Manford, Thomas

Manford was born in Richmond, in the family of Colonel George Whit Manford (1803–1882) and his wife Lucy Singleton Taylor. In 1849 he entered the Virginia Military Institute, and graduated in July 1852, 14th in terms of performance among 24 cadets. In 1853, he married Elizabeth Henriette Taylor, the daughter of the politician George Taylor. Before the war, Manford was a planter in Mississippi and a farmer in the Virginia district of Bedford.

When the Civil War began, Manford offered his services to the Confederation and on May 8 he joined the army, where he became lieutenant colonel of the 30th Virginia Volunteer Regiment. The regiment was equestrian and commanded by Jubal Early . As part of this regiment, Manford took part in the first battle of Bull Run . Soon the cavalry was reorganized, the 30th was renamed the 2nd Virginia Cavalry Regiment ( 2nd Virginia Cavalry ), and Manford became its colonel. In the spring of 1862, he served in the Shenandoah Valley in the Turner Ashby Brigade. After the death of Ashby Manford, he temporarily took command of the brigade and commanded it at the Battle of Cross Case .

And in August, the brigade was transferred to Beverly Robertson and Manford returned to command of the regiment. He participated in Jackson’s raid on Manassas, where his regiment was the first to attack Bristo Station. He was slightly injured in the second battle of Bull Run. Before the invasion of Maryland, General Lee, at the request of Stewart (or Jackson), removed Robertson from the brigade commanders and transferred the brigade to Manford, who eventually commanded 4 cavalry regiments and one battalion:

• 2nd Virginia Cavalry Regiment : Lieutenant Colonel Richard Berks
• 6th Virginia Cavalry Regiment : Regiment. Thomas Flornoy
• 7th Virginia Cavalry Regiment : Cap. Samuel Myers
• 12th Virginia Cavalry Regiment : Colonel Asher Harman
• 17th Virginia Cavalry Battalion: Major Thomas Massey ^[1]

When the North Virginia Army crossed the Potomac and entered Frederick, the Manford Brigade was tasked with covering the right flank of the army near Urbanna, where Jeb Stewart had its headquarters. On September 11, the Potomac Army launched a swift attack on Frederick and Manford's cavalry retreated to the Southern Mountains, taking up positions at the Crampton Gorge ^{[2] [3]} .

September 14, Stewart arrived in the crampton gorge, studied the situation and decided that the enemy intends to advance south. Therefore, he left Manford to guard the gorge with 400 cavalry forces, and with the main forces went south. Almost immediately, the position of Manford was attacked by the forces of the federal VI Corps from the front and flank - so began the Battle of Crampton Gorge . Southerners held the position for about 3 hours, hoping for the arrival of reinforcements, but the Cobb brigade sent for help was late. When Cobb came, Manford surrendered his command, but it was too late: the defense was broken and the feds seized the gorge. Manford believed that the reason for the failure lies in the lateness of Cobb ^[4] .

Comments

References to sources

• Thomas, Emory M. Bold Dragoon: The Life of JEB Stuart. - Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986. - 354 p. - ISBN 0-8061-3193-4 .
• Wert, Jefry D. Cavalryman of the Lost Cause. - New York: Simon & Shuster, 2008. - 496 p. - ISBN 0-7432-7819-4 .

• Reports of Manford on the progress of the Maryland campaign
• Manford on findagrave.com