Union cavalry commander David McMurtrie Gregg was
said to be as modest and unassuming as this photograph
of him suggests. Taken probably in the spring of
1864, during Grant’s drive for Richmond, this image
shows Gregg as he was commanding the 2nd Cavalry
Division of the Army of the Potomac. A native of
Pennsylvania, Gregg graduated from West Point in
1855 and served on the western frontier with the
dragoons before the Civil War. In 1861, he came
east and became attached to McClellan’s Army of
the Potomac, then manning the defenses of Washington.
Only a first lieutenent at the start of the war,
Gregg rose to brigadier general of volunteers by
the end of 1862. He participated in the major Virginia
campaigns between 1862 and 1864, as well as at Antietam
and Gettysburg. His repulse of Jeb Stuart’s cavalry
on the last day at Gettysburg kept the Confederates
from attacking the rear of the Union line countering
Pickett’s charge.
Genially disposed, Gregg was well liked in the
army. His ability in the saddle made him a favorite
with his superiors, especially Grant and Sheridan.
In August 1864, he was breveted a major general
of volunteers for his distinguished reconnaissance
near Charles City Court House, Virginia. Gregg’s
sudden resignation from the army two months before
the surrender at Appomattox has remained one of
the war’s minor mysteries.
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