THE AUTHOR
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS
OF A
CAVALRYMAN
WITH CUSTER'S MICHIGAN CAVALRY BRIGADE
IN THE CIVIL WAR
By J.H. KIDD
FORMERLY COLONEL SIXTH MICHIGAN CAVALRY AND BREVET
BRIGADIER GENERAL OF VOLUNTEERS
IONIA, MICHIGAN
Sentinel Printing Company
1908
Copyrighted 1908
By JAMES H. KIDD
(All rights reserved)
The Sentinel Press
Ionia, Michigan
TO MY WIFE AND SON
AND
TO MY COMRADES OF THE MICHIGAN
CAVALRY BRIGADE
THIS VOLUME
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
PREFACE
In preparing this book it has not been the purpose of the author towrite a complete historical sketch of the Michigan cavalry brigade. Sucha history would require a volume as large for the record of eachregiment; and, even then, it would fall short of doing justice to thepatriotic services of that superb organization. The narrative containedin the following pages is a story of the personal recollections of oneof the troopers who rode with Custer, and played a part—small it istrue, but still a part—in the tragedy of the civil war. As such it ismodestly put forth, with the hope that it may prove to be "aninteresting story" to those who read it. The author also trusts that itmay contribute something, albeit but a little, toward giving Custer'sMichigan cavalrymen the place in the history of their country which theyso richly earned on many fields.
Doubtless many things have been omitted that ought to have been includedand some things written in that it might have been better to leave out.These are matters of personal judgment and taste, and no man's judgmentis infallible. The chapters have been written in intervals of leisureduring a period of more than twenty years. The one on Cedar Creekappeared first in 1886; the Gettysburg campaign in 1889; Brandy Station,Kilpatrick's Richmond expedition, the Yellow Tavern campaign, BucklandMills, Hanovertown and Haw's Shop, The Trevilian Raid and some otherportions have been prepared during the current year—1908. While memoryhas been the principal guide, the strict historical truth has beensought and, when there appeared to be a reasonable doubt, the officialrecords have been consulted, and the writings of others freely drawnupon to verify these "recollections."
The Memoirs of P.H. Sheridan and H.B. McClellan's Campaigns of Stuart'sCavalry have been of especial value in this respect; the latter helpingto give both sides of the picture, particularly in the accounts of thebattles of Buckland Mills and Yellow Tavern. Wade Hampton's officialreports were put to similar use in describing the battle of TrevilianStation.
So far as mention is made of individual officers and men there is nopretense that the list is complete. Those whose names appear in the textwere selected as types. Hundreds of others were equally deserving. Thesame remark applies to the portraits. These are representative faces.The list could be extended indefinitely.
It was intended to include in an appendix a full roster of all the menwho served in the Sixth Michigan cavalry and in the other regiments aswell; but this would have made the book too bulky.