M.A. Kleen

By the afternoon of July 2, 1863, Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart finally arrived at the Gettysburg battlefield, followed some distance by Brig. Gen. Wade Hampton’s cavalry brigade. Hampton’s troopers, slowed by over 100 captured wagons, ambled down Hunterstown Road toward Gettysburg. Around the same time, two brigades of Union cavalry commanded by Brig. Gen. Elon John Farnsworth and Brig. Gen. George A. Custer were reconnoitering the Confederate left flank. They ran into Hampton’s rearguard in Hunterstown and pursued. George A. Custer charged forward with Company A of the 6th Michigan Cavalry and had his horse shot from under him. He was saved in the nick of time by one of his men. The skirmish and subsequent artillery duel lasted until after sundown.