he role of cavalry in the Civil War was instrumental to the successful military operations of both North and South. At the start, the Confederacy held an advantage in organization, strategy, and horsemanship. In the western theater, Nathan Bedford Forrest and John Hunt Morgan proved to be redoubtable raiders, while in Virginia Jeb Stuart demonstrated the effective use of cavalry for screening and reconnaissance. It was not until the middle of the war that the Union began reorganizing its cavalry effectively into larger and more unified commands. The emergence of energetic generals like the brilliant Philip H. Sheridan, combined with the South’s inability to replenish men and horses, gave superiority to the North by war’s end.