David McMurtrie Gregg

On July 3, 1863, the battle was going full fledged in Gettysburg. During the morning hours, Union General David McMurtrie Gregg's 2nd Cavalry Division was guarding the Baltimore Pike in case the Confederate's decided to attack the rear of the Union army. But Gregg looked at the maps that he had and decided that Baltimore Pike was NOT the place to be.....he felt that he needed to be on the Hanover Road. Hanover Road was the place that he felt was going to be attacked by the Confederates. And the feeling never left him.

Gregg let's General Alfred Pleasonton know that he is not comfortable guarding Baltimore Pike and that he feels the real threat is Hanover Road. Pleasonton doesn't agree with him. He tells Gregg to stay right where he is and to follow the orders given to him. Then Pleasonton tells him to get one of Kilpatrick's brigades and to place it on the Hanover Road. Gregg sends an aide to Two Taverns (which is where Kilpatrick was last located). When the aide gets to Two Taverns, the only brigade left in Two Taverns is Custer. So Custer comes to the rescue and moves his men to the corner of Hanover Road and Low Dutch Road.



Photo: David McMurtrie Gregg and his staff (Gregg, seated on right)

Thanks to Gregg's gut feeling and Custer's being eager to do whatever he could to fight, this move may have saved the Union right. To make a long story short, the battle takes place and thanks to the crazy charges made by Custer, the Confederates are forced back and that is where they stay until the Confederates leave Gettysburg.