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THE BATTLE OF

BRANDY STATION, 1863

The Fight at Fleetwood Hill. By Neil Smith
February 22nd, 1863 was a bad day for Fightin Joe Hooker,
commanding the Army of the Potomac. Despite reorganizing the
Union cavalry into a single corps under the command of MajorGeneral George Stoneman, Hookers cavalry could not seemingly
contend with 400 Virginia troopers under Brigadier-General
Fitzhugh Lee, the nephew of Robert E. Lee, who strolled across
Kellys Ford and through the snow to within a few miles of
Hookers headquarters before strolling back again with the Union
cavalry tangled up in knots trying to stop him. Hooker ordered a
response; so, on St. Patricks Day a division of 4,000 Union
cavalrymen under General William Averell launched an assault
against the Rebels, resulting in the engagement at Kellys Ford
(see WI249). The Union cavalry did well enough to hold back
Lees counter-charges, but Averell did not press matters when
victory was clearly in sight. The opening moves of the 1863
cavalry war had been a draw, but Hooker was determined to
make his new cavalry work.
Hooker got another chance to see what
his cavalry could do in April. He had
drawn up imaginative plans to cross the
Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers to hit
Robert E. Lees Army of Northern
Virginia in the flank, and he would send
Stoneman with 8,000 troopers behind
Lee to cause chaos. Stoneman carried out
his orders well, perhaps too well because
while he was sending his units in all
directions, including to the gates of
Richmond itself, and causing the required
headaches to the Confederates, Hookers
army was being out-foxed by Lee and
Stonewall Jackson in Virginias
wilderness around Chancellorsville. The
Army of the Potomac was soundly, if not
decisively, beaten and limped back across
the Rappahannock to lick its wounds.
Hooker was not of a mind to forgive
Stoneman for not attacking Lee in the
rear or coming to help his army in any
way, and replaced him with the selfaggrandizing Brigadier-General Alfred
Pleasonton. By June, the Army of the
Potomac was ready to fight again, or so
thought Hooker. It was also time to find
Lees army that had moved out of its
positions to prepare for an invasion of
Pennsylvania, but to do so Pleasonton
would have to penetrate JEB Stuarts
Confederate cavalry screen. That would
prove easier said than done.
Major-General James Ewell Brown
Stuart, on the other hand, was enjoying
himself immeasurably in the grassy fields
around Culpeper, Virginia. With the loss
of Stonewall Jackson to friendly fire at
Chancellorsville, Stuart was arguably the
most famous warrior in the Confederacy.

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Why wouldnt he be? Stuart was the

epitome of the valiant Confederate
cavalier who had risen to instant acclaim
by riding completely around the Army of
the Potomac the previous year, and his
exploits were becoming the stuff of
legend. He had his approximately 10,000
troopers stationed at Culpeper Court
House in June 1863 to take advantage of
the grazing and to shield Lees
movements to the north. However bold
Stuart might be, though, he was no fool.
After Kellys Ford in March and
Stonemans Raid, Stuart made a tactical
change so that at least one regiment was
mounted before dawn every morning in
case the Yankees came calling. He also
set a tripwire defense along the
Rappahannock Fords to alert the army of
any danger. In the meantime, his horses
grazed and his men relaxed at Culpeper,
though not without putting on three grand
reviews from June 5 - 8 for the high
command and the ladies of the town. If
Stuart expected the events of 9 June,
however, it did not show as he bedded
down on the eve of what would be his
greatest test to date.
PLEASONTONS PLAN
Pleasontons orders from Hooker were
simple, search out Stuarts cavalry at
Culpeper and destroy them. His first task
was to get his troopers with some infantry
and artillery support, numbering around
8,000 in two wings, across the
Rappahannock. He designated BrigadierGeneral David Gregg to take his division
out to the left and cross at Kellys Ford,
while he, with Brigadier-General John

Perry Miniatures
Confederate cavalry

Bufords division, would cross at Beverly

Ford. Buford would head straight for the
small village of Brandy Station, while
Gregg took the more circuitous route to
Stevensburg, then north to join the
command. Once combined at Brandy
Station, the Union force would push
forward down the line of the Orange &
Alexandria railroad to Culpeper Court
House and defeat Stuart. What Pleasonton
could not know was the disposition of the
Confederate forces who were not at
Culpeper but spread around the gulleys
and high ground mostly between the fords
and Brandy Station. In the wee hours of 9
June, Pleasontons force crept forward,
maintaining almost complete silence,
down to the fords and across the river.

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American Civil War

1861-1865

Map taken from Osprey Publishing Brandy Station 1863 - Campaign 201 www.ospreypublishing.com

Brandy station:Layout 1

BUFORDS CROSSING
Stuart had no pickets on the north bank
of the Rappahannock, but he had two
men on the south bank who heard the
Union cavalry coming. They discharged
their revolvers and skeedadled back to
the picket reserve of about thirty 6th
Virginia troopers of Brigadier-General
William Grumble Joness command.
The small band of rebels spread out and

fired on the 8th New York cavalrymen

emerging from the woods by the ford.
Another alarm was sent down the line to
Joness brigade camped on the ground
between the Gee House and St. James
Church, and to Stuarts command post
further back towards Brandy Station.
The Union cavalrymen deployed in
column on either side of the Beverly Ford
Road and began to advance.

The first significant unit the Union

troopers met was the much vaunted
Confederate horse artillery of Major
Robert F. Beckham, inexplicably camped
about one-mile-and-a-half from Beverly
Ford with nothing between them and the
advancing Union troopers. Fortunately
for the sleeping artillerymen, the Union
troopers did not grasp what they were
looking at from 300 yards, so, assuming
the men to their front were more than

Below: Confederate twelve-pounder Napoleon cannon atop Fleetwood Hill and Major McClellan standing next to it

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dozy and unsupported cannoneers, the

troopers opened fire. The carbine alarmclock worked wonders for the
artillerymen who burst into a frenzy of
activity, harnessing horses and limbering
cannons to get out, while one cannon
opened fire with canister. Help arrived in
the nick of time in the shape of
contingents from the 6th and 7th Virginia
cavalry, many of them only half dressed
for the occasion. In the ensuing melee,
the commander of the Union 1st Brigade,
Colonel Benjamin Grimes Davis was
killed, forcing Colonel Thomas Davis to
take command and disorganizing
temporarily the Union cavalry. That gave
time for the Confederates to withdraw to
a ridge line 1000 yards to the rear.
The Confederates took up positions on a
low-lying ridge anchored by the Gee
House and St. James Church. The gun
line along the ridge had excellent fields
of fire across open ground and covering
the two roads leading to Brandy Station.
When the Union cavalry arrived through
the woods onto the St. James plateau,
artillery fire brought them up short; then
the rebel cavalry hit them from two sides.
The resulting melee was a tumult of
flashing sabres peppered with smoke
from discharged small weapons before
the Confederates broke off to deploy
alongside their guns. The 6th
Pennsylvania and 6th US Cavalry may
have thought that the battle was almost
over and launched a textbook charge
across the open ground into the teeth of
the Confederate artillery. They came back
across the field badly chewed and the
reformed rebel cavalry helped them on
their way. The situation at the St. James
plateau was stalemated with neither side
able to exert a decisive influence across
the no-mans-land between them. Buford
and his 2nd Brigade commander, Colonel
Thomas Devin, met to discuss the
situation and it was agreed that Buford
would try and force the Confederate
position with an attack around the rebels
left flank, but both wondered what had
become of Greggs Division, crossing at
Kellys Ford.
GREGGS CROSSING
If everything had gone according to
Pleasontons plan, Greggs Division
would have crossed Kellys Ford,
brushed aside any opposition, and hit the
Confederates in the rear, relieving the
pressure to his front and trapping Stuarts
cavalry in a vice if everything went to
plan that is
Initially, there seemed to be little
difficulty for Gregg. His men had
captured the ford by dawn and his
troopers were crossing with no
opposition. The plan then called for
Gregg to send a detachment down to

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Perry Miniatures Union cavalry

Stevensburg to secure his flank while he

cut north up the Fredericksburg Plank
Road short of the village to link up to the
right wing at Brandy Station. Greggs
detachment would turn out to be Colonel
Alfred Duffies entire 2nd Division. But,
they had yet to come up, and by the time
his division started their advance to
Stevensburg, the left wing was three
hours behind schedule and an
increasingly anxious Gregg could hear
the battle being fought by the right wing
a few miles to the north.
Duffies column plodded along towards
Stevensburg while advanced elements
under Major Benjamin Stanhope rode off
to secure the town and access to the Old
Carolina Road leading north towards
Brandy Station. Stanhope met no
opposition in town, but as he pushed
north he could see a column of
Confederate cavalry coming south to
meet him. Stanhope retreated quickly
back into town where he received orders
to hold at all costs. The Confederates had
been sent down by Stuart to monitor the
situation and hold up any Union advance.
They were hopelessly outnumbered,
however, and after a brief but vicious
fight near Stevensburg they scattered to
the winds and out of the fight. Duffie
turned north on the Old Carolina Road.
One-hundred-and-ninety South
Carolinians under Colonel Matthew
Butler dismounted across the road on the
Hansbrough ridge to square off against
Duffies 1,500 Union cavalrymen. Their
Enfield rifles outranged the Union
carbines and the Union advance was
stalled, but they could not hold and after
Butler lost his foot to an artillery round
his subordinate Major Lipscomb took
charge and withdrew the hard-pressed
regiment. The road to Brandy Station was
open. At just that moment, a courier from
Gregg ordered Duffie to retrace his steps
to the Kellys Ford Road and follow
Gregg to Brandy Station. Duffie set off

on this looping march with no more

alacrity than he had getting to
Stevensburg. By this time, the fighting
north of Brandy Station had intensified.
BUFORDS FLANK ATTACK
Bufords flank attack was not going
according to plan either. His idea was to
take his division down Yew Ridge around
the Confederate left, but problems set in
almost immediately. After their exertions
in the morning charge, the 6th
Pennsylvania had been assigned to
protect the rear of the Union right wing,
and they took up positions along a stone
wall on the Cunningham Farm about a
mile from Beverly Ford. Unfortunately,
the 10th and 13th Virginia cavalry
regiments also wanted that wall and their
intense fire persuaded the Pennsylvanians
to relinquish possession. Buford would
now have to overcome an obstacle that
should have been a stepping-stone. He
had also run into the brigade of
Brigadier-General William Rooney Lee
who had been camped out on that flank
overnight, and was advancing to the ford
and to the sound of the guns just as
Buford was massing his cavalry for his
flank attack. Now, if Buford was to
succeed, he would have to go through
over 2,000 veteran Confederate
cavalrymen occupying terrain that
favoured the defence, including that
pesky stone wall. By 10am, Buford was
stalled and had to call up infantry support
to push the rebels away from the wall.
They did so through stealth and surprise,
but Lee had already set up a defensive
line on the ridge to the rear of the wall.
Before Buford could organize an
effective assault, however, he was
surprised to see Lees men mounting up
and retiring to the rear. The hard-pressed
Devin saw the same thing to his front.
Buford advanced cautiously for the next
four hours against the Confederate
rearguard who held him at bay, then

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received a shock when Lees Brigade

launched a surprise counter-attack,
leading to a prolonged melee and forcing
the Union men back in some disorder
Lee was badly wounded in the fighting,
his successor was killed, and the counterattack faltered. Buford fell back to
Cunningham Ridge where a second
shock awaited; an order to fall back to
Beverly Ford from Pleasonton: the battle
was over and the Union cavalry corps
was re-crossing the Rappahannock.
Bufords heavy moustache must have
bristled when he found out why.
THE FIGHT AT FLEETWOOD HILL
Fleetwood Hill sits like a shallow
overturned soup bowl immediately to
the northwest of Brandy Station. A
small creek, Flat Run, flows between

the hill and the town; the Old Carolina

Road exits the town and runs over the
crest of the hill past the Miller House
that marks the summit. The Orange &
Alexandria railroad delineates the
southern edge of the hill and heavy
woods lie to the south of the railroad
(see map below). Whoever controlled
Fleetwood Hill would control the town
of Brandy Station and its environs.

signal station contingent, a single

artillery piece, and Stuarts adjutantgeneral Major Henry B. McClellan, first
cousin to George B. McClellan a former
commander of the Army of the Potomac an ample illustration of how insular this
civil war could be.
At 10:30am, a breathless rider reported to
McClellan that Union troops were on the
way from the south with nothing between
them and Fleetwood Hill. McClellan
could soon see for himself a blue-coated
column emerging from the nearby woods.
He reacted quickly, sending a courier to
Stuart to inform him of this new peril just
a mile to the rear of Stuarts position, and
pulling the cannon to the crest of the hill
adjacent to the Miller House. The twelvepounder Napoleon quickly opened fire on
the Union column.

At the beginning of the battle, Stuart had

moved out of positions around Fleetwood
Hill to the northwestern Gee House - St.
James Church line. Rooney Lee was off
to the north, preventing Union access
from that direction, and to the south
Stuart had sent out a few units to monitor
the situation there and to prevent any
Union force coming up into his rear. All
that remained on the hill was a small

BARBOUR HOUSE

Map taken from Osprey Publishing Brandy Station 1863 Campaign 201 www.ospreypublishing.com

FLAT RUN
9

FLEETWOOD HILL
OLD CAROLINA ROAD

4
1

ORANGE & ALEXANDRIA

RAILROAD

11

MILLER HOUSE

BRANDY STATION

CARRICOS MILL ROAD

10

5
6

12

CONFEDERATE FORCES

Elements of Hampton's Brigade:

5 Cobb's Legion, Georgia Cavalry Regiment
6 1 st South Carolina Cavalry Regiment
7 1 st North Carolina Cavalry Regiment
8 Jeff Davis Legion, Mississippi Cavalry
Regiment
Elements of Beckham's Battalion of Horse
Artillery (the Stuart Horse Artillery)
9 Chew's Virginia Battery (The Ashby Artillery)
10 McGregor's Virginia Battery (2nd Stuart
Horse Artillery)
11 Moorman's Virginia Battery (The Lynchburg
Artillery or Beauregard Rifles)
12 Hart's South Carolina Battery (The
Washington Artillery)

Elements of Jones'Brigade:
1 12th Virginia Cavalry Regiment
2 35th Virginia Cavalry Battalion
3 6th Virginia Cavalry Regiment
4 11th Virginia Cavalry Regiment

D
H

8
E
F

UNION FORCES

Wyndhams 2nd Brigade:

A 1 st Maryland Cavalry Regiment
B 1st New Jersey Cavalry Regiment
C 1 st Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment
Kilpatrick's 1st Brigade:
D 10th New York Cavalry Regiment
E 2nd New York Cavalry Regiment
F 1st Maine Cavalry Regiment
Martin's Battery, 6th New York Independent Battery
G Sections 1 and 2
H Section 3

Below: Union Cavalry dismount and

take cover. Perry Miniatures

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BRANDY STATION
FOUNDATION:
While researching the Battle of
Brandy Station, I had the privilege of
walking the fields where those brave
cavalrymen fought. I could do so
because of the sterling preservation

SCENARIO:
THE FIGHT AT FLEETWOOD HILL
You will command either the Confederate
or Union forces fighting for control over
Fleetwood Hill. Your mission is to be in
possession of the hill at the end of the
days fighting. The map on the previous
page depicts the terrain over which you
will fight.
The scenario begins with one
Confederate twelve-pounder Napoleon
cannon atop Fleetwood Hill and Major
McClellan standing next to it. All other
forces begin the game off-table.

work conducted by the Brandy Station

Foundation and the Civil War
Battlefields Trust who have wrestled
away much of the battlefield from the
claws of the ever rapacious developers
who scour the north Virginia
countryside and have yet to see a
green field that cannot be despoiled. If
not for the Brandy Station Foundation,
this important field would be a
Formula I race-track. Please visit their
website at:
www.brandystationfoundation.com
and help them in their continued fight
for Brandy Station.
[Editors note: Wargames Illustrated
has made a donation towards the
Brandy Station Foundation]

3rd Cavalry Division:

Brigadier-General David Gregg
Strength 2,170
1st Brigade, 3rd Division: Colonel Hugh
Judson Kilpatrick (1,000 approx)
10th NY 333
2nd NY 333
1st Maine 333
2nd Brigade, 3rd Division: Colonel Percy
Wyndham (1,000 approx)
1st Maryland 333
1st New Jersey 333
1st Pennsylvania - 333

Forces (assume all are cavalry unless

otherwise noted):

Artillery:
6th NY Independent Battery, 3 sections
(6x3'' Rifles)

Union:
Only the divisional strength of the Union
forces is available, but it appears that
both Wyndham and Kilpatrick had
approximately equivalent forces
available to them. The artillery section
usually consisted of two cannons,
probably of 3'' Rifles.

Confederate:
Similar problems exist for ascertaining
the size of individual Confederate units,
but some numbers do exist. Assume,
then, Hamptons Brigade is distributed
equally with 400 men in each regiment,
and that each horse-artillery battery has
4 x 6 pounder cannons.

Jones Brigade: Brigadier-General

William Grumble Jones (1,600)
12th Va 400
35th Va 400
6th Va 400
11th Va 400
Hamptons Brigade:
Brigadier-General Wade Hampton
Cobbs Legion 492
1st South Carolina - 519
2nd South Carolina - 405
Jeff Davis Legion 339
Stuarts Horse Artillery: Major Robert
Beckham (16 x 6pdr cannon)
Chews Virginia Battery
McGregors Virginia Battery
Moormans Virginia Battery
Harts South Carolina Battery
The action begins at 10:30am with
Wyndhams Brigade and supporting
horse artillery coming on to the table in
column up Carrico Mills Road
immediately to the south of Brandy
Station. The Confederate cannon is
deployed ready to fire.
The Union player on receiving fire from
the cannon must roll a D6 with anything
other than a 6 requiring him to fully
deploy Wyndhams Brigade and horse
artillery before advancing. A score of 6
will allow Wyndham to continue his
progress if he so desires.
All other units roll a D6 for each brigade
racing to the battlefield. A throw of 6
allows that brigade to enter the table in
column. A +1 modifier is added to the
roll for every subsequent turn in the game
until all units are on the table and
available to the players.
Kilpatricks Union forces (the only Union
force off-table at the beginning of the
game) must enter from the southern edge
of the table at a point of the Union
players choosing although this can be
randomized by marking the table edge
into six entry points and rolling a D6 for
the entry point to be used.

Below: Dismounted Union cavalry fire on the advancing Rebels. Perry Miniatures

Confederate forces can deploy from

anywhere on the northern table edge or
the western edge north of the Orange &
Alexandria railroad.
On entering the field, Kilpatricks force
must make directly for the crest of the
hill and can only change orders if
Confederate forces are within 18'' of any
of Kilpatricks regiments.
Commander Ratings:
All Confederate commanders are above
average, with Hampton rated as superior.
Wyndham is average and Kilpatrick is
rated as below average and reckless.

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Above: The two forces clash. Perry Miniatures plastic cavalry

Other Playing Options:

This scenario can be played easily as a
solo game with units entering on a
randomized basis. Alternatively,
Fleetwood Hill might suit a multi-player
game with each player taking the role of a
brigade or even regimental commander.
The multi-player option might suit a club
game better where few members might
have all the cavalry needed, but six players
can paint up a regiment or two and roll
them out for some hard cavalry fightin.

Maine, did better. They avoided the flank

assault and continued up the hill, scattering
the 6th Virginia when they got there. The
men from Maine next over-ran the rebel
artillery deployed on the northern edge of
Fleetwood Hill. Their job done and their
horses blown, the 1st Maine exited the hill
and began to withdraw towards Brandy
Station in the process of doing so, they
missed the chance to capture Robert E.
Lee who was in the nearby Barbour House
watching the fight unfold.

BUFORDS ANSWER

Fresh Confederates arrived in the shape of

the 11th Virginia. They careered over the
hill down the Old Carolina Road, crashing
through the Union artillery and sweeping
up the Maine stragglers. Wyndhams men
fell back to the town in the face of the
Southern fury. Also arriving on the scene
were Hamptons 1st North Carolina and
Mississippis Jeff Davis Legion. They tore
into Kilpatricks New Yorkers attempting
to reform on the southern edge of the hill.
Hamptons troopers kept going to join the
assault on Brandy Station, but were
prevented from doing so by errant
Confederate artillery fire.

The Union assault on Fleetwood Hill did

not go well. On receiving artillery fire
from the crest of the hill, Wyndham grew
cautious and deployed his cavalry into
line. He also waited for his supporting
artillery to come up. When all was ready,
Wyndhams troopers began their ascent
with the 1st Maryland in the vanguard.
Wyndhams delay allowed for the
Confederates to bring up reinforcements.
As the Marylanders crested the ridge, the
35th and 6th Virginia ploughed into them,
causing an hour long pell-mell skirmish
that spread across the hill.
Wyndhams Brigade was on the cusp of
defeat when Kilpatrick arrived out of the
woods with his three regiments.
Kilpatrick appears to have had only one
fighting style, straightforward attack, and
he sent his regiments in echelon up the
southern slope. The 10th and 2nd New
York were caught in the open, however, by
Cobbs Legion and the 1st South Carolina
who crashed into the Yankees flank. The
third of Kilpatricks regiments, the 1st

The Confederate cavalrymen had done

their job, however, and Fleetwood Hill,
and Stuarts rear, was secured. The
thoroughly beaten Union men had little
choice but to find their way back to
Kellys Ford. With Bufords Division
stalled and the Kelly Ford attack stifled,
Pleasonton felt he had little choice but to
try and get his men back across the
Rappahannock intact.
The recriminations would follow on both
sides. Pleasonton had not destroyed

Stuarts cavalry, although he later

claimed those were not his orders, and
Stuarts detractors, led by the Richmond
press corps, blamed him for being
surprised by the Union assault. Stuart, in
particular, was most peeved by the
accusations and that may have
contributed to his decision to attempt
another ride-around of the Union army in
the coming invasion of Pennsylvania,
leaving Lee blind in the process.
Maybe it could be argued, then, that the
Union attack at Brandy Station was
successful if measured by the
consequences. The more immediate
benefit to the Union cavalry seems to
have been a boost in morale and an
increase in self-belief that they could
stand toe-to-toe with the Confederate
cavalry. What is certain is that the Union
cavalry would continue to act
aggressively for the rest of the war;
Hooker, who was removed from
command not long afterwards, could
have been proud of that if nothing else.

References:
Dan Beattie, Brandy Station 1863
(Osprey2008)
Joseph Glatthaar, General Lees Army
(Free Press, 2008)
Joseph W. McKinnney, Brandy Station, Virginia,
June 9, 1863: The Largest Cavalry Battle of the
Civil War (McFarland & Company Inc. 2006)
Stephen Sears, Gettysburg (Mariner, 2004)
Carl Smith, Gettysburg 1863 (Osprey1998)
Jeffrey D. Wert, The Sword of Lincoln
(Simon & Schuster, 2006)
Thanks:
Thanks to Alan Perry for the loan of his figures
for the photos. www.perry-miniatures.com

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