The Cavalry Charge

During a cavalry charge, United States horsemen advanced at great speed toward Confederate infantry as the ground trembled and the sound rose like distant thunder. Private William R. Hamby of the 4th Texas Infantry recalled that when the cavalry came within about forty yards, his men fired a volley that caused dreadful execution and then prepared to meet them with bayonets. Private C. F. James of the 8th Virginia Infantry remembered the regular cavalry coming on at breakneck speed until, at about seventy five yards, a ragged infantry line unleashed a continuous sheet of flame that emptied many saddles and threw the charging squadron back in confusion.

Virginia · United States