THE CIVIL WAR

With so many units being sent east for the war, the 1st Cavalry was initially kept on the frontier until militia type units were raised to protect against Indian raids. On June 22, 1861, George McClellan now a Major General, requested Company A and Company E to serve as his personal escort. The two companies saw action in the Bull Run, Peninsula, Antietam and Fredericksburg campaigns, not rejoining the Regiment until 1864. The rest of the 1st Cavalry was committed to action in Mississippi and Missouri.

Since 1854 it had been advocated to redesignate all mounted regiments as cavalry and to renumber them in order of seniority. This was done on 3 August 1861. As the 1st Cavalry was the fourth oldest mounted regiment it was redesignated as the 4th Cavalry Regiment.

During the early years of the Civil War, Union commanders scattered their cavalry  regiments throughout the army, conducting company, squadron (two company) and battalion (four company) operations. The 4th Cavalry was no exception, with its companies scattered from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic coast, carrying out traditional cavalry missions of reconnaissance, screening and raiding.

In the first phases of the war, the western companies of the Regiment saw action in the Missouri, Mississippi and Kentucky campaigns, the seizure of Forts Henry and Donelson and the Battle of Shiloh. On 31 December 1862, a two company squadron of the 4th Cavalry attacked and routed a Confederate cavalry brigade near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. In 1863-64 companies of the 4th Cavalry saw further action in Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi. On 30 June 1863 another squadron of the Regiment charged a six-gun battery of Confederate artillery near Shelbyville Tennessee capturing the entire battery and three hundred prisoners.

By the spring of 1864, the success of the large Confederate Cavalry Corps of Jeb Stuart had convinced the Union leadership to form their own cavalry corps under General Phillip Sheridan. The 4th Cavalry was ordered to unite as a regiment and on 14 December 1864 joined in the attack on Nashville, Tennessee as part of the cavalry corps commanded by General James Wilson. In the battle the 4th Cavalry, helped turn the Confederate flank, sending them in retreat. As The Confederate forces attempted a delaying action at West Harpeth, Tennessee, an element of the 4th Cavalry, led by Lt Joseph Hedges charged and captured a Confederate artillery battery. For his bravery, Lt Hedges, received the Medal Of Honor,  the first to be bestowed on a member of the 4th Cavalry.

In March 1865, General Wilson was ordered to take his cavalry on a drive through Alabama to capture the Confederate supply depot at Selma. General Wilson had devoted much effort in preparing his cavalry for the mission. It was a superbly trained and disciplined force that left Tennessee led by the 4th Cavalry. It was more than a traditional cavalry raid rather it was an invasion by a cavalry army, a preview of the blitzkrieg of World War II. As the column moved south into Alabama it encountered the famed Confederate cavalry leader, Nathan Bedford Forrest. The Union force was too strong and defeated the Confederate cavalry allowing the Union force to arrive at Selma the next day.

On 2 April 1865, the attack on Selma commenced led by the 4th Cavalry in a mounted charge. A railroad cut and fence line halted the mounted attack. Dismounted the Regiment pressed the attack and stormed the town. Selma's rich store of munitions and supplies were destroyed along with the foundries and arsenals.

General Wilson next turned east to link up with General Sherman. His force took Montgomery, Alabama, Columbus, Georgia and had arrived in Macon, Georgia when word came of the end of the war. The Regiment remained in Macon as occupation troops.