460 NortH Carotina Troops, 1861-’65.

rest in camp, and then received orders to take up a line of
march for the Army of Northern Virginia and unite their
future destiny with the brave heroes who rode with that true
representative of Southern dash, chivalry and courage, Gen-
eral J. KE. B. Stuart. “It is now 1 June, 1863, and the be-
ginning of serious and perilous times. General Lee is look-

ing northward and plans for the Gettysburg campaign have
already been commenced.”

The cavalry command under General Stuart, consisting of
twenty-one regiments assigned to five brigades, commanded
by Generals Hampton, Fitzhugh Lee, W. H. F. Lee, Robert-
son and Jones, encamped upon a broad plain near Culpep-
per Court House. All that could be accomplished in arm-
ing, equipping and organizing this arm of the service had
been effected in every possible detail and manner.

CAVALRY REVIEW.

On 5 June General Stuart, surrounded by a coterie of of-
ficers, both civil and military, with a large number of ladies
and other spectators, from a stand on a gentle elevation, had
the cavalry brigades consisting of about 8,000 men, to pass
in review before him and his attendants. Truly this was a
grand pageant, such as modern times has but seldom wit-
nessed in this or any other country. The mounted troops at
first moving in column of squadrons at a slow pace, passed be-
fore their gallant commander, then at a charge, while the
guns of the horse artillery poured forth volley after volley of
thunder and smoke, which together with the yelling of the
men and rising clouds of dust gave every appearance of
real battle, rather than a harmless military display, to be so
very soon followed by a terrible encounter of blood and ear-
nage on the same field. Three days later General Lee, whose
long column of infantry were then pressing their way toward
Maryland, reviewed the cavalry with much less of the pomp
and display, however, than that which had so signally marked
the previous review. The review being over, the troops went
into camp, the Fifty-ninth taking up quarters near the
farm of John Minor Botts, with pickets guarding the lower
fords of the Rappahannock river.

Firry-Ninto REGIMENT. 461

BRANDY STATION.

On the same evening General Pleasanton, commanding
the Federal cavalry, approached the opposite bank of the
river and concentrated his forces preparatory to an early
crossing the following morning to make a reconnoissance
which, if possible, might disclose the movements of General
Lee’s army. With the advance of his forces our pickets
were driven in and there on the broad plain near Brandy Sta-
tion occurred the most extensive cavalry engagement of the
Civil War. According to the report of General Pleasanton,
the Federal troops engaged in this contest numbered 10,981
effective men, while on the Confederate side, including the
horse artillery, the effective total numbered about 8,500 men.
Though the fight continued nearly throughout this long day
of 9 June, yet not all of the Confederate cavalry force was
engaged. General Robertson’s Brigade, to which our reg-
iment belonged, though often under artillery fire, was held
mostly in reserve and its casualties were small, But soon
now the fortune of this command must change.

MIDDLEBURG AND UPPERVILLE.

Taking up its line of march as ordered in rear of General
Lee’s moving army eight days thereafter it reached the town
of Middleburg, which had been previously occupied by the
enemy’s cavalry, and here a fierce contest ensued just out-
side of the town, resulting in the rout and capture of nearly
the entire force in our front, which proved to be the First
Rhode Island Cavalry. oo

Then commenced a series of cavalry battles, continuing
through several days, in which the Fifty-ninth was an
active participant, suffering great loss in killed, wounded
and captured. On 21 June the Federal cavalry having been
strongly reinforced, made a general advance, pressing ”
forces heavily and forcing us to retire In the direction 0
Upperville, “our artillery in the meantime doing good ex-
ecution from every position of advantage and the cavalry
meeting every charge and recharging whenever opportunity
and conditions afforded.” As we neared the town the fight-

ing became desperate—often hand-to-hand with severe loss