page_title: Nicholas M. Nolan
section_title: American Civil War
hierarchical_section_title: Nicholas M. Nolan / American Civil War
caption_attribution_description: English: United States Crossed Cavalry Sabers, 6th Cavalry, paint shop modified from hand drawn color sketch with a number 6.
context_page_description: Nicholas Merritt Nolan was a United States Army major. An Irish immigrant, he began his military career in New York on December 9, 1852 with the 4th Artillery and subsequently served in New York's 2nd Dragoons. He enlisted as a private and rose through the ranks becoming a First Sergeant. He was commissioned an officer in late 1862 in the Regular Army while serving with the 6th U.S. Cavalry Regiment during the American Civil War. He participated in sixteen campaigns with the 6th and most of its battles. He was slightly wounded at the Battle of Fairfield and seriously wounded at the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House. He was brevetted twice and noted at least twice for gallantry during combat. He was slightly wounded when captured at the end of March 1865 and was later paroled. After the Civil War he served with the 10th U.S. Cavalry known as the Buffalo Soldiers for fourteen years. Nolan is also noted for his pluses and minuses during the Buffalo Soldier tragedy of 1877 that made headlines in the Eastern United States of America. He was the commanding officer of Henry O. Flipper in 1878, the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point.
context_section_description: Nolan took a demotion on September 5, 1861 to become a Sergeant in Troop B, 6th U. S. Cavalry. By March 1862 he was its First Sergeant. This unit was part of the Union Army which later became known as the Army of the Potomac. Nolan was trained as light cavalry with the primary function of scouting then acting as dismounted light infantry. The reality of pre-war cavalry and Civil War cavalry use was dramatic. Nolan and others like him had a steep learning curve that proved difficult and frustrating during the first year of the conflict. He participated in the Peninsula Campaign and chased the audacious Jeb Stuart's Cavalry that went completely around the Union Army (June 13–15 1862). This caused great psychological concerns to the Union cavalry commanders and men. The "horse soldiers" were a far second best compared to the dashing Confederate cavalry.
  Rapid expansion of the Union Cavalry in the East was chaotic. At the beginning of the War, officers were elected by the men or appointed politically. This resulted in many misguided and inept commanders. The tools and techniques of pre-war cavalry often seemed inadequate, resulting in a steep learning curve that was costly in men and supplies. Slowly out the chaos came the tactics and leaders like Nolan who proved worthy of the challenge. Union "horse soldiers" became cavalry troopers under this tough regimen and proved adept, dismounted and mounted on horseback, with their carbines, pistols, sabers and confident under their battle-proven leaders.
  Nolan was given a battlefield commission or appointed as a lieutenant on July 17, 1862. His later formal commission may have come as reluctance and when Nolan was later asked about it, he stated he had been a "very good First Sergeant." This may indicate he was encouraged in some manner to become an officer in the regular Army. On September 22,
  1862 he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Regular U. S. Army.
caption: 6th Regiment United States Cavalry insignia
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