John Buford Biography Quotes 14 Report mistakes

Early Life and Background
John Buford was born on March 4, 1826, in Woodford County, Kentucky, into a family long associated with horses, frontier service, and public life. In 1838 the family moved to Rock Island, Illinois, where his father, John Buford Sr., became a prominent local figure. The household bridged regional loyalties: Buford's half brother, Napoleon Bonaparte Buford, would become a Union general, while a cousin, Abraham Buford, later served as a Confederate general. From an early age John showed a quiet steadiness and a preference for practical skill over rhetoric, qualities that would define his military career.

West Point and Frontier Service
Buford entered the United States Military Academy and graduated in 1848, receiving a commission in the 1st U.S. Dragoons. He spent the next decade on the western frontier, a proving ground that honed his horsemanship, marksmanship, and eye for terrain. He saw demanding service on patrols and escorts, in conflicts along the plains, and during the tumult in "Bleeding Kansas". In 1857, 1858 he marched with the Utah Expedition under Albert Sidney Johnston, an officer who would later become a leading Confederate general. Buford's reputation grew not through flamboyance but through reliability: he learned to deploy small forces to maximum effect, to scout methodically, and to keep troopers supplied, mounted, and steady.

Civil War: Choosing the Union
When the Civil War began, Buford remained loyal to the United States despite Kentucky roots and family ties that pulled in different directions. Early in the war he served in staff and inspector roles around Washington, D.C., where his meticulous approach drew notice. In 1862 he became a brigadier general of volunteers and took on cavalry responsibilities under Major General John Pope in the Army of Virginia. During the campaign culminating at Second Bull Run, Buford's reconnaissance near Thoroughfare Gap warned that Confederate columns were moving to unite on the battlefield; the warning was not acted upon decisively, a missed opportunity that underscored both Buford's skill at intelligence-gathering and the Union army's uneven ability to use it at that stage of the war.

Reforming and Leading Cavalry
As the Army of the Potomac's high command evolved, Buford came under the authority of cavalry commander Alfred Pleasonton and army leaders Joseph Hooker and later George G. Meade. He helped move the Union cavalry away from scattered detachments toward coordinated divisions capable of screening, raiding, and fighting dismounted. He insisted on disciplined scouting, strict march order, and the intelligent use of breech-loading carbines. Among his most important subordinates were William Gamble and Thomas Devin, who commanded his brigades with steadiness, and Wesley Merritt, who led the Regulars of the Reserve Brigade. Artillery support, notably John Calef's battery, was integrated closely with his troopers in a way that made small forces punch above their weight. On his staff and around his headquarters passed young officers like Myles Keogh, who absorbed Buford's standards of quiet professionalism.

Brandy Station and the 1863 Cavalry Campaign
In June 1863, as Robert E. Lee's army moved north, Buford's division opened the Battle of Brandy Station by crossing the Rappahannock at Beverly Ford. The fighting was intense, and the death of Colonel Benjamin F. "Grimes" Davis early that morning struck Buford's command hard. Yet the Federals challenged J. E. B. Stuart's cavalry across fields and ridges around Fleetwood Hill and showed that Union horsemen could match their opponents. In the days that followed, Buford fought at Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville, screening the Army of the Potomac's advance and extracting information from a fast-moving, contested countryside. His division arrived tired but cohesive at the edge of Pennsylvania.

Gettysburg: Choosing the Ground
On June 30, 1863, Buford's scouts rode into Gettysburg and beyond, assessing roads and ridges. He recognized at once the defensive merits of the high ground south and east of the town and decided to hold the approaches until the infantry could come up. At dawn on July 1, his two brigades, under Devin and Gamble, deployed dismounted on the ridges west and north of Gettysburg, with Calef's guns in support. They met the leading elements of A. P. Hill's corps, including Henry Heth's division, and fought a stubborn, delaying action. Buford's men bought precious hours by trading ground for time, falling back from Herr Ridge to McPherson Ridge while keeping formation and punishing attacks with well-sited fire. Major General John F. Reynolds arrived with I Corps while the cavalry line still held; Reynolds's immediate commitment of infantry validated Buford's decision to stand and fight. Though Reynolds was killed later that morning, the Union army secured the high ground on Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge, and Oliver O. Howard's XI Corps anchored the position. Meade would exploit that position over the next two days. The opening at Gettysburg remains the signature example of Buford's clarity about terrain and timing.

Final Operations and Illness
After Gettysburg, Buford continued hard service in the cavalry fights that shadowed Lee's retreat through Maryland, including actions near Williamsport and Boonsboro. In the autumn campaigns of 1863 his command screened and probed through the rolling country of northern Virginia. Months in the saddle, foul weather, and the strain of command wore him down. He fell ill, likely with typhoid fever, and was sent to Washington, D.C., in November. There, as comrades visited and reported on the army's movements, news came that President Abraham Lincoln had approved his promotion to major general of volunteers, with rank dating from July 1, 1863. The recognition matched what soldiers in the field already believed about his worth. John Buford died in Washington on December 16, 1863, at age thirty-seven, and he was laid to rest at the United States Military Academy cemetery, fitting for a man who had devoted his adult life to professional soldiering.

Character, Relationships, and Legacy
Those who served with Buford remembered a leader who avoided theatrics, spoke plainly, and expected competence. He valued officers who did their homework and reported what they saw, not what they thought superiors wanted to hear. Devin, Gamble, and Merritt carried forward his methods, and the Army of the Potomac's cavalry became a far more formidable arm by late 1863. In contrast to some contemporaries who courted headlines, Buford let results speak: Brandy Station showed that his division could break into the Confederate cavalry's mystique; Gettysburg showed how cavalry, used shrewdly, could shape an entire campaign. His family connections, split as they were between Union and Confederacy through Napoleon Bonaparte Buford and Abraham Buford, underlined the war's personal costs, yet also highlighted his resolve to serve the national cause.

Statues and markers at Gettysburg commemorate his decision to "choose the ground" and fight for time on July 1. Professional soldiers have cited his integration of reconnaissance, rapid dismounted action, and carefully sited artillery as a model of cavalry leadership. He left no grand memoirs, but his conduct in the field, his rapport with subordinates, and the esteem of superiors such as Pleasonton and Meade have long stood as testimony. In a war that produced many famous names, John Buford's reputation rests securely on a few critical hours when prudence, preparation, and courage mattered most.

Our collection contains 14 quotes who is written by John, under the main topics: Justice - Leadership - Work Ethic - Military & Soldier - Mortality.