In the civil war, the commander of the Union “lightning brigade” personally took out a loan to buy his soldiers advanced new repeating rifles because the government would not supply them. Using the firepower advantage afforded by the new rifles, his brigade proved extremely effective in combat.

Military /

John T. Wilder John Thomas Wilder (January 31, 1830 – October 20, 1917) was a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War, noted principally for capturing a key mountain pass (Hoover’s Gap) in the Tullahoma Campaign in Central Tennessee in June 1863. Wilder had personally ensured that his ‘Lightning Brigade’ of mounted […]

In the civil war, the commander of the Union “lightning brigade” personally took out a loan to buy his soldiers advanced new repeating rifles because the government would not supply them. Using the firepower advantage afforded by the new rifles, his brigade proved extremely effective in combat. Read More »