John Buford

John Buford, Jr. (March 4, 1826 – December 16, 1863) was a Union cavalry officer during the American Civil War, with a prominent role at the start of the Battle 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. His family had a long military tradition. John Jr.'s grandfather, Colonel Abraham Buford (of the Waxhaw Massacre) and great uncle served in Virginia regiments during the American Revolutionary War. 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.Eicher, p. 153. He served in Texas and the Southwest, fought 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.Bielakowski, p. 310; Longacre, pp. 69-73; Fort Crittenden was originally named Camp Floyd, but was renamed during his assignment there. He was a student of the works of General John Watts de Peyster, who was a strong advocate of making the skirmish line the new line of battle.Randolph, pp. 82-88.
==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. After all, 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 memory 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 Corp's 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.Bielakowski, p. 310. 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 defence against the Confederate advance. He was acutely aware of the importance of holding the tactically important high ground about Gettysburg and so he did, beginning one of the most iconic battles in American military history. His intelligent defensive troop alignments, 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 strategically 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 highly significant 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. The importance of Buford's leadership and tactical foresight on July 1 cannot be overstated in its contribution to this victory. 
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 dying, 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."Sandford, np.
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 2:00 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."Moore, np.
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 large twenty-five 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 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.
In 1895, a bronze statue of Buford designed by artist James E. Kelly was dedicated on the Gettysburg Battlefield.
==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 Gettysburg, written by Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen.
==See also==
*List of American Civil War generals
==References==
* Bielakowski, Alexander M., "John Buford", Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History, Heidler, David S., and Heidler, Jeanne T., eds., W. W. Norton & Company, 2000, ISBN 0-393-04758-X.
* Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
* Hard, Abner N., History of the Eighth Cavalry Regiment, Illinois Volunteers, Aurora, Illinois: privately published, 1868.
* Langellier, John P., Kurt Hamilton Cox, and Brian C. Pohanka, Myles Keogh: The Life and Legend of an "Irish Dragoon" in the Seventh Cavalry, Upton and Sons, 1991, ISBN 0-912783-21-4.
* Longacre, Edward G., General John Buford: A Military Biography, Combined Publishing, 1995, ISBN 0-938289-46-2.
* Moore, Frank, The Civil War In Song and Story, 1860-1865, P. F. Colliers, 1889, ISBN 0-548-23606-2.
*Petruzzi, J. David, "John Buford: By the Book," America's Civil War Magazine, July 2005.
* Petruzzi, J. David, "Opening the Ball at Gettysburg: The Shot That Rang for Fifty Years," America's Civil War Magazine, July 2006.
* Petruzzi, J. David, "The Fleeting Fame of Alfred Pleasonton," America's Civil War Magazine, March 2005.
* Phipps, Michael, and Peterson, John S., The Devil's to Pay, Farnsworth Military Impressions, 1995, ISBN 0-964363-21-6.
* Randolph, Lewis Hamersly, Biographical Sketches of Distinguished Officers of the Army and Navy, Henry E. Huntington Library, New York, 1905.
* Rodenbough, Theophilus, From Everglade to Canon with the Second Dragoons - An Authentic Account of Service in Florida, Mexico, Virginia, and the Indian Country, D. Von Nostrand, 1875.
* Sandford, George B., Fighting Rebels and Redskins: Experiences in Army Life of Colonel George B. Sanford, 1861-1892, University of Oklahoma Press, 1969, ISBN 0-806-10853-3.
* Proceedings of the Buford Memorial Association (New York, 1895) 
* History of the Civil War in America (volume iii, p.545)
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==Notes==
Category:1826 births
Category:1863 deaths
Category:People of Illinois in the American Civil War
Category:People of Kentucky in the American Civil War
Category:People from Rock Island County, Illinois
Category:People from Kentucky
Category:Union Army generals
Category:United States Army generals
Category:United States Military Academy alumni
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