United States Army, United States Army - Military Biography, United States Civil War - Military Operations - General & Miscellaneous, United States Civil War - Individual Battles & Campaigns, Union - Armed Forces - Civil War History, U.S. Generals & Milit

Kill-Cavalry

Name: Kill-Cavalry
Author: Samuel J. Martin
ISBN: 9780811708876

by Samuel J. Martin

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Overview

Hugh Judson Kilpatrick, the subject of this biography, had a life plan: he would be a military hero, governor of New Jersey, and finally president of the United States. A West Point degree and the outbreak of the Civil War gave him a start on his path. Kilpatrick was an intrepid rider who, during the early days of the war, led his troopers into Confederate territory to disrupt lines of communication and supply. His frequent raids were not too successful, but when Kilpatrick submitted exaggerated reports of his exploits, his superiors believed the false claims and rewarded him with promotion to regimental, brigade, and then division command. Given a fighting role in the Union Army of the Potomac, Kilpatrick soon showed that he was an inept tactician. Time and time again he sent his force into ambushes. He suffered so many needless casualties that even his own men called him "Kill-Cavalry." Faced with a growing resentment over his bumbling as a soldier and his lack of morals, Kilpatrick sought redemption via a raid on Richmond in 1864 to free the Yankee prisoners held in the Southern capital. The escapade failed, and General George G. Meade took advantage of the fiasco to remove Kilpatrick from his command. He pursued his political goals after the war but found his military record a liability. Losing election after election, Kilpatrick finally gave up his hopes for public office to become an accomplished lecturer. He served twice as the ambassador to Chile, where he died of a lingering war wound at the age of forty-five. Although he was certainly an antihero, Kilpatrick did attain the stars of a major general, and he earned both fortune and fame as a lecturer. He did not achieve his life plan, but Kilpatrick was nevertheless successful. And while many might call him despicable, none could ever proclaim Kilpatrick dull.