GDG- 4th PA Cav on July 2

[Eric J. Wittenberg]

Tom,

Have you read my article on this very topic that was in issue 37 of  
Gettysburg Magazine?  My research indicated that the 4th PA did not  
arrive until just before Longstreet launched his assault, which would  
be sometime between 3 and 4 in the afternoon.  By then, it was far too  
little, far too late.

Here's what I wrote: "Gregg sent the 4th Pennsylvania Cavalry.  Its  
numbers were insufficient to cover the entire flank, and it is unclear  
when these men arrived in the area.  The Pennsylvania horse soldiers  
had come to Gettysburg by way of Hanover after an all-night march, and  
they were exhausted.  By the time they arrived, it was too little, too  
late, as Longstreet was about to unleash his sledgehammer blow on the  
Army of the Potomac's left flank.  It is unclear where the  
responsibility for the failure to replace Buford's departing troopers  
lies, but it ultimately must fall upon the Cavalry Corps commander,  
Pleasonton, for failing to recognize the need to protect the army's  
position with a cavalry screen.  The Union left flank was left  
unprotected, leaving it open to the attack that would come that  
afternoon."

This paragraph appears on p. 71.

As for the assignment, the 4th PA was supposed to provide screening  
for the left flank of the AoP position.  Butterfield's note to  
Pleasonton of 12:50 states: "the patrols and pickets upon the  
Emmitsburg road must be kept on as long as our troops are in  
position."  OR 27, pt. 3, 490.  A few minutes later, Butterfield  
wrote, "[Meade] expected, when Buford's force was sent to Westminster,  
that a force should be sent to replace it, picketing and patrolling  
the Emmitsburg road."  Ibid.  From these two dispatches, it's clear  
that the 4th was supposed to perform the same duties that Gamble's  
brigade had been performing before it was pulled out.

Eric

On Jul 21, 2008, at 2:53 PM, Tom Ryan wrote:

> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:
>
>
> In reexamining the issue of cavalry commander Pleasonton ordering  
> Buford's
> two brigades to Taneytown from the Union left flank on July 2 (thereby
> uncovering that flank), it seems that Pleasonton made a rather feeble
> attempt to make up for this blunder by directing Gregg to send a  
> regiment
> from his cavalry division to cover the left in place of Buford.  The  
> 4th PA
> received this assignment.  The messages related to this situation  
> are in OR,
> vol. 27, partIII, page 490).
>
> In reading Longacre's account of this episode in "The Cavalry at  
> Gettysburg"
> (page 207), it is unclear whether the 4th PA Cav arrived before,  
> during or
> after Longstreet's attack on Sickles' salient position in the late  
> afternoon
> of July 2.
>
> I rather think that this cav regiment did not arrive prior to the  
> attack
> because the 2nd US Sharpshooters of Berdan's brigade had the  
> assignment of
> covering Sickles left flank prior to the attack.
>
> Longacre's comments are that the 4th PA Cav "attempted to take the  
> place of
> Gamble's and Devin's men on the left of the Union line.  [Col.  
> Doster] and
> his men spent the balance of the day supporting batteries above  
> Little Round
> Top and giving Sickle's troops a covering fire against Rebels  
> overrunning
> their salient."  That is a little vague, and I cannot quite tell  
> from this
> whether the 4th PA was on hand at the outset of the fighting.  If  
> they were,
> it is reasonable to assume they would have been working in  
> conjunction with
> the 2nd USSS in providing cover for that flank.
>
> Does anyone have any info on when the 4th PA Cav arrived on the  
> scene on the
> Union left, and what there initial assignment was?
>
> Tom Ryan
>
>                    
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