Dragoon or Cavalryman, Major General John Buford in the American Civil War

MajorGeneral John Buford. Buford, a 1848 graduate of the United States MilitaryAcademy, began his Army career on America's frontier with the First UnitedStates Dragoons. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Buford was selected tocommand a cavalry brigade in John Pope's Army of Virginia, and participatedin the Second Manassas Campaign. Buford went on to make significantcontributions to the Union efforts in the Eastern Theater; however, historyhas generally portrayed Buford as a one-dimensional character based on hisstand along McPherson and Seminary Ridges on the first day of the Battle ofGettysburg. Several historians have presumed that the dismounted cavalry (orDragoon) tactics used by Buford at Gettysburg were the culmination of amethod of fighting which he helped develop and propagate within the Unioncavalry.However, this thesis shows that contrary to this Dragoon image, Buford was infact a remarkable cavalry officer. His battlefield tactics were fairlytraditional, but it was not in pitched battles that Buford excelled. Hissignificant contributions were in the established roles of cavalry; performingreconnaissance and providing security for the army he was supporting.