The Largest Cavalry Battle in North America: Brandy Station 160

[@AmericanBattlefieldTrust]

8:45 looks like we had an editing glitch on the export that wasn't showing up while editing. We'll use a different effect in the future. Sorry about that!

[@michaelhoffman5348]

It actually looked cool, like ghosts were flickering into the video. :)

[@JohnLight1]

Greg Mertz gave a great lecture.

[@danieljosiahcotton]

Getting so excited for all the 160 Gettysburg coverage!

[@terryeustice5399]

Thank you Chris and Greg and Dan. For your in depth documentary on this Battle at Brandy Station.

[@robertschultz6922]

I want to visit this battlefield even more than I want to go to Gettysburg. Both have been a life long dream as well as where the battle of yellow tavern were fought

[@johnresto1603]

I think there is more to see at Gettysburg than brandystation.

[@johnresto1603]

Also,there isn't much to see for yellow tavern. Most of it is residential and there is a monument for Stuart.

[@lespangen]

I have drive n by the bandy station sign on Rt 29 heading to horse shows at Commonwealth Park near Culpeper so it’s good to learn what the battle was about will take a side trip to see the battlefield when possible

[@leftybass5860]

@@johnresto1603 - Still plenty to see, though.

[@joeritchie4554]

I am so glad that y'all have posted about this battle. It is one that never gets discussed. I am learning so much from this series that I never knew. Thank you for educating me.

[@jacobmasters438]

Thank heavens a race track was not built on this battlefield.

[@gubbylee]

What do you mean by say this ?

[@jacobmasters438]

@@gubbylee In the mid 1990s developers wanted to build a race track on the battlefield. The History channel aired a television series titled Civil War Journal during that time period. One particular episode made an emphasis on preserving battlefield land. Particularly the battlefield at Brandy Station.

[@williammurray8060]

Damn shame that airport was built on it. This is hallowed ground.

[@jacobmasters438]

@@andygossard4293 Can you forward me your resource for such statement?

[@davidtuttle7556]

@@jacobmasters438 some ppl like to make stuff up just to stir the pot.

[@michaelhoffman5348]

Excellent job guys as always - first class organization.

[@saylortusk8489]

Don't think I've seen Greg Mertz before but he's wonderful.

[@AmericanBattlefieldTrust]

He was in our Chancellorsville coverage as well.

[@cplvaguards]

There will be troops portraying the 13th Mississippi this weekend also for anyone hoping to see some Johnny 'foot' cavalry!

[@bretrath6073]

Excellent

[@cjm2968]

I have the highest praise for the work that the American Battlefield Trust does. Your most recent efforts in chronicling Chancellorsville is a mammoth effort and I thank you for that. My work is in recreational land acquisition so I can appreciate your efforts in the the preservation of this precious land. However, please note that Hooker is quite alive and well here at Brandy Station. It is HIS cavalry. Remember when we get to Gettysburg that it is not Meade's ARMY, it is one he borrows from Joe Hooker. .Joseph Hooker’s Cavalry gives a surprise attack on JEB Stuart at Brandy, also called the Battle of Fleetwood Hill. It was kind of a reversal of the roles at Chancellorsville. Confederate newspapers were highly critical of the Stuart's Confederate Cavalry at Brandy Station. Lee should have listened to his own press in their criticism of Stuart for his own good coming in to Gettysburg. The June 12th, 1863 edition of the Richmond Examiner seethed. Just days before, Lee's Confederate cavalry had been caught completely by surprise in a daring strike by their Union counterparts at Brandy Station Virginia, and only after a hard fight with the help of Southern infantry was the enemy repulsed. “But this puffed up cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia,” the Examiner crowed, “has been twice, if not three times, surprised since the battles of December, and such repeated accidents can be regarded as nothing but the necessary consequences of negligence and bad management.” Such humiliations were unacceptable, and the Examiner concluded by charging that better organization, more discipline, and greater earnestness among “vain and weak-headed officers” was needed. Other Southern papers offered more of the same. The Richmond Sentinel called for greater “vigilance…from the Major General down to the picket.” The Charleston Mercury thought the affair an “ugly surprise,” while the Savannah Republican thought it all “very discreditable to somebody.” The effects of the Battle of Brandy Station were felt far beyond the banks of the Rappahannock. It gives an early view of J.E.B. Stuart's dereliction of duty at Gettysburg. This embarrassment caused Stuart to try to redeem himself and went on his long disappearance during the Gettysburg campaign. This battle marked the end of the Confederate cavalry's dominance in the East. From this point in the war, the Federal cavalry gained strength and confidence.

[@peterderidder9922]

I hped to see more battle tactics because I live to far away to comme to Brandy Station , vene it was a verry nice vid to see

[@jwhite146]

was there a number of years ago. Sadly the visitor center was closed and no information was available. Happy that I the battle field guide on my iPad/

[@Stormwriter]

Greg didn't mention the Gettysburg screening at 4pm on Sunday with writer/director Ron Maxwell. They're going to show the entire movie with an intermission.

[@MorganOtt-ne1qj]

Should have invited Richard Deardoff to comment, he knows the area.

[@slicksouth5773]

Yall should do a video on the Battle of Monroes Crossroads. Its the last cavalry battle of the war. Its on the grounds of Ft. Bragg.

[@nbfgreatgeneral]

Benjamin Davis was not a former regular army officer. Even though he was the colonel of the 8th New York Cavalry he retained his commission as a captain in the First United States Cavalry.

[@labombarde1]

My Grandfather was in the 2nd New York Cav and was taken prisoner on July 4th then sent to Belle Isle Prison, Richmond, VA

[@williamsteele1409]

wasn't gamble and devin both at brandy station and gettysburg

[@Harldin]

Funny thing about the Cavalry, the Allied Armies had to learn the same lesson early in WW2, with Armour, tended to spread out the Tanks to much instead of concentrating them into Armoured Units.

[@tduffy5]

What cavalry battle rivaled Brandy Station, that MIGHT keep it from being the largest in the US?

[@astaboy]

I keep trying too wipe off the tiny bug crawling across my screen; only to realize it's a plane flying overhead in the distance.

[@davidcashin1894]

Darn it, I held off watching this video and missed the reenactments.

[@dixieforever]

Thank you! I plan to visit this weekend and hopefully see the inside of the Graffiti House. I've been there a half dozen times and its always been closed. Unfortunately, the Graffiti House has become a victim of woke, cancel-culture staff. They cut down the Alabama state flag pole beside Pelham's marker and the flag pole that flew the 3rd National Flag while keeping the Federal and state flag.

[@donmackay9315]

Ok, what is horse artillery? Could someone explain?

[@AmericanBattlefieldTrust]

Artillery units that supported the cavalry. Every horse artillery soldier had their own horse which allowed them to move quicker. Their cannons were also lighter than typical artillery units.

[@SusanTaft-o2x]

Omeom the attend thamade Custer a hero

[@bigsarge2085]

✌️✌️

[@Darkmoonvid]

Okay so what happened?? Were they all fighting from horseback, swords clashing and pistols blazing? Were just some fighting from horseback and rest dismounted? What happened on the battlefield? That’s what we want to know!

[@shiningstaer]

Was that flashing when you put a photo supposed to happen? Don’t do that. Makes no sense

[@johnnystir9796]

Looked like a technical problem. Many times they are putting up photos on the site.

[@AmericanBattlefieldTrust]

Thanks for letting us know. An effect did not render properly!

[@shiningstaer]

@@AmericanBattlefieldTrust understandable. I didn’t know someone intern was going through a 90s fashion phase.

[@MorganOtt-ne1qj]

Should have invited Richard Deardoff to comment, he knows the area.