Riding With New York Cavalry

The recollections of a horse soldier in blue Willard Glazier kept a detailed journal of his time as an officer in the 2nd New York Cavalry during the American Civil War, making immediate notes about his experiences in camp, around the campfire and even during lulls in the fighting. It was that carefully kept resource that is the basis of the two volumes included in this special Leonaur edition of Glazier's memoirs.

In the first book he tells of his time on campaign with the Army of the Potomac in Virginia and describes many interesting scenes of action in cavalry skirmishes or full battle and camp life. The second volume continues Glazier's story to the pivotal conflict at Gettysburg and beyond. Shortly after an engagement with Confederate forces at Culpepper Courthouse and Liberty Mills, the good fortune that had seen him safely through the war up to that point abandoned him.

In an ambush at Buckland's Mills in 1863, his horse was shot from under him and he was knocked senseless and trampled in an enemy charge. The action was a notable victory for Confederate forces under J. E. B Stuart commanding Wade Hampton's cavalry division and Fitzhugh Lee's division; Union forces under Judson Kilpatrick were routed in a debacle which became known as the Buckland Races.

Glazier regained consciousness in Confederate hands as a prisoner of war. He spent nearly a year in prison camps and made a daring bid for freedom which is recorded here in detail. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.