The general who made a stand at Gettysburg

Old State Capitol's General of the Month is John Buford, whose troops were the 1st to fight in famed battle

[May 20, 2013]  SPRINGFIELD -- John Buford, leader of the first troops to fight at the Battle of Gettysburg, has been named General of the Month for May at the Old State Capitol State Historic Site.

Buford was born in Kentucky, but his family settled in Rock Island, Ill., when he was a boy. He attended Knox College for a year and then transferred to West Point, graduating in 1848. He spent his career fighting Indians and angry settlers in Kansas and Utah until the Civil War began.

By the summer of 1863, Buford was commanding a division of 4,500 troops. When Robert E. Lee's Confederate army invaded Pennsylvania, the Army of the Potomac pursued with Buford's men in the lead.

On June 30 two of Buford's brigades arrived at Gettysburg and encountered a small body of the enemy. Buford looked around at the hills and ridges surrounding the town and determined that Gettysburg was the place for the Union army to make a stand. He positioned 2,500 of his men north and west of Gettysburg to block the Confederate advance.

At dawn on July 1 the Confederates advanced and smacked into Buford's skirmishers, exchanging the first shots of the battle. Buford knew he couldn't hold the enemy back, but he hoped to delay them long enough for reinforcements to arrive. The battle lasted for three hours, and Buford's troops were pushed back two miles until Union infantry finally arrived to relieve his exhausted men.

Buford, portrayed in the movie "Gettysburg" by Sam Elliott, is credited with making the enemy concentrate its strength at Gettysburg, which played a large role in the Union victory.

Buford would not survive to take advantage of his fame. He died in December 1863 from typhoid fever. President Lincoln along with several prominent generals attended his funeral.

The Old State Capitol is displaying an original Civil War cavalry guidon like the ones carried by Buford's troops during the Battle of Gettysburg.

The "General of the Month" exhibit is part of the Old State Capitol's ongoing commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Artifacts from Illinois' Civil War generals, from well-known to the obscure, are featured each month.

During the 1840s and 1850s, the Old State Capitol was the scene of debate over issues that led the nation to war in 1861. During the Civil War, as the seat of government, it was the center of the state's wartime mobilization. The Capitol also provided space for local events aiding the needs of local residents as well as soldier relief efforts.

The Old State Capitol State Historic Site, administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.

[Text from file received from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency]