To attack Stuart, Pleasanton divided his force into two wings, one under BG John Buford, who was to cross the Rappahannock at Beverly Ford. The other, under BG Daniel Gregg, was to cross at Kelly's Ford. It was planned that both commands would reunite at Brandy Station and then push on to Culpeper, where Pleasanton mistakenly believed Stuart to be encamped.
The 2nd MA Infantry, in a force under the command of BG Adelbert Ames, left its camp on the 6th of June, the purpose of the expedition shrouded in mystery. As he took to the road with his company under the curious and envious gazes of those who were being left behind, it seemed something of a "family affair" to Capt. Daniel Oakey, who caught sight of the 33rd MA, which was already on the road. The 33rd was now under the command of Col. Adin Underwood, formerly of the 2nd MA.
With the ill and weak weeded out, said Oakey, the infantry "skipped along for 8 miles without a halt, a style which impressed our cavalry friends, whom we found about 8 o'clock in the evening drawn up in a field at the roadside, to give us the right of way."
At 2 a.m., after an impressive march of 16 miles, the 2nd MA bivoucked. The match resumed 7 hours later, and by sunset on the 7th, another 16-mile march brought them to Bealton, where they remained until the next evening when artillery, infantry and cavalry converged about 10 miles north of Beverly Ford. In the meantime, Russell had marched his infantry to Hartwood Church, and thence to a point near Kelly's Ford, where Gregg concentrated two cavalry divisions.
Another night in bivouack was spent very close to Beverly Ford. Then, at 3 a.m., Capt. Henry Comey crept down to the riverbank with 30 picked men to see that all was clear for the advance. On the south side of the river was a sizeable force of the enemy, unaware of their presence. Oakey thought the sight "admirably adapted for a cavalry battle, the country rolling along, with an occasional clump of woods and fine open fields."
As the hazy June morning dawned, Oakey watched as Buford's horsemen swarmed out of the woods "till the whole country seemed alive with cavalry." Col. Benjamin Davis's 8th NY led the way, dashing over both the ford and the surprised enemy pickets. The Rebels fell back but Davis fell with a mortal wound. Oakey mourned the loss of the gallant and popular Southern gentleman who had so courageously "stuck to the flag he had sworn to defend."
As the Federals stormed down the Beverly Ford Road, "Grumble" Jones organized a hasty defence. At St. James Church, the Northerners were greeted by a barrage of artillery fire and a series of mounted counter-attacks. Capt Thomas Robeson watched as the rebels came on in force and drove the Union cavalry "in every direction." The Confederate line was subsequently stablized and Buford realized that his route to Brandy Station via the Beverly Ford Road, had been blocked.
For Robeson, who categorized the scrap as "first-rate fun," it was the thrill of a lifetime. "At one time 7 battalions of cavalry came up in front of my company, which was deployed as skirmishers. I thought of course we should all be taken, but I did not know what a joke cavalry fighting was." He let them come withing 100 yards "and then gave them a volley which dropped a lot of them, and away they went."
It was a sight none of the men of the 2nd MA had ever seen before--a real, knock-down cavalry duel. Said Oakey:
"A sabre charge, with both sides going at top speed, is, perhaps, the most exciting and picturesque combination of force, nerve, and courage that can be imagined. The commanding officers leading in conspicuous advance; the rush, the thunder of horses' hooves; the rattle of arms and equipments,--all mingling with the roar of voices, while the space rapidly lessens between the approaching squadrons. The commanders who were seen, a moment before, splendidly mounted, dashing on at racing speed, turning in the saddle to look back at the tidal wave which they are leading, disappear in a cloud of sabres, clashing and cutting; but the fight is partly obscured by the rising dust and the mist from the over-heated animals. Riderless horses come, wounded and trembling, out of the melee; others appear, running in fright, carrying dying troopers still sitting on their chargers, the head drooping on the breast, the sword-arm hanging lifeless, the blood-stained sabre dangling from the wrist."
The infantry, which occupied the center of the line, moved up and skirmished here and there throughout the day, mostly in support of artillery. Although the action was remembered as a cavalry battle, Ames was kept busy. The enemy, said Chaplain Quint, made unsuccessful attempts against both flanks to gain the ford "with a great deal of loss." At one point, the right of the line was hard pressed, and it seemed to Oakey as if the Rebels would finally carry the position, but "we stood our ground, and opened on them at close quarters with the guns; and Ames' men plied their rifles, making every bullet tell. The enemy lost heavily, and came to a stand. The Dragoons dropped their carbines, and, drawing sabres, rushed upon them, driving them off in confusion."
Skirmishing near the Union center, Oakey was ordered, along with Lt. Theodore Parker's F Company and a company under Capt. Stevenson of the 3rd WS, to support some guns posted on a knoll. Once there, however, they found little to do but loll on the grass and smoke their pipes, as the guns were a safe distance from any enemy attack. Finally, they were summoned by Buford, who pointed to some enemy troops. "Do you see those people down there? They've got to be driven out. Do you think you can do it?"
Oakey and Stevenson looked down at a wheat-field to the left of a stone wall. Stevenson assessed the situation.
"It's about double our force," he concluded.
"Fully that," Oakey replied. "If not more."
Buford put in. "Mind, I don't order you; but if you think you can do it, go on."
It was a moot point as far as Oakey was concerned. "It would hardly do," he wrote afterwards, "to back out in the presence of so distinguished a cavalry audience, if there was a chance of success."
Oakey and Stevenson returned to their respective commands and got them organized for the mission. "We struck back into the country, and took a circuitous route behind hedges, and through corn-fields, Stevenson and myself running on together, and the men following with their rifles as low as possible, and crouching along to avoid attracting any notice." The two officers planned their attack as they went along, giving instructions to their sergeants, who in turn, fell back and relayed them to the troops. "Upon arriving at the wheat-field, we all hugged the ground. Ten picked marksmen now crawled forward with me into the wheat, while Captain Stevenson deployed the rest of the men into as long a skirmish line as their numbers would permit." At the same time, Oakey sent a messenger to summon Lt. Parker, who had been left behind with the artillery, to join him.
Oakey found about 200 dismounted Rebels lying behind the stone wall firing thier carbines. "The 10 marksmen crawled on through the wheat, till they were almost 'on the end' of the enemy's line; and then, crowding together so as to rake the line, they fired at the signal, with terrible accuracy." Caught by surprise, the Rebels nevertheless delivered a scattering fire in return. Sgt. Allen A. Nutting fell mortally wounded into Oakey's arms.
In the meantime, Oakey heard Stevenson advancing through the wheat, "making noise enough for two regiments." Soon the Badgers were leaping over a fence all the way down the line of wheat. The enemy "utterly deceived as to our numbers, had already commenced dropping their weapons" and were giving themselves up. "Stevenson had swung his line around so promptly that he covered them at short range, and persuaded the runaways to come in."
The enemy was forced to withdraw to the northwest end of Fleetwood Hill. Their mission a success, the Federals returned to a rise to the left of the artillery and discouraged any further attempts to occupy the stone wall.
The fight now returned to the cavalry. Buford advanced the right of the line and pressed forward, driving the enemy's cavalry before him toward Fleetwood Hill. Oakey could hear the sound of artillery in the Confederate rear. Gen. Gregg had crossed at Kelly's Ford and moved on to Brandy Station, where he surprised J.E.B. Stuart and captured his headquarters, finding papers which indicated Lee's intended movement. When Gregg forced the Rebel right backwards, Oakey credited him with "diverting the enemy from our front."
But success was not to be for the Federals on this day. The fight became one of charge and counter-charge, and after 2 hours Gregg's exhausted division had to retire. Their support--a division under Col. Alfred Duffie, turned out to be no support at all. Having run into some Confederate resistence at Stevensburg, Duffie made little attempt to break through the enemy's thin line to aid Gregg. Thus was a golden opportunity lost again.
Buford, whose troops were engaged most of the afternoon, was making progress against Jones, Wade Hampton and Rooney Lee, when he received an order to retire back to Beverly Ford around 3:30 p.m. Pleasanton, having lost about 1,651 to Stuart's 433, had decided that nothing further could be acheived.
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