Brandy Station

Brandy Station

Richard J. LeFevre (1931 - 2000)

1995

watercolor and mixed media on paper

The Battle of Brandy Station in Virginia on June 9, 1863, was the largest cavalry engagement to take place on the North American continent and could be called the first engagement of the Battle of Gettysburg. General Robert E. Lee decided to invade the Union a second time by moving his armies northward behind the Blue Ridge Mountains heading into Maryland and Pennsylvania. Flanking Lee to the right, on the other side of the mountains, was the great Confederate cavalry commander Maj. Gen. James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart (shown in a photograph on the left). As Stuart’s cavalry rode north, they were surprised by the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac under the command of Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasanton (shown in a photograph on the upper right). This painting depicts the conflict between General Stuart’s troops and Brig. Gen. John Buford’s brigade, also shown in a photograph on the lower right side. General Buford would be the man who arguably saved the day for the Union forces on the first day of Gettysburg by holding Seminary Ridge.

Bequest of the Artist