GDG- Buford at Fairfield

[Tom Ryan]

Hi Bill,

Good to meet you at the seminar as well.  I appreciate the work you have
done in the past two seminars and the articles based on your talks that are
included in the published proceedings.

Thanks for the information and thoughts in your post.  The scouts that Lee
and Hill sent out were most likely from Companies A and C of the 39th
Virginia Cavalry Battalion that accompanied Lee, Longstreet and Hill on the
march northward (Company B served Ewell's headquarters on his march
northward).

Company C was attached to Lee's HQ, while Company A apparently provided
scouting and courier service to Longsteet and Hill

So the scouts you mentioned that Lee and Hill sent out were surely selected
from these two companies.  The 39th Battalion was experienced in their
duties, because they had served throughout the war, and participated in the
various battles.

What I find curious is that these scouts did not discover the fact that two
brigades of Buford's division were moving in a northeast direction from
Middletown (west of Frederick) toward Gettysburg via Fairfield on June 29
and 30.  These two brigades must have been strung out over several miles
while they were marching.  The scouts were moving in a southeasterly
direction from Chambersburg toward the Frederick area, and they probably
were on the road the morning of June 29 (after Harrison had notified Lee the
night before that Hooker had crossed the Potomac).

So it seems to me the scouts should have either run into Buford's brigades,
or at least heard from the local population that a sizable contingent of
Union cavalry was in the viciinity (there were many pro-South people in the
population).  But there is no evidence that this happened.  I find it very
strange to have experienced scouts miss out on such an important discovery.
By notifying Lee of Buford's movements, Lee no doubt would have hastened the
march toward Gettysburg to occupy it before Buford's arrival.

In addition, after Buford ran into the Mississippi regiments at Fairfield,
and presuming the word was passed up to Heth and Hill, that should have
convinced them that what Pettigrew confronted at Gettysburg on June 30 was
regular cavalry not militia.

It appears that a lot of things had to break down for information about
Buford not to have gotten to Hill and Lee.

On your point #4, did the scouts specifically report that they found two
corps at Middleburg?  What you are suggesting, I believe, is that Lee should
have been more alarmed by the fact that at least two corps were that close
to Gettysburg, but neither he nor Hill seemed to be all that concerned.

I think it gets back again to the fact that the loss of Stuart's expertise
in gathering information was critical, because no one else seemed to know
how to go about this business or did not step up to try to fill the gap.

I would like to know more about what the timetable for Lee and Hill's
scouts, what route they took, and what else they found besides the Union
troops in Middleburg, but there does not seem to be any references other
than Hill's comments.

Regards, Tom

-----Original Message-----
From: gettysburg-bounces at arthes.com
[mailto:gettysburg-bounces at arthes.com]On Behalf Of William Hewitt
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 12:28 PM
To: gettysburg at arthes.com
Subject: GDG- Buford at Fairfield


Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:


For Tom Ryan

Tom- Suggest you will find page 205 of General A.P. Hill from James
Robertson Jr. interesting.
Hill was with Heth when Pettigrew made his report in the afternoon of 30
June.    Hill quote:
"The only force at Gettysburg is cavalry, probably a detachment of
observation.  I am just from General Lee, and the information he has from
his scouts coorborates what I have received from mine-- that is the enmey is
still at Middleburg amd have not yet struct their tents"

I take from this:
1) Both Lee and Hill had scouts active in the area.
2) this meeting between Hill and Lee was sometime around noon or earlier on
30 June.  So the information is valid only regarding morning or 30 June or
earlier.  Perhaps XI and XII Corps ????/
3)  Middleburg is about 15 miles south and slightly east of Gettysburg.
4)   Were these 2 Federal corps reported the missing 2 corps from Harrison's
report or were they part of the 5 in Harrison's report?
5)  Regardless, Lee knew at least 2 corps were within 15 miles of Gettysburg
on morning of 30 June or earlier.

Hope this helps. I was glad to meet you at the last Park seminar and look
forward to exchanging thoughts.

Bill Hewitt
------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Mon, 5 May 2008 09:00:56 -0400
From: "Tom Ryan" <pennmardel at mchsi.com>
Subject: RE: GDG- Buford at Fairfield
To: "GDG" <gettysburg at arthes.com>
Message-ID: <FEEOKINCPINMNKHDCDCEAEMIDKAA.pennmardel at mchsi.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="US-ASCII"

Hi J.D.,

Thanks for that info.  I am in the process of trying to determine what Lee
knew about the Union army following the report from the spy Harrison to
Longstreet and Lee on June 28 at Chambersburg that the Union army had
crossed the Potomac and was now in the vicinity of Frederick and South
Mountain.

While Buford was moving north from Mechanicstown (Thurmont) on June 29 with
two of his brigades with orders to find the Rebel army, Lee had sent scouts
south toward Frederick to verify Harrison's information.  It seems to me
that Lee's scouts and Buford's brigades should have run into each other
while they were heading in opposite directions.  But there is no evidence
that actually happened.  If Lee's scouts had made contact with Buford and
immediately sent a courier to inform Lee of this, then Lee would have had an
opportunity to move forces quickly to occupy Gettysburg (knowing that Union
forces were heading in that direction).

At any rate, the first known contact Buford made with the enemy was with the
Mississippi regiments at Fairfield, and if these units had alerted Heth,
Hill and Lee, then there also may have been enough time to beat Buford to
the punch, so to speak, by quickly occupying Gettysburg.

It appears, however, that Lee learned nothing from his scouts or from the
Fairfield contact with Buford; therefore, took no direct action to gain the
upper hand.

If you have any thoughts on this situation or can provide other facts that
relate to this story, it would be appreciated.

By the way, were the two Mississippi regiments identified?

Thanks again,

Tom

-

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