John Buford John Buford , Jr . ( March 4 , 1826 – December 16 , 1863 ) was a Union cavalry officer during the American Civil War . A West Point regular , born in the divided border state of Kentucky , he had many Southern connections , but opted to stay in the Union Army . His first command was a cavalry brigade under Maj . Gen . John Pope , and he distinguished himself at Second Bull Run , where he was wounded , and also saw action at Antietam and Chancellorsville . Arriving at the small town of Gettysburg before the Confederate army was concentrated for battle , Buford was quick to recognize the importance of the high ground south of the town , and conducted delaying actions against superior infantry attacks until Union infantry units arrived to take up the fight and establish defensive positions on that ground . Later Buford rendered valuable service to Maj . Gen . George G . Meade , both in the pursuit of Robert E . Lee , and in the Bristoe Campaign , but his health started to fail , possibly from typhoid . On his deathbed , he received a personal message from Pres . Abraham Lincoln , promoting him major general in recognition of his tactical skill and leadership on the first day of Gettysburg . Early years . Buford was born in Woodford County , Kentucky , but was raised in Rock Island , Illinois , from the age of eight . His father was a prominent Democratic politician in Illinois and a political opponent of Abraham Lincoln . Buford was of English descent . His family had a long military tradition . John Jr . ' s grandfather , Simeon Buford , served in the cavalry during the American Revolutionary War under Henry " Lighthorse " Lee , the father of Robert E . Lee . His great - uncle Colonel Abraham Buford ( of the Waxhaw Massacre ) , also served in a Virginia regiment . His half - brother , Napoleon Bonaparte Buford , would become a major general in the Union Army . His cousin , Abraham Buford , would become a cavalry brigadier general in the Confederate States Army . After attending Knox College in Galesburg , Illinois , for one year , Buford was accepted into the Class of 1848 at the United States Military Academy ( West Point ) . Upperclassman during Buford ' s time at West Point included Fitz - John Porter ( Class of 1845 ) , George B . McClellan ( 1846 ) , Thomas J . Jackson ( 1846 ) , George Pickett ( 1846 ) , and two future commanders and friends , George Stoneman ( 1846 ) and Ambrose Burnside ( 1847 ) . The Class of 1847 also included A . P . Hill and Henry Heth , two men Buford would face at Gettysburg on the morning of July 1 , 1863 . Buford graduated 16th of 38 cadets and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 1st U . S . Dragoons , transferring the next year to the 2nd U . S . Dragoons . He served in Texas and against the Sioux , served on peacekeeping duty in Bleeding Kansas , and in the Utah War in 1858 . He was stationed at Fort Crittenden , Utah , from 1859 to 1861 . He studied the works of General John Watts de Peyster , who urged that the skirmish line become the new line of battle . Civil War . Throughout 1860 , Buford and his fellow soldiers had lived with talk of secession and the possibility of civil war , and when the Pony Express brought word that Fort Sumter had been fired on in April 1861 , that possibility became a reality . As was the case with many West Pointers , Buford had to choose between North and South . Based on his background , Buford had ample reason to join the Confederacy . He was a native Kentuckian , the son of a slave - owning father , and the husband of a woman whose relatives would fight for the South , as would a number of his own . On the other hand , Buford had been educated in the North and come to maturity within the Army . His two most influential professional role models , Colonels Harney and Cooke , were Southerners who elected to remain with the Union and the U . S . Army . He loved his profession and his time on the frontier had snapped a number of threads that drew other Southerners home . John Gibbon , a North Carolinian facing the same dilemma , recalled in a post - war memoir the evening that John Buford committed himself to the Union : In November 1861 , Buford was appointed assistant inspector general with the rank of major , and , in July 1862 , after having served for several months in the defense of Washington , was raised to the rank of brigadier general of volunteers . In 1862 , he was given his first position , under Maj . Gen . John Pope , as commander of the II Corps Cavalry Brigade of the Union Army of Virginia , which fought with distinction at the Second Battle of Bull Run . Buford personally led a charge late in the battle , but was wounded in the knee by a spent bullet . The injury was painful but not serious , although some Union newspapers reported that he had been killed . He returned to active service , and served as chief of cavalry to Maj . Gens . George B . McClellan and Ambrose E . Burnside in the Army of the Potomac . Unfortunately , this assignment was nothing more than a staff position and he chafed for a field command . In McClellan ' s Maryland Campaign , Buford was in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam , replacing Brig . Gen . George Stoneman on McClellan ' s staff . Under Maj . Gen . Joseph Hooker in 1863 , however , Buford was given the Reserve Brigade of regular cavalry in the 1st Division , Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac . After the Battle of Chancellorsville , Maj . Gen . Alfred Pleasonton was given command of the Cavalry Corps , although Hooker later agreed that Buford would have been the better choice . Buford first led his new division at the Battle of Brandy Station , which was virtually an all - cavalry engagement , and then again at the Battle of Upperville . In the Gettysburg Campaign , Buford , who had been promoted to command of the 1st Division , is credited with selecting the field of battle at Gettysburg . On June 30 , Buford ' s command rode into the small town of Gettysburg . Very soon , Buford realized that he was facing a superior force of rebels to his front and set about creating a defense against the Confederate advance . He was acutely aware of the importance of holding the tactically important high ground south of Gettysburg and so he did , beginning one of the most iconic battles in American military history . His skillful defensive troop dispositions , coupled with the bravery and tenacity of his dismounted men , allowed the I Corps , under Maj . Gen . John F . Reynolds , time to come up in support and thus maintain a Union foothold at tactically important positions . Despite Lee ' s barrage attack of 140 cannons and a final infantry attack on the third day of the battle , the Union army won a strategic victory . The importance of Buford ' s leadership and tactical foresight on July 1 cannot be overstated in its contribution to this victory . Afterward , Buford ' s troopers were sent by Pleasonton to Emmitsburg , Maryland , to resupply and refit , an ill - advised decision that uncovered the Union left flank . In the Retreat from Gettysburg , Buford pursued the Confederates to Warrenton , Virginia , and was afterward engaged in many operations in central Virginia , rendering a particularly valuable service in covering Maj . Gen . George Meade ' s retrograde movement in the October 1863 Bristoe Campaign . Death and legacy . By mid December , it was obvious that Buford was sick , possibly from contracting typhoid , and he took respite at the Washington home of his good friend , General George Stoneman . On December 16 , Stoneman initiated the proposal that Buford be promoted to major general , and President Abraham Lincoln assented , writing as follows : " I am informed that General Buford will not survive the day . It suggests itself to me that he will be made Major General for distinguished and meritorious service at the Battle of Gettysburg . " Informed of the promotion , Buford inquired doubtfully , " Does he mean it ? " When assured the promotion was genuine , he replied simply , " It is too late , now I wish I could live . " In the last hours , Buford was attended by his aide , Captain Myles Keogh , and by Edward , his servant . Also present were Lt . Col . A . J . Alexander and General Stoneman . His wife Pattie was traveling from Rock Island , Illinois , but would not arrive in time . Near the end , he became delirious and began admonishing the servant , but then , in a moment of clarity , called for the man and apologized : " Edward , I hear that I have been scolding you . I did not know what I was doing . You have been a faithful servant , Edward . " John Buford died at 2 p . m . , December 16 , 1863 , while Myles Keogh held him in his arms . His final reported words were " Put guards on all the roads , and don ' t let the men run to the rear . " On December 20 , memorial services were held at a church on the corner of H . Street and New York Avenue in Washington , D . C . President Lincoln was among the mourners . Buford ' s wife , Pattie , was unable to attend due to illness . The pallbearers included Generals Casey , Heintzelman , Sickles , Schofield , Hancock , Doubleday , and Warren . General Stoneman commanded the escort in a procession that included " Grey Eagle , " Buford ' s old white horse that he rode at Gettysburg . After the service , two of Buford ' s staff , Captains Keogh and Wadsworth , escorted his body to West Point , where it was buried alongside fellow Gettysburg hero Lt . Alonzo Cushing , who had died defending the " high ground " ( Cemetery Ridge ) that Buford had chosen . In 1865 , a 25 - foot obelisk style monument was erected over his grave financed by members of his old division . The officers of his staff published a resolution that set forth the esteem in which he was held by those in his command : In 1866 , a military fort established on the Missouri - Yellowstone confluence in what is now North Dakota , was named Fort Buford after the general . The town of Buford , Wyoming , was renamed in the general ' s honor . It is the smallest town in America . It was sold at auction for $ 900 , 000 on April 5 , 2012 to an unnamed Vietnamese by its owner , who had served in the U . S . military in 1968 - 1969 . In 1895 , a bronze statue of Buford designed by artist James E . Kelly was dedicated on the Gettysburg Battlefield . In 1992 , the M8 Buford light tank was produced and named after him . In popular media . Buford was portrayed by Sam Elliott in the 1993 film " Gettysburg " , based on Michael Shaara ' s novel " The Killer Angels " . Buford is a character in the alternate history novel " " , written by Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen .