategy of moving north. I was reading the Evening Star out of Washington, on the date of June 1, 1963, just last night. The command under Stahl was on an alert status. Rumors were spreading of a northward movement, and the picket line near Falmouth had been nearly deserted. There was dust heading southward and west, and the Yankees believed it was a precursor to a raid on Culpepper and Warrington Junction by Stuart. Winchester had rumors of a threat from the valley, but the only skirmish took place on May 30 when a train was derailed by Mosby's men near the Rappahannock Bridge, within three miles of Warrenton Junction. Stahl responded with two regiments of Cavalry, and reports have him capturing a piece of artillery.
Also: "New York, May 31.--The Herald of this morning has a dispatch, dated Fairfax Court House, May 30, which states that a detachment of Vermont Cavalry had a skirmish yesterday with forty rebel cavalry, near Thoroughfare Gap. The latter fled, leaving one man killed, two wounded, and one prisoner. We lost one man, a prisoner, and had five horses wounded. The rebels are being pursued."
These isolated incidents occurring all through the northern counties of Virginia at this time had specific purposes. By June 23rd, I believe Lee was well on his way. These connections focus the interest.
Lubliner.
 
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