BATTLE SUMMARY
The Battle of Brandy Station, the largest cavalry engagement of the Civil War, resulted from the initial movements of the Gettysburg Campaign. Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, commander of the Army of the Potomac, sorely needed solid evidence of a rumored major Confederate offensive. A reconnaissence in force by the Union VI Corps on June 5, at Franklin's Crossing on the Rappahannock River, failed to verify the suspicions, so Hooker assigned the task to his cavalry corps, supported by 2 infantry brigades and 6 light batteries.