General John Buford

Longacre adds to his status as a leading authority on Civil War cavalry (The Cavalry at Gettysburg; Mounted Raids of the Civil War) with this definitive biography of one of its key leaders. John Buford graduated from West Point in 1848. Serving on the Western frontier, he decided that whether cavalry fought mounted or on foot in a given instance mattered less than using its speed and mobility to be in the right place at the right time. Buford applied that principle while commanding first a cavalry brigade, then a division, in the Army of the Potomac in 1862-1863. At Gettysburg, his eye for terrain determined the Union position, and his troopers held that position until the main army arrived. His death from typhoid prevented the further successes that would almost certainly have been his as a cavalry commander. This comprehensively researched, well-written volume merits recognition from Civil War students and military historians. (Jan.)