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
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[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.
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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.
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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] |