page_title: Warrenton Junction Raid
section_title: Better cavalry
hierarchical_section_title: Warrenton Junction Raid / Aftermath / Better cavalry
caption_attribution_description: English: 5th New York Cavalry Monument, Gettysburg Battlefield. New York Monuments Commission, Final Report on the Battlefield of Gettysburg, Volume 3 (Albany, NY: J. B. Lyons Company, 1902), opp. p. 1123.[1]
context_page_description: The Warrenton Junction Raid was a surprise attack by Confederate guerrilla warriors on a Union cavalry detachment during the American Civil War. The raid took place near a railroad junction in Virginia's Fauquier County, less than 10 miles from the town of Warrenton. Confederate Major John S. Mosby led the attack against about 100 men from the Union's 1st Virginia Cavalry. At first, the raid was very successful, as many of the Union soldiers surrendered to the rebels. The remaining portion of the surprised force was surrounded in a house, and two of their leaders were wounded. The house was set on fire, and the Union soldiers surrendered. As Mosby's men rounded up prisoners and horses, a detachment of the 5th New York Cavalry surprised the rebels and rescued most of the captured Union soldiers. After a short fight, more men from the 5th New York, and the 1st Vermont Cavalry, joined in the pursuit of Mosby's fleeing rebels.
  Casualties for the detachment of the 1st Virginia Cavalry, the unit surprised by Mosby, totaled 16 men.
context_section_description: The 1st (West) Virginia Cavalry soon had better leaders and better arms. During the spring after the Mosby encounter, the 1st (West) Virginia Cavalry Regiment became armed with Spencer repeating rifles. Krepps resigned from the 1st (West) Virginia Cavalry on May 22 for medical reasons. Officers from the regiment sent a petition to Secretary of War Stanton to have their well-thought-of second permanent commander, Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel P. Richmond, reinstated. Richmond was reinstated as regimental commander on June 12.  Later in June, after the new state of West Virginia joined the Union, the 1st (West) Virginia Cavalry became known as the 1st West Virginia Cavalry.
  All three Union cavalry regiments involved in the Warrenton Junction Raid (5th New York, 1st Vermont, 1st West Virginia) fought at the Battle of Gettysburg as part of the same brigade. Richmond proved to be a good leader, and assumed temporary command of the brigade at Gettysburg after the commander was killed. He led the brigade for part of the pursuit after the battle. During that pursuit, the 1st West Virginia Cavalry charged down a mountain and captured a Confederate artillery piece and an entire wagon train.
  In 1865, the 1st West Virginia Cavalry was in the Third Brigade of the Third Division of General Philip Sheridan's Army of the Shenandoah. This army eliminated General Jubal Early's Army of the Valley at the Battle of Waynesboro, Virginia when the Third Brigade charged and cut off over half of Early's force—which forced that portion of the rebels to surrender. The regiment also prepared for battle but did not fight in the Battle of Appomattox Court House, as General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia surrendered.
  In his memoirs, Mosby noted that Major Hammond was wise to attack immediately at Warrenton Junction, not waiting for the rest of his command, which enabled the 5th New York Cavalry to catch Mosby "in disorder and scattered". Hammond assumed command of the 5th New York Cavalry on June 1, 1863. He had an important role in the Battle of Hanover when the brigade was traveling to Gettysburg. His regiment's historian said he was known for his "coolness and bravery", and considered him a great equestrian and leader. In 1864, the New York Herald said that Colonel Hammond was "one of the best officers in the service." Hammond was not the only officer in the Warrenton Junction Raid that would eventually command a regiment. Abram Krom, a captain in the 5th New York Cavalry, became a major and briefly commanded the regiment in 1864 after Hammond left.
caption: Gettysburg Memorial
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