Battle of Gettysburg , Third Day cavalry battles The history of the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg ( July 3 , 1863 ) has focused on the disastrous infantry assault nicknamed Pickett ' s Charge . During and after that charge , however , two significant cavalry battles also occurred : one approximately three miles ( 5 km ) to the east , in the area known today as East Cavalry Field , the other southwest of the [ Big ] Round Top mountain ( sometimes called South Cavalry Field ) . The East Cavalry Field fighting was an attempt by Maj . Gen . J . E . B . Stuart ' s Confederate cavalry to get into the Federal rear and exploit any success that Pickett ' s Charge may have generated . Union cavalry under Brig . Gens . David McM . Gregg and George Armstrong Custer repulsed the Confederate advances . In South Cavalry Field , after Pickett ' s Charge had been defeated , reckless cavalry charges against the right flank of the Confederate Army , ordered by Brig . Gen . Judson Kilpatrick , were easily repulsed , resulting in the death of Brig . Gen . Elon J . Farnsworth . Background and cavalry forces . Cavalry forces played a significant role at Gettysburg only on the first and third days of the battle . On the first day ( July 1 , 1863 ) , the Union cavalry division of Brig . Gen . John Buford successfully delayed the Confederate infantry forces under Maj . Gen . Henry Heth until Union infantry could arrive on the battlefield . By the end of the day , Buford ' s troopers had retired from the field . On the Confederate side , most of Maj . Gen . Stuart ' s cavalry division was absent from the battlefield until late on the second day . Possibly misunderstanding orders from General Robert E . Lee , Stuart had taken his three best brigades of cavalry on a pointless ride around the right flank of the Union Army of the Potomac and was out of touch with the main body of Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia since June 24 , depriving Lee of critical intelligence information and of screening services . Stuart arrived from Carlisle at General Lee ' s headquarters shortly after noon on July 2 , and his exhausted brigades arrived that evening , too late to affect the planning or execution of the second day ' s battle . Hampton ' s Brigade camped to the north , following the relatively minor clash with Union cavalry at Hunterstown that afternoon . Lee ' s orders for Stuart were to prepare for operations on July 3 in support of the Confederate infantry assault against the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge . Stuart was to protect the Confederate left flank and attempt to move around the Union right flank and into the enemy ' s rear . If Stuart ' s forces could proceed south from the York Pike along the Low Dutch Road , they would soon reach the Baltimore Pike , which was the main avenue of communications for the Army of the Potomac , and they could launch devastating and demoralizing attacks against the Union rear , capitalizing on the confusion from the assault ( Pickett ' s Charge ) that Lee planned for the Union center . Confederate cavalry forces under Stuart for this operation consisted of the three brigades he had taken on his ride around the Union Army ( commanded by Brig . Gen . Wade Hampton , Brig . Gen . Fitzhugh Lee , and Colonel John Chambliss ) and the brigade of Col . Albert G . Jenkins ( under the command of Col . Milton J . Ferguson following Jenkins ' s wounding on July 2 ) . Although these four brigades should have amounted to approximately 5 , 000 troopers , it is likely that only 3 , 430 men and 13 guns saw action that day . And following their nine - day ride around Maryland and Pennsylvania , they and their horses were weary and not in prime condition for battle . Union cavalry forces were from the corps of Maj . Gen . Alfred Pleasonton , who did not participate directly in the command of any cavalry actions during the Battle of Gettysburg . Since most of Buford ' s division had retired to Westminster , Maryland ( with the exception of his reserve brigade under Brig . Gen . Wesley Merritt , which was deployed directly south of Gettysburg ) , only two divisions were ready for action . Stationed near the intersection of the Hanover Road and the Low Dutch Road — directly on Stuart ' s path — was the division of Brig . Gen . David McM . Gregg . Gregg had two brigades present at Gettysburg , under Col . John B . McIntosh and Col . J . Irvin Gregg ( David Gregg ' s cousin ) , but the latter was stationed on the Baltimore Pike . Irvin Gregg ' s one - brigade command was supplemented by the newly formed " Michigan Brigade " of Brig . Gen . George Armstrong Custer . Custer was assigned to the division of Brig . Gen . Judson Kilpatrick but happened to be on loan to David Gregg and requested permission from Gregg to join his fight . Altogether , 3 , 250 Union troopers opposed Stuart . The other brigade from Kilpatrick ' s division , commanded by Brig . Gen . Elon J . Farnsworth , was stationed to the southwest of the Round Top mountain , the area now known informally as South Cavalry Field . East Cavalry Field . At about 11 a . m . on July 3 , Stuart reached Cress Ridge , just north of what is now called East Cavalry Field , and signaled Lee that he was in position by ordering the firing of four guns , one in each direction of the compass . This was a foolish error because he also alerted Gregg to his presence . The brigades of McIntosh and Custer were positioned to block Stuart . As the Confederates approached , Gregg engaged them with an artillery duel , and the superior skills of the Union horse artillerymen got the better of Stuart ' s guns . Stuart ' s plan had been to pin down McIntosh ' s and Custer ' s skirmishers around the Rummel farm and swing over Cress Ridge , around the left flank of the defenders , but the Federal skirmish line pushed back tenaciously ; the troopers from the 5th Michigan Cavalry were armed with Spencer repeating rifle s , multiplying their firepower . Stuart decided on a direct cavalry charge to break their resistance . He ordered an assault by the 1st Virginia Cavalry , his own old regiment , now in Fitz Lee ' s brigade . The battle started in earnest at approximately 1 p . m . , at the same time that Col . Edward Porter Alexander ' s Confederate artillery barrage opened up on Cemetery Ridge . Fitz Lee ' s troopers came pouring through the farm of John Rummel , scattering the Union skirmish line . Gregg ordered Custer to counterattack with the 7th Michigan . Custer personally led the regiment , shouting " Come on , you Wolverines ! " Waves of horsemen collided in furious fighting along the fence line on Rummel ' s farm . Seven hundred men fought at point - blank range across the fence with carbines , pistols , and sabers . Custer ' s horse was shot out from under him , and he commandeered a bugler ' s horse . Eventually enough of Custer ' s men were amassed to break down the fence , and they caused the Virginians to retreat . Stuart sent in reinforcements from all three of his brigades : the 9th and 13th Virginia ( Chambliss ' s Brigade ) , the 1st North Carolina and Jeff Davis Legion ( Hampton ' s ) , and squadrons from the 2nd Virginia ( Lee ' s ) . Custer ' s pursuit was broken , and the 7th Michigan fell back in a disorderly retreat . Stuart tried again for a breakthrough by sending in the bulk of Wade Hampton ' s brigade , accelerating in formation from a walk to a gallop , sabers flashing , calling forth " murmurs of admiration " from their Union targets . Union horse artillery batteries attempted to block the advance with shell and canister , but the Confederates moved too quickly and were able to fill in for lost men , maintaining their momentum . Once again the cry " Come on , you Wolverines ! " was heard as Custer and Col . Charles H . Town led the 1st Michigan Cavalry into the fray , also at a gallop . A trooper from one of Gregg ' s Pennsylvania regiments observed , As the horsemen fought desperately in the center , McIntosh personally led his brigade against Hampton ' s right flank and the 3rd Pennsylvania and 1st New Jersey hit Hampton ' s left from north of the Lott house . Hampton received a serious saber wound to the head ; Custer lost his second horse of the day . Assaulted from three sides , the Confederates withdrew . The Union troopers were in no condition to pursue beyond the Rummel farmhouse . The losses from the 40 intense minutes of fighting on East Cavalry Field were relatively minor : 254 Union casualties , 219 of them from Custer ' s brigade ; 181 Confederate . Although tactically inconclusive , the battle was a strategic loss for Stuart and Robert E . Lee , whose plans to drive into the Union rear were foiled . South Cavalry Field . On the morning of July 3 , Union Cavalry Corps commander Maj . Gen . Alfred Pleasonton ordered two of his brigades to the left flank of the Union army . He ordered Brig . Gen . Wesley Merritt ' s Reserve Brigade of Buford ' s division to move north from Emmitsburg to join Brig . Gen . Judson Kilpatrick ' s division , moving from Two Taverns on the Baltimore Pike to the area southwest of Round Top . By this time , the only brigade in Kilpatrick ' s division was that of Brig . Gen . Elon J . Farnsworth , George Custer ' s brigade having been detached for service with David Gregg at East Cavalry Field . It is unclear what Pleasonton hoped to accomplish . There is no record that he performed any reconnaissance in this area . It has been speculated that Army of the Potomac commander George G . Meade was preparing for a possible counterattack to follow the repulse of Pickett ' s Charge , which he had anticipated since the night before . Farnsworth reached the area at approximately 1 p . m . , about the time the massive Confederate artillery barrage started in preparation for Pickett ' s Charge , and his 1 , 925 troops took up a position in a line south of the George Bushman farm . From left to right , the regiments were the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry , the 1st West Virginia , and 1st Vermont . Battery E . , 4th U . S . Artillery , occupied a small , rocky knoll in the rear and the 5th New York cavalry was placed in a nearby ravine to guard the artillery . Joined by Kilpatrick , they awaited Merritt ' s brigade , which arrived at about 3 p . m . and took up a position straddling the Emmitsburg Road , to Farnsworth ' s left . By this time the infantry portion of Pickett ' s Charge had begun , and Kilpatrick was eager to get his men into the fight . On the Confederate line to the east of the Emmitsburg Road , only infantry troops were involved . The four brigades of Hood ' s division , under the command of Brig . Gen . Evander M . Law , had occupied the area from Round Top , through Devil ' s Den , and back to the road since the battle on July 2 . Initially , Law had just the 1st Texas Infantry ( from Brig . Gen . Jerome B . Robertson ' s Texas Brigade ) facing Farnsworth to the south , but he soon reinforced them with 47th Alabama Infantry , the 1st South Carolina , and artillery . To the west of the road , facing Merritt , was the Georgia brigade of Brig . Gen . George " Tige " Anderson . Young Kilpatrick had little experience in commanding cavalry , and he demonstrated that by attacking fortified infantry positions in a piecemeal fashion . West of the road , Merritt went in first , with his 6th Pennsylvania cavalrymen fighting dismounted . Anderson ' s Georgians repulsed their attack easily . Farnsworth was to follow , but he was astonished to hear Kilpatrick ' s order for a mounted cavalry charge . The Confederate defenders were positioned behind a stone fence with wooden fence rails piled high above it , too high for horses to jump , which would require the attackers to dismount under fire and dismantle the fence . The terrain leading to it was broken , undulating ground , with large boulders , fences , and woodlots , making it unsuitable for a cavalry charge . Accounts differ as to the details of the argument between Farnsworth and Kilpatrick , but it is generally believed that Kilpatrick dared or shamed Farnsworth into making the charge the latter knew would be suicidal . Farnsworth allegedly said " General , if you order the charge I will lead it , but you must take the awful responsibility . " First in the assault was the 1st West Virginia Cavalry , led by Colonel Nathaniel P . Richmond . They rode in great confusion after coming under heavy fire from the 1st Texas , but they were able to breach the wall . Hand - to - hand fighting with sabers , rifles , and even rocks ensued , but the attack was forced back . Of the 400 Federal cavalrymen in the attack , there were 98 casualties . The second wave came from the 18th Pennsylvania , supported by companies of the 5th New York , but they were also turned back under heavy rifle fire , with 20 casualties . It was finally the turn of the 1st Vermont Cavalry , about 400 officers and men , which Farnsworth divided into three battalions of four companies each under Lieutenant Colonel Addison W . Preston , Major William Wells , and Captain Henry C . Parsons . Parsons ' s battalion led the charge , passing the Texans and riding north into the blinding sun toward the John Slyder farm . Evander Law sent three Georgia regiments ( the 9th , 11th , and 59th ) to move to the support of the Texans and the artillery batteries . A staff officer carrying the order encountered the 4th Alabama , who also joined in support . An Alabama lieutenant yelled " Cavalry , boys , cavalry ! This is no fight , only a frolic , give it to them ! " And the infantrymen found many easy targets . All three battalion advances were turned back with great losses . The final group , led by Wells and by Farnsworth , circled back toward Big Round Top , where they met a line of the 15th Alabama across their front . Farnsworth ' s party had dwindled to only 10 troopers as they weaved back and forth , trying to avoid the murderous fire . Farnsworth fell from his horse , struck in the chest , abdomen , and leg by five bullets . Postwar accounts by a Confederate soldier that claimed Farnsworth committed suicide with his pistol to avoid capture have been discounted . Major Wells received the Medal of Honor for his heroism in leading the rest of his men back to safety . The Vermont regiment suffered 65 casualties during the futile assault . Kilpatrick ' s ill - considered and poorly executed cavalry charges are remembered as a low point in the history of the U . S . Cavalry and marked the final significant hostilities at the Battle of Gettysburg . Six miles ( 10 km ) west of Gettysburg , one of Merritt ' s regiments , the 6th U . S . Cavalry , was defeated that afternoon at Fairfield by Brig . Gen . William E . " Grumble " Jones ' s " Laurel Brigade , " an action not considered to be a formal part of the Battle of Gettysburg , but one that had a critical role in the retreat of Lee ' s army . All of Pleasonton ' s cavalry brigades were exercised for the remainder of the Gettysburg Campaign in the lackluster pursuit of Lee ' s army back across the Potomac River .