BR31439 Union Cavalry Trooper at the Trot, No.1

The evolution of the battlefield – now populated with supremely accurate rifled muskets – made the mounted shock tactics of a classic Napoleonic cavalry charge harrowing if not completely insane. Current technology made horse and rider a better target than fighting platform. For this reason the cavalry in the American Civil War would have been considered light cavalry which were more suited to screening and raiding, but above all reconnaissance. As the "eyes and ears” of the army, they kept the commander informed of the enemy’s position and movements. Famously, when Confederate cavalry commander J.E.B. Stuart was "cut loose” to conduct a secondary raid, Lee was deprived of adequate reconnaissance before the Battle of Gettysburg, one of the principal reasons for the Confederate defeat.

1/30 Scale