Cavalry Battle That Saved the Union, The: Custer vs. Stuart at Gettysburg

An examination of Robert E. Lee's strategy at Gettysburg that would have achieved a Confederate victory, but resulted in the disaster of Pickett's Charge.Civil War historians have long been puzzled by Pickett�s seemingly suicidal frontal attack on the Union center at Gettysburg.Here, for the first time, Paul D. Walker reveals Robert E. Lee�s true plan for victory at Gettysburg: a simultaneous strike against the Union center from the front and rear�Major General George Pickett�s infantry to charge the front, while Major General Jeb Stuart�s cavalry struck the rear. The frontal assault by Pickett went off as scheduled, but as Stuart�s forces approached from the rear, they encountered a Union cavalry contingent. As the forces joined, the Union cavalry leader was quickly killed, and command fell to one of the most dynamic figures in American history�George Armstrong Custer.What followed was America�s greatest cavalry battle: 7,500 Confederate horsemen ranged against 5,000 Union cavalry, Jeb Stuart against George Custer, with the outcome of the Civil War at stake. Read more