Dragoon or cavalryman, Major General John Buford in the American Civil War

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Collection; Master of Military Art and Science Theses
Title; Dragoon or cavalryman, Major General John Buford in the American Civil War.
Author; Stricker, Mark R.

Abstract; This study investigates the American Civil War role and contributions of Major General John Buford. Buford, a 1848 graduate of the United States Military Academy, began his Army career on America's frontier with the First United States Dragoons. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Buford was selected to command a cavalry brigade in John Pope's Army of Virginia, and participated in the Second Manassas Campaign. Buford went on to make significant contributions to the Union efforts in the Eastern Theater; however, history has generally portrayed Buford as a one-dimensional character based on his stand along McPherson and Seminary Ridges on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Several historians have presumed that the dismounted cavalry (or Dragoon) tactics used by Buford at Gettysburg were the culmination of a method of fighting which he helped develop and propagate within the Union cavalry. However, this thesis shows that contrary to this Dragoon image, Buford was in fact a remarkable cavalry officer. His battlefield tactics were fairly traditional, but it was not in pitched battles that Buford excelled. His significant contributions were in the established roles of cavalry; performing reconnaissance and providing security for the army he was supporting.


Series; Command and General Staff College (CGSC) MMAS thesis
Publisher; Fort Leavenworth, KS : US Army Command and General Staff College,
Date, Original; 1993-06-03
Date, Digital; 2007
Call number; ADA 284633
Release statement; Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)
Repository; Combined Arms Research Library
Library; Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library
Date created; 2007-08-29

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As implied in USS Alaska's post, this document is available for download. Do a search for 'Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library', enter the doc's call # as a search term, download the PDF. Glancing through it the doc looks very professional in the academic way with footnotes and a well-organized table of contents, seems thorough and well-written. I look forward to reading it.
Thanks!
 
The thesis of that paper is precisely what I have argued for years. The intelligence gathering work done by Buford and his brigade during the Second Bull Run Campaign of 1862 was some of the best intelligence work done by either side during the entire Civil War. That his superiors disregarded that intelligence is not his fault, but the intelligence was impeccable. So, too, was the intelligence that he reported in the lead-up to Gettysburg.
 
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