I’ve watched the blog discussions over editing and ownership shifts of a couple of Civil War magazines during the past week with a great deal of interest and very little expertise. I don’t see it as my place to weigh in on changes good or bad, but the discussion has prompted a question: which is the best Civil War magazine, in the opinions of my readers? (both of you)

I realize each has a different focus and to some extent a different audience, but which one is the best publication? Why do I ask, you ask? For a couple of reasons. First, I’m curious what you think. Second, while I don’t intend to subscribe to all of them, I do plan to subscribe to one or two in the near future. It’s both more economically sound and a great deal less frustrating than trying to find them in the local bookstores since my return to the mountains (I’m still looking for that September 07 N&S issue, is it out in stores yet?).

So, what do you think?

I had several planned stops on my long drive home to see Civil War sites of note, but I think I had more luck with the places that I stumbled upon accidentally than the planned ones. My wife usually navigates on our trips, and I definitely missed her presence on this trip.

Hartwood Church was my first stop. I was driving north on highway 17 just north of Fredericksburg, when I noticed a sign that said Hartwood. Just after that a large truck pulled out in front of me, forcing me to slow down. The next road was Hartwood Church Road, so I had to make a quick stop. The church was the site of an engagement between Confederate and Union cavalry forces on February 25, 1863. Confederate Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee, with elements of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Virginia Cavalry, conducted a raid on the Union encampment here. He thoroughly surprised the Union forces, capturing over 150 men and numerous horses before escaping unscathed back across the Rappahannock. The best description of the engagement that I’ve seen is in Eric Wittenberg’s The Union Cavalry Comes of Age. It was nice to get to see the place after reading about it; it hadn’t occurred to me that it might still be intact. Although it was damaged severely over the course of the war, it was repaired and is still intact today as illustrated by the picture below.

My next stop was Harper’s Ferry, one of the planned halts. I’d hoped to find out more information on the breakout of the Union cavalry forces during the siege of the town by Jackson’s forces just prior to the battle of Antietam. I found the place rather disappointing, but this may have been because I was there for a specific purpose and they didn’t have what I was looking for. It just seemed to me that there wasn’t a great deal of energy amongst the staff there, and that given the history of the site there was potential for a lot more. If I was advising a traveler, I’d have to recommend it as a possible side trip, but not a destination.

The next leg was the fun part of the drive, from Harper’s Ferry to the Antietam battlefield. It was here that I missed my wife’s presence the most. I was so busy looking at the historic buildings in Boonsboro that I missed my turn. This actually turned out to be fortunate, as I realized that I’d missed it when I reached the site of the battle of Funkstown. Seeing the site gave me a better appreciation for the battle, as did the brief stop at the site of the cavalry skirmish at Boonsboro on my way back to the missed turn. The countryside is very pretty around there, well worth the drive even if one isn’t looking for skirmish sites.

I really enjoyed Antietam, and think it is one of the best Civil War battlefields to visit, along with Chickamauga and of course Gettysburg. It was great to see it in such good condition. Alas, I didn’t get the chance to meet Ranger Mannie, but the tips Brian Downey sent for touring the battlefield proved to be a great help. Thanks again, Brian.

Putting Antietam behind me, I turned my trusty steed towards Gettysburg. Not always one for the shortest distance between two points, I also stopped on South Mountain, and was surprised to discover that it’s only 1200’ high. I’d thought it was bigger for some reason.

Upon arrival at Gettysburg, I visited South Cavalry Field for the first time. I’d never quite made it there on previous visits. I managed to find all of the Regular cavalry markers, even the two down in the low ground off of Ridge Road. And I finally got a picture of my own of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry monument nearby.

After my visit to South Cavalry Field, I stopped at the Nat ional Cemetery to find the graves of the 6th Cavalry troopers buried there. I don’t know where the few men killed from the other regular cavalry regiments are buried, but I couldn’t find a record of them there. I did find an intriguing reference to a diary of a 6th Cavalry soldier that I hadn’t heard of before, but I’m still in the process of trying to track it down.

A brief visit to the bookstore across the street at the visitor center revealed that Gettysburg’s Forgotten Cavalry Actions is indeed sold out, and has been for some time. Eric, if you still have a few copies stashed away, you might want to send them their way. It sounds like the book is missed on the bookshelves there.

I made a quick tour of the battlefield, trying to get pictures of all of the cavalry monuments. I didn’t make it to East Cavalry Field this time, but I think I already have pictures of those from my last trip. The only one from the rest of the battlefield that I know that I missed is the marker for Company A, 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry, as I ran out of film. I even found the markers for the 5th New York and the 1st Vermont that bloggers were discussing last week. I’ll have an entry soliciting votes for the best Gettysburg cavalry monument in the near future.

After dinner, I was able to walk Gamble’s and Devin’s lines as the sun set before returning to my hotel. It was a full day, but a very enjoyable one. The rest of the trip was faster, but not nearly as much fun.

Well, the horse being fixed, my foot being fixed, and the last of the silly Army paperwork over with, I shall start for home today. Despite the previous bad luck, I will once again attempt the Harper’s Ferry/ Antietam/ Gettysburg trip today (the differences between foolishness, stubbornness and perseverance seem to be in the eyes of the beholder). Posting is liable to be infrequent through the weekend as I make my way back to Colorado, but hopefully I’ll have some good pictures to post next week.

I was reading David Evans’ excellent work Sherman’s Horsemen this morning when I started pondering the differing natures of cavalry raids between opposing sides and the different theaters over the course of the war.

During the Atlanta campaign, Sherman made excellent use of his cavalry to force the Confederate forces in front of him to extend their lines or reposition. He often had difficulties getting his subordinate cavalry leaders to do what he wanted them to, but I freely admit I hadn’t given him credit for the adept use of his mounted arm. Their immediate objectives were generally destructive in nature (bridges, railroads, factories, mills, etc), but his objectives for them was to shift enemy forces so he could maneuver his army. The differences between tactical and strategic objectives, to use the proper terminology.

Confederate raids in the western theater seem to me to have focused on destruction of supplies and infrastructure to inconvenience their opponents, but lacking this strategic focus. Forrest’s, Morgan’s, and Wheeler’s raids all caused damage, but I can’t recall their actions being tied to strategic moves by their higher headquarters. Admittedly, this is not my area of expertise. Please feel free to speak up if you think I’m in error.

The raids conducted by the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac also at first glance appear to be nearly universally destructive or combative in nature. Stoneman’s raid, Sheridan’s raids and his Valley campaign all targeted destruction of infrastructure or enemy forces. Like those of Sherman’s subordinates, they were tied to strategic objectives of the army’s commander. In Hooker’s/ Stoneman’s case, they weren’t necessarily well thought out, but they did have a strategic objective.

Grant’s use of his cavalry during the Overland Campaign of 1864 seems similar to Sherman’s, though I haven’t to date examined it from the army’s standpoint instead of the cavalry’s. (But I’d like to: any suggestions for a good single-volume source on the campaign?) Certainly Grierson’s raid earlier in the war was planned and executed with a higher purpose in mind.

The “raids” of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, however, seem different to me. I can’t think of a single one that was not tied to strategic decisions and/or moves to be made by the army. They almost invariably seem to be focused on reconnaissance, however, and not on destruction of enemy forces or equipment. Yes, the odd supply dump was looted when encountered in the course of a raid and extra mounts were always desirable, but that generally wasn’t the object of the raid in the first place. True, later in the war they were generally fighting better-equipped, more numerous foes. I can’t help wonder, however, what might have happened had Stuart attempted earlier in the war what Sheridan did in early 1864 — seek out the enemy’s cavalry for the purpose of forcing a fight and defeating it. He didn’t, of course, so the point is moot.

I’ll stray briefly from the original purpose of this post to pursue one more thought. I wonder if a case could be made that the Union cavalry came of age because they were allowed to. I don’t think they were ever specifically targeted by Lee or Stuart. Given the perceived dominance of Stuart’s cavalry going into the winter, there would appear to have been an opportunity there, even with the rotation of some brigades to other areas for better forage. While there was a great deal of self-imposed rigor, as they were strung out over dozens of miles of pickets for the army’s main body, I don’t think they were harassed or attacked much by Confederate forces at all. Indeed, this is one of the reasons why Fitzhugh Lee’s raid at Hartwood Church was so effective.

Enough fuzzy musings for now, back to research.