Just before dawn on June 9, 1863, Union soldiers materialized from a thick fog near the banks of
Virginia’s Rappahannock River to ambush sleeping Confederates. The ensuing struggle, which lasted throughout the day, was to be known as the Battle of Brandy Station—the largest
cavalry battle ever fought on North American soil. Meticulously captured by historian Eric J. Wittenberg, these events marked a major turning point in the
Civil War: the waning era of Confederate cavalry dominance in the East gave way to a confident and powerful Union mounted arm. This fascinating volume features a GPS guided tour of the battlefield with illustrations and maps by master cartographer Steven Stanley.
Background Information
Virginia was the site of the first permament English settlement in the American colonies and was the largest state at the founding of the country. American Civil War lasted from the bombardment of Fort Sumter in 1861 to the surrender of the Confederacy in 1865. Cavalry originally consisted of armed men on horseback, but in the modern army refers to men on mechanized horses, such as tanks.
