With the first two years of the Civil War bringing little advantage to either side, it became apparent how inferior in training and tactics the Union cavalry was when compared to those of the Confederates. This situation was to change however, as a group of brilliant young Union officers emerged, who were prepared to use their cavalry aggressively. Brandy Station in 1863 was a turning point for the Union cavalry in the Civil War where finally they became a match for the Confederates.

At Gettysburg on the first day, Buford and one brigade distinguished themselves by slowing the Confederate advance. On the third, simultaneously with Pickett’s Confederate charge, Merritt and Custer fought and defeated J.E.B. Stuart’s Confederate cavalry in a large engagement to the rear of the Union lines.

Over the last years of the war, as the Confederates lost more men and horses, the Union cavalry was to assert its authority over the battlefields.