1. John Buford fought for the Union during the American Civil War, rising to the rank of brigadier general.
25 Facts About John Buford
1. 2.
John Buford remained loyal to the United States when the Civil War broke out and fought against the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia as part of the Army of the Potomac.
3.
John Buford's first command was a cavalry brigade under Major General John Pope.
4.
John Buford distinguished himself at Second Bull Run in August 1862, where he was wounded.
5.
John Buford saw action at Antietam in September and during Stoneman's Raid in spring 1863.
6.
John Buford's men held just long enough for Union reinforcements to arrive.
7.
John Buford was born in Woodford County, Kentucky, but was raised in Rock Island, Illinois, at the age of eight.
8.
John Buford, his father, was a prominent Democratic politician in Illinois and a political opponent of Abraham Lincoln.
9.
John Buford graduated 16th of 38 cadets and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 1st US Dragoons, transferring the next year to the 2nd US Dragoons.
10.
John Buford served in Texas and against the Sioux, including in the Battle of Ash Hollow, on peacekeeping duty in Bleeding Kansas, and in the Utah War in 1858.
11.
John Buford was stationed at Fort Crittenden, Utah, from 1859 to 1861.
12.
John Buford studied the works of General John Watts de Peyster, who urged that the skirmish line become the new line of battle.
13.
John Buford was a native Kentuckian, the son of a slave-owning father, and the husband of a woman whose relatives would fight for the South, as would a number of his own.
14.
John Buford loved his profession and his time on the frontier had snapped the ties that drew other Southerners home.
15.
John Gibbon, a North Carolinian facing the same dilemma, recalled in a post-war memoir the evening that John Buford committed himself to the Union:.
16.
John Buford sent me word to come to Kentucky at once and I shall have anything I want.
17.
In November 1861, John Buford was appointed Assistant Inspector General with the rank of major, and, in July 1862, after having served for several months in the defense of Washington, was raised to the rank of brigadier general of volunteers.
18.
John Buford personally led a charge late in the battle, but was wounded in the knee by a spent bullet.
19.
John Buford returned to active service, and served as chief of cavalry to Major Generals George B McClellan and Ambrose E Burnside in the Army of the Potomac.
20.
In McClellan's Maryland Campaign, John Buford was in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, replacing Brigadier General George Stoneman on McClellan's staff.
21.
Under Major General Joseph Hooker in 1863 John Buford was given the Reserve Brigade of regular cavalry in the 1st Division, Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac.
22.
John Buford first led his new division at the Battle of Brandy Station, which was virtually an all-cavalry engagement, and then again at the Battle of Upperville.
23.
John Buford despised the false flourish and noisy parade of the charlatans of his service.
24.
John Buford avoided too, perhaps, the proper praise due his glorious actions, his bravery and dash, without ostentation or pride, his coolness and able management and above all, the care of his men endeared him to all.
25.
The community of John Buford, Wyoming, was renamed in the general's honor.