page_title: 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment
section_title: Early action
hierarchical_section_title: 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment / Early action
caption_attribution_description: English: The map shows the area surrounding Fairfax, Virginia, during the American Civil War. The 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry patrolled this area at the beginning of 1863.
context_page_description: The 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was present for 50 battles, beginning with the Battle of Hanover on June 30, 1863, and ending with a skirmish at Rude's Hill in March 1865. A majority of its fighting was in Virginia, although its first major battle was in Pennsylvania's Gettysburg campaign. It was consolidated with the 22nd Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment on June 24, 1865, to form the 3rd Provisional Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment.
  The regiment was organized at Pittsburgh and Harrisburg between October and December 1862. Green County was the source of recruits for three companies, while additional recruits came from elsewhere in the state. Companies L and M were late additions to the regiment, and were originally meant to be part of a 19th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment. Recruits for these two companies were mostly from the Philadelphia area.
  The regiment served in the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the Shenandoah. Among major battles where it saw action were the Battle of the Wilderness, the Third Battle of Winchester, and the Battle of Cedar Creek.
context_section_description: Historian Robert W. Black observes "the 18th Pennsylvania would become a fine regiment", but "in January 1863, it was a collection of civilians in uniform, poorly equipped and armed." Their first scouting task was on January 11, when a portion of the regiment went on a late-night patrol with the 1st Virginia Cavalry Regiment. January and February were spent on picket duty, scouting missions, and drilling. A major foe in this area of Virginia was Major John Mosby and his partisan Rangers. Soldiers of the brigade considered Mosby's force "very formidable", and pickets were always under the threat of a surprise attack. On January 18, Mosby captured 11 pickets from the regiment. A few days letter, he sent a few of the captured men back to the regiment with a message that said the regiment needs to be better equipped and armed because it did not currently pay to capture them. 
  The regiment was finally completed on February 1 when Companies L and M were added. The recruits for those companies were from the Philadelphia area. They were originally intended to be part of a 19th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment, but that initial organization failed and they were added to the 18th. When the two companies were added, the regiment became part of Colonel Richard Butler Price's Independent Cavalry Brigade, XXII Army Corps, Department of Washington. On March 1, Gowen was discharged, and the regiment's new lieutenant colonel was William Penn Brinton, who was promoted from captain in the 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment. The regiment continued to show its inexperience on March 1 when Major Joseph Gilmore led 200 men on a westward reconnaissance toward Aldie, Virginia. Gilmore did not follow all of his orders, and mistook some men from the 1st Vermont Cavalry for enemy soldiers. He turned his command and fled at full speed from the Vermont cavalry—which caused him to be court-martialed.
  In April, the regiment became part of the Third Brigade, Brigadier General Julius Stahel's Cavalry Division, XXII Army Corps. Improvements were made to the regiment over the next 3 months. On April 1, revolvers, new sabers, and belts were issued. Bryan joined the regiment on May 3—bringing experience and training from West Point and the regular army. Burnside carbines were issued on June 21—an inferior weapon but an improvement over the Merrill carbines originally issued.
caption: Fairfax and Washington in the early 1860s
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