page_title: Cavalry in the American Civil War
section_title: Confederate cavalry
hierarchical_section_title: Cavalry in the American Civil War / Confederate cavalry
caption_attribution_description: The 1st Virginia Cavalry at a halt. Drawing on tan paper, pencil and Chinese white,
context_page_description: The American Civil War saw cavalry tactics move largely away from the offensive towards the defensive, with the emphasis on screening, reconnaissance, raiding and harassment. Development of the rifled musket had also rendered the cavalry charge impractical.
  In the first half of the war, the Confederates enjoyed the advantage in cavalry, as southern men were more accustomed to the riding and shooting life, and most of the experienced cavalry officers from the regular army had chosen to side with the Confederacy.
  By the second half, from 1863 onward, the Union Army had gained an equal cavalry capability, through Benjamin Grierson's brilliant deception tactics in the Mississippi valley, and Philip Sheridan's aggressive movements, while in command of the Army of the Shenandoah at the end of the war in Virginia.
  Cavalry units proved highly expensive to maintain, and unscrupulous agents would often exploit shortages by supplying defective animals at exorbitant prices.
context_section_description: A Southerner was, on average, considered a superior horseman to his Northern counterpart, especially early in the war. Roads in the rural South were generally poor, and horses were used more for individual transportation than they were for the carriages and streetcars of the urbanized North, where many of the early Federal cavalry regiments were formed. Furthermore, Southern society was more stratified, which made the soldiers more accustomed to a hierarchy of command and were generally considered more suited to the martial lifestyle.  Additionally, the strong militia tradition in the antebellum South and the requirements for local 'slave catcher' patrols led to the development of mounted units prior to 1861.
  Confederate soldiers owned their horses and were compensated on a monthly basis. If a soldier's horse was sick, injured, or killed, the soldier was responsible for returning home and replacing the horse at his own expense. The general rule was that the soldier had 60 days to return with a new horse or he was forced to become an infantryman, which was considered to be an ignominious fate.
  The first prominent Confederate cavalry leader was J.E.B. Stuart, who achieved success in the First Battle of Bull Run against infantry. He was a flamboyant dresser and an audacious commander, wildly popular with the Southern public for his escapades in twice encircling the Army of the Potomac. These long-range reconnaissance missions accomplished little of military value but boosted Southern morale. After Stuart's death in 1864, he was replaced by Wade Hampton, who was a more mature, and arguably more effective, commander. Another Eastern commander of note was Turner Ashby, the "Black Knight of the Confederacy", who commanded Stonewall Jackson's cavalry forces in the Valley Campaign; he was killed in battle in 1862.
  In the Western Theater, the most fearless, and ruthless, cavalry commander was Nathan Bedford Forrest, who achieved spectacular results with small forces but was an ineffective subordinate to the army commanders he was supposed to support, resulting in poorly coordinated battles.  Much of the same issues could be said of Forrest's counterpart in the Army of Tennessee, John Hunt Morgan.  In the Eastern Theater, the Partisan Ranger John Singleton Mosby succeeded in tying down upwards of 40,000 Federal troops defending rail lines and logistical hubs with only 100-150 irregulars. In the Trans-Mississippi Theater, John S. Marmaduke and "Jo" Shelby became prominent.
caption: Sketch of 1st Virginia Cavalry
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