Booknotes: Small but Important Riots

New Arrival:
• Small but Important Riots: The Cavalry Battles of Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville by Robert F. O'Neill (Potomac Bks, 2023).

As successive elements of Lee's army shuffled north in June 1863, Union cavalry tasked with tracking their progress and location had to penetrate the gaps in the Blue Ridge mountain range that naturally screened the Army of Northern Virginia's right flank. Those efforts resulting in a series of small battles, the full details of which were first published in Robert O'Neill's The Cavalry Battles of Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville: Small But Important Riots, June 10-27, 1863 (I don't know if it's correct, but I see 1993 listed as the date for both first and second editions). It remains one of the better regarded installments of H.E. Howard's long out of print Virginia Civil War Battles and Leaders series, a number of which have recently been republished in heavily revised and updated form. If I recall correctly, it has become a bit of a convention to release the new versions with old title and subtitle elements reversed in order to easily distinguish between the two, thus this 2023 edition of O'Neill's study is now titled Small but Important Riots: The Cavalry Battles of Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville.

From the description: Small but Important Riots "is a tactical study of fighting from June 17 to 22, 1863, at Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville, placed within the strategic context of the Gettysburg campaign. It is based on Robert O’Neill’s thirty years of research and access to previously unpublished documents, which reveal startling new information." In the preface, the author describes the book as "new in every respect." In it he "correct(s) errors, timeworn assumptions and interpretations, and offer(s) new explanations and conclusions" (xi).

I never did read an earlier edition, but it appears that correcting views on Pleasonton's actions during this period is a major theme at least of the new book. According to O'Neill, "(n)o officer's role in the Loudoun Valley has been more misunderstood or misrepresented" (xii). More from the description: "Since the fighting in Loudoun Valley of Virginia ended in June 1863, one perspective has prevailed—that Brigadier General Alfred Pleasonton, who commanded the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac, disobeyed orders. According to published records, Pleasonton’s superiors, including President Abraham Lincoln, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, and army commander Joseph Hooker, ordered Pleasonton to search for General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia during a critical stage of the Gettysburg campaign, and Pleasonton ignored their orders. Recently discovered documents—discussed in this book—prove otherwise."

The text is supported by 18 original maps created by Julie Krick, a cartographer new to my notice. Her work looks pretty good to me. Anyone interested in these events will undoubtedly want to pick up a copy of this title, and it certainly sounds like those who already own an earlier edition will want to upgrade.