| Skirmish of Littlestown | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Gettysburg Campaign | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 USA (Union) |  CSA (Confederacy) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 26th WI (Boebel) 2 other regiments | detachment of cavalry [1] | ||||||
| Geobox footnotes | |||||||
The Skirmish of Littlestown was a Pennsylvania military engagement before the Battle of Gettysburg in which "a few companies of skirmishers" of Union infantry defeated a Confederate detachment of J.E.B. Stuart's Cavalry Division. [2]
On the night of June 29, 1863, the Army of the Potomac was deployed in the Pipe Creek defense in northern Maryland with cavalry divisions north of the state line at Fairfield and at Littlestown [3] (Farnsworth's Brigade [4] of Kilpatrick's Cavalry Division left Littlestown for Hanover in a light rain). [5] Stuart's Confederate cavalry had encamped just south of the Mason–Dixon line: "Before dawn on the last day of June, scouts returned with word that enemy cavalry was operating northwest of Union Mills just across the Pennsylvania line at Littletown" [ sic ], [6] and Stuart's forces "marched by crossroads to Hanover"--meeting the Union cavalry in the Battle of Hanover.
Behind the Confederate cavalry was Union infantry which when at Union Mills, identified a Confederate cavalry detachment at Littlestown. [2] Three brigades of the Union "Third brigade at the rear of the division" advanced through the Federal column to proceed ahead to Littlestown, where their skirmishers[ when? ] "brushed away" [2] /"warded off" the cavalry detachment. [7] (Also at Littlestown, Candy's Brigade of the XII Corps, 2nd Division, skirmished with Confederate Cavalry.) [8]
The 123rd NY Regiment of the Union XII Corps followed through Littlestown after 3 p.m. on June 30[ sic ][ verification needed ] to encamp at Two Taverns, Pennsylvania, before engaging in the Battle of Gettysburg. [9]
The Battle of Gettysburg was a three-day battle in the American Civil War fought between Union and Confederate forces between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, which was won by the Union, is widely considered the Civil War's turning point, ending the Confederacy's aspirations to establish an independent nation. It was the Civil War's bloodiest battle, claiming over 50,000 combined casualties over three days. Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, halting Lee's invasion of the North and forcing his retreat.
James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart was a Confederate army general and cavalry officer during the American Civil War. He was known to his friends as "Jeb,” from the initials of his given names. Stuart was a cavalry commander known for his mastery of reconnaissance and the use of cavalry in support of offensive operations. While he cultivated a cavalier image, his serious work made him the trusted eyes and ears of Robert E. Lee's army and inspired Southern morale.
The Michigan Brigade, sometimes called the Wolverines, the Michigan Cavalry Brigade or Custer's Brigade, was a brigade of cavalry in the volunteer Union Army during the later half of the American Civil War. Composed primarily of the 1st Michigan Cavalry, 5th Michigan Cavalry, 6th Michigan Cavalry and 7th Michigan Cavalry, the Michigan Brigade fought in every major campaign of the Army of the Potomac from the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 to the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court House in April 1865.
The Battle of Brandy Station, also called the Battle of Fleetwood Hill, was the largest predominantly cavalry engagement of the American Civil War, as well as the largest ever to take place on American soil. It was fought on June 9, 1863, around Brandy Station, Virginia, at the beginning of the Gettysburg Campaign by the Union cavalry under Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton against Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry.
The Battle of Kelly's Ford, also known as the Battle of Kellysville or Kelleysville, took place on March 17, 1863, in Culpeper County, Virginia, as part of the cavalry operations along the Rappahannock River during the American Civil War. It set the stage for Brandy Station and other cavalry actions of the Gettysburg Campaign that summer. Twenty-one hundred troopers of Brig. Gen. William W. Averell's Union cavalry division crossed the Rappahannock to attack the Confederate cavalry that had been harassing them that winter. Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee counterattacked with a brigade of about 800 men. After achieving a localized success, Union forces withdrew under pressure in late afternoon, without destroying Lee's cavalry.
The Battle of Hanover took place on June 30, 1863, in Hanover in southwestern York County, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War.
The Battle of Williamsport, also known as the Battle of Hagerstown or Falling Waters, took place from July 6 to July 16, 1863, in Washington County, Maryland, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War. It is not to be confused with the fighting at Hoke's Run which was also known as the Battle of Falling Waters.
The Gettysburg campaign was a military invasion of Pennsylvania by the main Confederate army under General Robert E. Lee in summer 1863. It was the first time during the war the Confederate Army attempted a full-scale invasion of a free state. The Union won a decisive victory at Gettysburg, July 1–3, with heavy casualties on both sides. Lee managed to escape back to Virginia with most of his army. It was a turning point in the American Civil War, with Lee increasingly pushed back toward Richmond until his surrender in April 1865. The Union Army of the Potomac was commanded by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker and then by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade.
David McMurtrie Gregg was an American farmer, diplomat, and a Union cavalry general in the American Civil War.
William Edmondson "Grumble" Jones was a Confederate cavalry general with a reputation for being a martinet to his troopers and fractious toward superiors, but acknowledged to be a good commander. After disagreements of a personal nature with J.E.B. Stuart, Jones's brigade was set to guarding supply lines and unavailable during a crucial juncture of the Gettysburg Campaign when Lee suffered from a lack of capable reconnaissance cavalry. As the personality clash between Jones and Stuart escalated, Jones faced charges for impertinence, and was transferred to separate him from Stuart. Jones was killed leading a counter-attack in the 1864 Battle of Piedmont.
Fitzhugh "Fitz" Lee was a Confederate cavalry general in the American Civil War, the 40th Governor of Virginia, diplomat, and United States Army general in the Spanish–American War. He was the son of Sydney Smith Lee, a captain in the Confederate States Navy, and the nephew of Robert E. Lee.
The Battle of Haw's Shop or Enon Church was fought on May 28, 1864, in Hanover County, Virginia, as part of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War.
The Battle of Hunterstown was an American Civil War skirmish at Beaverdam Creek near Hunterstown, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1863, in which Wade Hampton's Confederate cavalry withdrew after engaging George Armstrong Custer's and Elon Farnsworth's Union cavalry.
On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the disastrous infantry assault nicknamed Pickett's Charge, there were two cavalry battles: one approximately three miles (5 km) to the east, in the area known today as East Cavalry Field, the other southwest of the [Big] Round Top mountain.
The Battle of Carlisle was an American Civil War skirmish fought in Pennsylvania on the same day as the Battle of Gettysburg, First Day. Stuart's Confederate cavalry briefly engaged Union militia under Maj. Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith at Carlisle and set fire to the Carlisle Barracks. Stuart's cavalry withdrew and arrived at the Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day, to the annoyance and concern of Gen. Robert E. Lee.
John Randolph Chambliss Jr. was a career military officer from Virginia who served in the Confederate States Army. He reached the rank of brigadier general of cavalry before being killed in action in August 1864 during the Second Battle of Deep Bottom. Born to a lawyer, Colonel and Mrs John Chambliss of Hicksford, Va, John, jr. graduated from West Point (1853) with several future generals, particularly his friend David McGregg, a future Union General as their paths would have an ominous crossing in August 1864.
The 35th Virginia Cavalry Battalion, also known as White's Battalion, White's Rebels and the Comanches, was a Confederate cavalry unit during the American Civil War raised by Elijah V. White in Loudoun County, Virginia in the winter of 1861-62. The battalion was initially raised as border guards along the Potomac River below Harpers Ferry but were ultimately mustered into regular service as part of the Laurel Brigade. Despite this, they continued to play a conspicuous role in the ongoing partisan warfare in Loudoun throughout the war. The battalion was particularly notable during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, when it played a prominent role in the Battle of Brandy Station and subsequently conducted a series of raids on Union-held railroads and defensive positions in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The 35th was the first Confederate unit to enter Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
The Fight at Monterey Pass (or Gap) was an American Civil War military engagement beginning the evening of July 4, 1863, during the Retreat from Gettysburg. A Confederate wagon train of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, withdrew after the Battle of Gettysburg, and Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. H. Judson Kilpatrick attacked the retreating Confederate column. After a lengthy delay in which a small detachment of Maryland cavalrymen delayed Kilpatrick's division, the Union cavalrymen captured numerous Confederate prisoners and destroyed hundreds of wagons.
The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia began its Retreat from Gettysburg on July 4, 1863. Following General Robert E. Lee's failure to defeat the Union Army at the Battle of Gettysburg, he ordered a retreat through Maryland and over the Potomac River to relative safety in Virginia.
The Battle of Fairfax Court House was fought during the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War between two cavalry detachments from the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by General Joseph Hooker, and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee.
William Dorsey Pender, CSA, 19th of 46 in West Point Class of 1854. Born 6 Feb 1834, severely wounded 2 Jul 1863 at Gettysburg, he died 8 Jul 1863 in Virginia. ... Thomas Casimer Devin, 10 Dec 1822 - 4 Apr 1878, it was Union cavalry under the command of Devin that kept the Confederates out of Gettysburg long enough for the Union army to arrive and force a showdown with Lee's army. ... On the 30th we moved up across the state line to Littlestown, in Pennsylvania, about eight or nine miles southeast of Gettysburg and beyond. As we approached Littlestown a body of Confederate cavalry were in our front. The Third brigade was at the rear of the division, when it was halted; the three old regiments of the brigade were ordered to the front at double quick. The division broke ranks and cleared the road for us, as the three welltried regiments quickly and proudly advanced, and deploying a few companies of skirmishers brushed away the detachment of Stuart's cavalry... Returning now to the Twelfth corps. It moved out from camp near Littlestown, on the morning of July 1st, to a place on the Baltimore and Gettysburg turnpike called Two Taverns. Here we halted for dinner.
Warded off by Meade's cavalry[ sic ] at Littlestown and Hanover, and vainly searching for Lee at Carlisle, Stuart reached Gettysburg with jaded horses