Under Custer's Command : The Civil War Journal of James Henry Avery

by Avery, James Henry; Wittenberg, Eric J.; Husby, Karla Jean; Husby, Karla Jean; Wittenberg, Eric J.

• ISBN13: 9781574882766
• ISBN10: 1574882767
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-11-01
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc

Summary

George Armstrong Custer's fabled Fifth Regiment fought with great distinction throughout the American Civil War and suffered the third highest total of men in the Union cavalry who were either killed in action or died of their wounds. James Henry Avery, a twenty-four-year-old farmer and new father from Hopkins, Michigan, was one of Custer's feared "Wolverines". Besides eloquently recording his personal experiences, Sergeant Avery's wartime journals and postwar reminiscences provide uniquely detailed descriptions of Civil War cavalry movements and the only known account that addresses the escape of elements of the Fifth Michigan Cavalry on the first day of the Battle of Trevilian Station, Virginia.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	xi
Foreword	xiii
Preface	xv
Compiler's Acknowledgments	xvii
Editor's Notes and Acknowledgements	xix
Introduction	1	(6)
A Soldier Goes to War	7	(14)
Chasing Mosby's Guerrillas	21	(8)
The Gettysburg Campaign	29	(16)
The Bristoe Station and Mine Run Campaigns	45	(12)
Winter Encampment and the Reorganization of the Cavalry Corps	57	(8)
Campaigning with Sheridan	65	(18)
The June 1864 Trevilian Raid and an Ordeal to Remember	83	(14)
A Temporary and Very Reluctant Infantryman	97	(12)
Fighting with Little Phil	109	(12)
The Fall and Winter of 1864--65	121	(12)
Illness Forces Avery to Miss the End of the Civil War	133	(16)
A Soldier Returns Home	149	(12)
Appendix: The Campaigns of the 5th Michigan Cavalry	161	(6)
Bibliography	167	(10)
Index	177