he First Bull Run, the very
name of the "Black Horse cavalry" struck terror into the hearts of the
Northern army, though it must be confessed that it was rather moral
influence than physical force that the somewhat mythical horsemen
exerted. Southern men were accustomed to the saddle, and were as a rule
better riders than their Northern brethren. They took naturally to the
mounted service, which was wisely fostered and encouraged by the
Southern leaders, and, under the bold generalship of such riders as
Ashby, Stuart, Hampton, Fitzhugh Lee, Rosser, Mosby, and others, the
cavalry of the army of Northern Virginia surpassed that of the army of
the Potomac both in numbers and in efficiency. McClellan says in his
book that he often thought he made a mistake in not putting "Phil"
Kearney in command of the cavalry. There is no doubt about it. Kearney
had just the right sort of dash. If he had been given a corps of horse,
with free rein, as Sheridan had it later on, "Phil" Kearney might have
anticipated by at least two years the brilliant achievements of "Cavalry
Phil" Sheridan. But the dashing one-armed hero was fated to be killed
prematurely, and it was not until 1863, that Pleasanton, Buford, Gregg,
Kilpatrick, and Custer began to make the Union troopers an important
factor in the war; and Sheridan did not take command of the cavalry
corps, to handle it as such, until the spring of 1864. Even then, as we
shall see later, he had to quarrel with the commander of the army in
order to compel recognition of its value as a tactical unit upon the
field of battle. It was to Hooker, and not to Meade, that credit was due
for bringing the cavalry into its proper relation to the work of the
Northern army.

Under the able leadership of such officers as those mentioned, the
Federal cavalry took a leading part in the Gettysburg campaign and those
which succeeded it, and was able to meet the flower of the South on
equal terms and on its own ground. There will be no more honorable page
in the history of our country than that on which will be written the
record of the cavalry of the armies of the Potomac and of the
Shenandoah.

CHAPTER V

JOINING THE CAVALRY

I finished my sophomore year in June, 1862, and returned to my home full
of military spirit and determined to embrace the first favorable
opportunity to enter the volunteer service. As second lieutenant of the
"Tappan Guard," I had acquired a pretty thorough knowledge of Har