Ira W . Claflin Ira Wallace Claflin ( June 21 , 1834 – November 18 , 1867 ) was a United States Army West Point regular officer who took command the 6th US Cavalry during the critical days of July 1863 during the Gettysburg Campaign . He was an instructor of Union cavalry tactics for West Virginia and later taught at West Point . Family . Ira Wallace Claflin was the eldest son , of eight children , of Ira Claflin , Sr 1808 - 1891 and Hannah Wells Richardson ( 19814 - 1907 ) born in Rochester , Windsor County , Vermont . Ira W . married Jane Cooper Stuck on April 21 , 1863 at Hagerstown , Maryland . They had two children , Mary Cooper Claflin ( 1864 - ? ) and a son , Morris Fairfax Claflin ( 1867 - ? ) . Claflin ’ s father , Ira W . Claflin , Sr . helped raised his two children and assisted his widow . They were noted as in Iowa in the 1870 United States Census . Military service . Pre - Civil War . Claflin was appointed from Iowa to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1853 . He graduated on July 1 , 1857 , twenty seventh in his class . He was assigned to the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen as a Second Lieutenant . From October 3 , 1857 to May 13 , 1858 he served as an assistant instructor of Cavalry . On June 14 , 1858 , Claflin reported to his Regiment in Albuquerque , New Mexico and served at Fort Union . He saw minor action against the Tuni - cha Navajos in 1859 . American Civil War . When the American Civil War started , Claflin received orders to report to the newly formed 3rd United States Cavalry that was created on May 14 , 1861 , but re - designated the 6th US Cavalry on August 3 , 1861 . His reporting date was delayed probably due to the ‘ needs of the service ’ because he is noted as serving with distinction , and with “ gallant and meritorious services ” at the Battle of Val Verde on February 21 , 1862 , earning a brevet promotion to Captain . He is noted at the Battle of Glorieta Pass on March 18 , 1862 commanding the artillery unit . He also fought at Peralta , New Mexico on April 15 , 1862 before joining the “ Fighting 6th Regiment ” then on the Peninsula campaign . Peninsula Campaign . The now , First Lieutenant , Claflin had been trained as an infantry soldier who was capable of riding a horse to the battlefield and as a mounted scout . As a " horse soldier " or “ mounted rifleman , ” Claflin had years of experience on the frontier serving as a regular . His job as a professional soldier from West Point was to set an example to his men and adapt to the different type of war in the east . The horse soldier needed to become cavalry , but this had a steep learning curve that proved difficult and frustrating during the first few years of the war . The 6th Cavalry had 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 Civil 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 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 . Claflin had a head start due to his frontier service and West Point service that helped the regiment adapt . He was at Yorktown from June to August 1862 . But was noted at the Seven Days Battles ( June 25 to July 1 , 1862 ) , then served as the regimental commissary officer from August 27 to September 5 , 1862 . He was assigned to several company commands starting in September where his focus was training , manning and supplying those companies to fight as cavalry . In April 1863 , he was assigned to command Company H of the 6th , where he remained for the rest of his service , except for when he was a staff officer of the regiment . Gettysburg Campaign . The Gettysburg Campaign was a series of engagements before and after the Battle of Gettysburg . To better understand Claflin ' s role within the military organization , the following brief is provided . For more details , see Gettysburg Union order of battle . The following list is the 6th US Cavalry Regiment ' s documented battles and engagements of June and July 1863 which Claflin participated . These battles were pivotal for Claflin as a company commander and as a regimental commissary until July 3 . Then he assumed command of his regiment after that date . Lt . Louis H . Carpenter served as his executive officer . Battle of Brandy Station . On June 9 , 1863 , opposing cavalry forces met at Brandy Station , near Culpeper , Virginia . The 9 , 500 Confederate cavalrymen under Major General J . E . B . Stuart were surprised at dawn by Major General Alfred Pleasonton ' s combined arms force of two cavalry divisions of some 8 , 000 cavalry troops ( including the 6th U . S . Cavalry Regiment with Claflin ) , and his assistant Carpenter , commanding Company H and some 3 , 000 infantry . Stuart barely repulsed the Union attack and required more time to reorganize and rearm . This inconclusive battle was the largest predominantly cavalry engagement of the Civil War to that time . This battle proved for the first time that the Union horse soldiers , like Claflin , were equal to their Southern counterparts . Battle of Fairfield . On July 3 , 1863 , reports of a slow moving Confederate wagon train in the vicinity of Fairfield , Pennsylvania , attracted the attention of newly commissioned Union Brigadier General Wesley Merritt of the Reserve Brigade , First Division , Cavalry Corps . He ordered the 6th U . S . Cavalry under Major Samuel H . Starr to scout Fairfield and locate the wagons , resulting in the Battle of Fairfield . Claflin was at the Cavalry headquarters as the regimental commissary officer at that time . The following events would lead to his commanding of the regiment . Major Starr , the Regimental Commander , on July 3 , 1863 was east of Fairfield when he made contact with the enemy . Starr had his 400 troopers dismount in a field and an orchard on both sides of the road . Union troopers directed by their officers took up hasty defensive positions on this slight ridge . Under the command of Major Starr Carpenter with H troop Nolan on a flanking move with Company C and the others threw back a mounted charge of the 7th Virginia Cavalry , just as the Confederate Chew ' s Battery unlimbered and opened fire on the Federal cavalrymen . Supported by the 6th Virginia Cavalry , the 7th Virginia charged again , clearing Starr ' s force off the ridge and inflicting heavy losses . General " Grumble " Jones , outnumbering the Union forces by more than 2 to 1 , pursued the retreating Federals for three miles to the Fairfield Gap , but was unable to eliminate his quarry . Major Starr who was wounded in the first attack was unable to escape and was captured . Small groups of the 6th Cavalry , " . . . reformed several miles from the field of action by Lt . Louis H . Carpenter , " harassed the Virginia troopers giving the impression of the vanguard of a much larger force . Carpenter became then became the acting executive officer of the Regiment with Captain Claflin as commanding officer . The 6th Cavalry ' s stand at Fairfield stood against two of the crack brigades of Stuart ' s cavalry . was considered one of the most gallant in its history and helped influence the outcome the battles being fought around Gettysburg . While the 6th Cavalry regiment was cut to pieces , it fought so well that its squadrons were regarded as the advance of a large body of troops . The senior officer of those Confederate brigades was later criticized severely for being delayed by such an inferior force . Had the 6th Cavalry regiment not made their stand , the two brigades of Virginians could have caused serious problems to the Union rear areas . The decimated regiment of only about 200 troopers with only three officers was now commanded by Captain Claflin . Funkstown , Maryland . On July 7 , 1863 there was a small engagement at Funkstown , Maryland . Captain Claflin was seriously wounded in the shoulder and had to be carried off the field . He would not return to his regiment until September . Claflin was brevetted as a Major effective July 7 , 1863 for “ gallant and meritorious service during the Gettysburg Campaign . His executive officer , Louis H . Carpenter assumed tempoary command until his return . Overland Campaign . The Fighting 6th Regiment became an escort unit , under the command of Claflin , for Major General Philip Sheridan who was appointed to command the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac under the newly promoted general - in - chief Lieutenant General Ulysses S . Grant on April 5 , 1864 . Calfin ’ s assistant Carpenter was semi - attached to Sheridan as a Field & Staff ( F & S ) officer to the Cavalry Corps . It is unknown how much of an influence Claflin and Carpenter had on Sheridan on the concept of deploying Union cavalry to become more effective and independent in roles such as long - range raids . Carpenter ' s treatise on " The Battle of Yellow Tavern " suggests that he had some influence on what was later called the Richmond or Sheridan ' s Raid . On May 8 , 1864 , at the beginning of the Overland Campaign , Sheridan went over his immediate superior , Major General Meade ' s head and told Grant that if his Cavalry Corps were let loose to operate as an independent unit , he could defeat Confederate Major General J . E . B . Stuart . " Jeb " Stuart was the most prominent and able cavalry officer of the south . Grant was intrigued and convinced Meade of the value of Sheridan ' s request . The May 1864 Battle of Yellow Tavern was the first of four major so called strategic raids . The others being the Trevilian in June 1864 , the Wilson - Kautz in late June , and the First Deep Bottom in July 1864 . Of all of these , only the Battle of Yellow Tavern can be considered a clear Union victory . The defeat and resulting death of " Jeb " Stuart made this clear during the first raid . At best , the follow - up raids diverted Confederate forces required to deal with them from where they were needed elsewhere . Despite of what Carpenter and other supporters of Sheridan have written , further raids of this caliber were less than successful . And these raids may have even hindered the Union effort by the lack of reconnaissance and intelligence Sheridan could have otherwise provided . On November 11 , 1864 , Brevett Major Claflin was appointed as a special instructor of cavalry to teach such cavalry tactics in the Department of West Virginia until July 21 , 1865 . End of the Civil War . Through the course of the Civil War , Claflin served in at least 10 campaigns and over 100 battles related to them from the 1861 Peninsula Campaign , the 1862 Maryland Campaign , Campaign at Fredericksburg , the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign and the Chancellorsville . Post Civil War & death . Claflin served as an assistant instructor at West Point for geography , history and ethics . And he served there until October 6 , 1865 . At his request , he was transferred to his regiment serving occupation duty in Texas . In Austin , Texas , Captain Claflin , resuming his regular army rank , took command of H Troop . In June 1866 he took his troop on an inspection of frontier posts manned by his regiment and others . This took three months and covered almost 1 , 400 miles until he returned to Austin . On January 20 , 1866 , Claflin and Troop H were sent to Mount Pleasant , Texas . During an yellow fever epidemic , Captain Claflin became ill and succumbed to the disease on November 18 , 1867 . He was only 33 years of age . He left a wife , Jane Cooper ( Stuck ) Claflin , and two children , a daughter , Mary Cooper Claflin , age 3 ½ years and a son , Morris Fairfax Claflin , age 6 months . Claflin ’ s father , Ira W . Claflin , Sr . helped raised his two children and assisted his widow . They were noted as in Iowa in the 1870 United States Census . Ira W . Claflin , Captain , US Army is buried in the Alexandria National Cemetery in Louisiana in section A , site 1003 . Honors and awards . During his military career , Claflin received brevet promotions for bravery and was mentioned in dispatches several times during the Civil War both out west and in the east . Claflin received a series of brevet promotions for gallantry and or meritorious service and regular army promotions ; A monument dedicated to the regulars of the United States Army who fought at Gettysburg includes Claflin . < br > United States Cavalry Reserve Brigade Brig . - General Wesley Merritt < br > 1st . Regiment Captain Richard S . C . Lord Commanding < br > 2nd . Regiment Captain Theophilus F . Rodenbough Commanding < br > 5th . Regiment Captain Julius W . Mason Commanding < br > 6th . Regiment Major Samuel H . Starr , Lieut . Louis H . Carpenter < br > Lieut . Nicholas Nolan , Captain Ira W . Claflin Commanding