Product Description

The road to Gettysburg began at Brandy Station on June 9, 1863. However, the cavalry clash in Culpeper County, Virginia, counts for more than just the opening round of Lee's second invasion of the North. The battle showed both sides that the Federal cavalry had now come of age, that Blue and Gray horsemen were now equal in ability. Early in the morning on June 9, Pleasanton launched his men, split into two divisions, across the Rappahannock at Beverley's Ford to the north of Brandy Station and Kelly's Ford to the south. Stuart was caught completely unaware by these maneuvers and his lines and headquarters were nearly overrun until reinforcements helped to stabilize the situation. Following 12 hours of bitter fighting the Union forces withdrew back across the river, having matched the Confederate cavalry in skill and determination for the first time in the War between the States in what was the largest and most hotly contested clash of sabers in this long and bloody war.

This book describes the battle with a step-by-step analysis of the proceedings, illustrated with detailed maps, birds-eye-views and full color battlescene artwork.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #442123 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-21
• Released on: 2008-10-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Review
"In short, this book is an excellent overview of the initial battle of the Gettysburg Campaign." -Jeff Grim, Collected Miscellany - www.collectedmiscellany.com (February 2009)

About the Author
Daniel Beattie is a former librarian, New York City welfare investigator, infantryman, Public Information Officer for the USDA Forest Service, professor of History and Political Science, and businessman. He earned a BA from the City University of New York, and a MA and PhD in History from Duke University. For many years he served on the Boards of Trustees of the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites and the Civil War Preservation Trust, and has received the highest Preservationist Award of both groups. He sat on the Board of the Brandy Station Foundation for about 10 years. He has been instrumental in saving each of the preserved parcels of land of Brandy Station battlefield. The author lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Customer Reviews

One of Osprey's very best efforts! Concise, authoritative.
Osprey volume #201 of the Campaign Series is entitled Brandy Station 1863: First step towards Gettysburg. The author is Dr. Daniel Beattie, long considered one of the experts in this fight, and the man who wrote the text for many of the wayside markers around the battlefield. Lavishly illustrated with color photographs of the modern battlefield taken by Dan and his wife, as well as Adam Hook's usual excellent drawings and sketches, this is one of the best treatises on Brandy Station you will find. At 96 pages, it cannot possibly fulfill the needs of researchers or readers wanting very detailed accounts of the fight and the events leading up to it, but Beattie draws upon his years of study to develop a thorough overview that lacks nothing in terms of giving the reader a solid understanding of what transpired and why. This should become the first book you recommend to friends who want an overview of the largest cavalry battle of the Civil War.


Chapter 1 covers the Opposing Plans -- a brief look at why the summer operations became an invasion and what Lee was trying to accomplish. Likewise, Beattie introduces the Federal War Department's goals and objectives. The next chapter examines the Opposing Commanders, particularly J.E.B. Stuart and Al Pleasonton, as well as their superiors - Lee and Hooker. Beattie is objective, fair, and accurate in his assessment of the officers, paying attention to the conditions that led to the critical decisions of the Gettysburg Campaign. In Chapter 3, Beattie dives into the Battle of Brandy Station and gives a very concise, but well written and highly readable account of the multiple actions and manuevers that comprised the day-long fight.

Beattie does not leave the reader hanging with the conclusion of the fight at Brandy Station. The fourth chapter gives a nice overview of the context of Brandy Station within the larger summer campaign, including Stuart's successes in screening the mountain passes from Pleasonton's force as it advanced westward across the Loudoun Valley. Finally, the author gives a brief tour of The Battlefield Today, with a summation of recent preservation efforts . The book is rounded out with suggested readings and a comprehensive index.

This may be the best Civil War book within the Campaign series. The photos, the exceptional text, the graphics and illustrations, the nice maps -- all combine to make this book one to pick up if you have an interest in the Gettysburg Campaign.

A Well Put Together Narrative
Although the Battle of Brandy Station on 9 July 1863 is but little-known today, Civil War historian Dan Beattie points out in Osprey's Campaign No. 201 on this action, that it was not only the largest cavalry battle of the American Civil War, but the first step on Lee's march toward Gettysburg. Having been involved in preservation efforts on the battlefield today, including writing the historical markers there, Dan Beattie was the perfect choice to write this volume and his love for and knowledge of the subject breath a great deal of life into this narrative. This volume is far better researched than many other contemporary Civil War volumes and offers a valuable look both at the strengths and weaknesses of Union and Confederate cavalry at this crucial mid-point of the war, as well as providing insight into how cavalry reconnaissance (or lack of) shaped the coming Gettysburg Campaign. Overall, a very good, well-written volume in the Campaign series.

In the introduction, the author points out that the much-maligned (for his defeat at Chancellorsville) Major General Joseph Hooker actually accomplished two important reforms in the Union Army of the Potomac that would contribute to its eventual victory: he concentrated his heretofore diverse cavalry brigades into a powerful cavalry corps that could match the Confederate cavalry under Jeb Stuart and he formed an intelligence section (the BMI) that could collate and analyze information brought in from multiple sources. In contrast, he points out that the Confederate cavalry - which had held a decisive edge over Union cavalry since the beginning of the war - were more "numerous, confident and prepared" than ever before, but the Confederacy was becoming less and less able to replace losses. The opposing plans section is particularly good, detailing how Hooker ordered the cavalry corps (under Brigadier Alfred Pleasonton) to cross the Rappahannock River on the morning of 9 June 1863 and "disperse and destroy" Stuart's cavalry around Brandy Station. Amazingly, Stuart had also been ordered to cross the same fords over the Rappahannock to initiate Lee's advance toward the north. The sections on opposing commanders provides a thumb-nail bio on all the division and brigade commanders involved at Brandy Station, as well as a 2 ½ page order of battle. The 6-page section on opposing armies outlines the strengths and weaknesses of both opponents in this fight, although readers expecting real detail should consult the two Warrior-series volumes on Civil War cavalry.

The author's battle narrative is crisp and well-organized, beginning with the Union crossing of the Rappahannock early on the morning of 9 June; Pleasonton split his corps into two wings, one under Buford and one under Gregg, to cross two fords that were about 11 miles apart. In essence, this was a pincer attack that aimed at converging on the suspected Confederate force around Brandy Station and crushing it with a simultaneous attack from two directions. Pleasonton was also given several brigades of infantry to reinforce his attack. However, this book is a good example about friction in war and how a good plan can be ruined by faulty execution. As the author points out, Buford's column got across the river on time and quickly ran into the bulk of Stuart's cavalry and artillery, which blocked any further advance. Unfortunately, Gregg's column was three hours late getting across the river and split itself into three groups that were mutually unsupporting. Nevertheless, Gregg managed to appear at Brandy Station with two brigades undetected until the last moment and nearly caught Stuart in a vise. It was only through quick thinking that the Confederates were able to shift some units to block this attack. Repulsed and unable to disperse or destroy Stuart's cavalry, Pleasonton decided to withdraw back across the Rappahannock, ending the battle. The last section covers the activities of each sides' cavalry in the weeks between Brandy Station and Gettysburg.

Graphically, this is a very attractive volume, with both color and B/W photos and a considerable amount of artwork. The volume has four 2-D Maps (the theater of war in north-central Virginia, June 1863; dispositions at Brandy Station, 8 June 1863; Buford attempts to link-up with Gregg; Routes taken by the cavalry divisions of Duffie and Gregg) and two 3-D BEV maps (attack and defense at St. James Church; the fight for Fleetwood Hill). The number of maps is less than usual in most Osprey campaign series volumes but given that it was a fairly small action that was fought on a single day, they are adequate. There are also three battle scenes by Adam Hook (Beckham's artillery buys time on the Beverly Ford road; Buford on Cunningham's Ridge; Major McClellan saves the day on Fleetwood Hill), but frankly they pale in comparison with the six paintings by Don Troiani, Keith Rocco and Don Stivers that are included in the volume. The author also includes a bibliography and notes on the battlefield today.

Good book although illustrations could be better
I was not familiar with this battle before reading this book by Dan Beattie and I must say that it was a very pleasant voyage of discovery. This book is written in a pleasant and interesting manner, the lecture is easy and the events are well and logicaly explained - and in the same time it is clear that author is quite erudit on this topic.
The interest of Brandy Station battle lays not only in the fact that it was the biggest cavalry clash during American Civil War, but also in the fatal flaws displayed on both sides. Author explains very well that before summer 1863 Union cavalry acquired a significant inferiority complex, when the Confederate cavalry went to consider itself invincible. That had consequences for both sides during this battle. First, an overconfident J.E.B. Stuart was caught "with his pants down" by Union general Alfred Pleasonton and his forces were surprised when dispersed and vulnerable. But then the excessive caution displayed during the battle by Union commanders made them waste this golden opportunity and allowed Stuart to recover. Ultimately the battle ended with a Southern victory, although this was a victory dearly paid - and both Stuart and Pleasonton profoundly "edited" the truth about what really happened at Brandy Station this 9 June 1863...
The book is quite rich in white and black photos and maps are also very well done. There are three colour plates by Adam Hook, and they are quite honest, but surprisingly only the first shows any actual fighting (and also a display of Confederate military underwear, as the Southerners were surprised at dawn...). The only fighting illustrations are small reproductions of gorgeous plates by Don Troiani. I confess being surprised, that Adam Hook didn't seize this occasion to make a picture of great cavalry fight on Fleetwood Hill (the most intense moment of the battle) or of another dramatic moment (and there were many to choose). Small reproductions of Don Troiani pictures are of course better than nothing, but it is recycling, not creating. Are things going so bad for Osprey that they have to do this?
That doesn't change however the fact, that I liked this book very much and I recommend it to all those interested in military history - even if artwork could be better.