GDG- Buford at Fairfield

[Mike Nugent]

-----Original Message-----
On Behalf Of Tom Ryan
Subject: RE: GDG- Buford at Fairfield

"... (Heth) makes no reference to Buford's cavalry at all.  Like they were
not even there...

Either Heth's memory is hazy after 14 years, or he is rearranging the story
for some reason."

Tom Ryan


Tom,

For years after the war, Heth insisted that the force he faced on the
morning of July 1st consisted of Infantry, not Cavalry.  I believe there are
two reasons for this:

I think Heth was too stubborn to admit that he erred in dismissing
Pettigrew's report of Regular Army Cavalry in Gettysburg on June 30th.
Admitting that he fought Cavalry on July 1st would require admitting he was
wrong and that the self-taught Pettigrew was right.

Secondly, and most importantly, I think Heth's claims illustrate the job
that Buford's two brigades did fighting the July 1st covering force action.
One of the goals of Cavalry in a defensive posture is to deceive the enemy
as to the makeup of your force (fighting dismounted, horses well out of view
to the rear, etc.)  If the Confederates had known the true composition of
the force in front of them, they could have bulled their way right through
Buford's screen.  Believing they faced Infantry however, forced them into a
by-the-book deployment and slowed them down considerably.

Regards,

Mike Nugent