The Union Cavalry in the Civil War, Vol. 2: The War in the East from Gettysburg to Appomattox, 1863-1865

Volume II follows the role of the cavalry in the early Sheridan engagements in the Shenandoah Valley and the cavalry's march from Winchester, Virginia, to rejoin the Army of the Potomac in March, 1865. When Grant became commander in the East, the war "became a no holds-barred, brutal slugging match, with no room in it for plumes, silk-lined capes, or derring-do." The dynamic energy of the battles described here emanates from Philip Sheridan— an inspired leader of his men, riding along the front line under the heaviest fire, waving his sword, encouraging, swearing. He was the motivating power behind the cavalry's great success in the final April, 1865, battles of Dinwiddie Court house, Five Forks, and Sayler's Creek.

In addition to the descriptions of raids—Sheridan's Yellow Tavern and Trevilian Station raids and James H. Wilson's Staunton River raid—and operations of the cavalry in support of the Army of the Potomac, the volumes covers the development of tactics and more effective leadership, increasing reliance on firepower, the growing strategic importance of the cavalry, and the establishment of the Cavalry Bureau. Starr includes the contributions of many fighting men—George Custer, Wesley Merritt, George Crook, Ranald MacKenzie, William Averell, A. T. A. Torbert, and many more cavalrymen, now seasoned by their years of experience. Like the prize-winning first volume, The Union Cavalry in the Civil War, Volume II, brings the officers and men forward to speak, where possible, in their own words.