Corbit's Charge

In late June of eighteen sixty-three, Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was marching north through Maryland toward Pennsylvania, and J. E.

B. Stuart's cavalry had slipped away on a wide flanking ride, leaving Lee blind to Union movements. Near Westminster, Maryland, Stuart's troopers ran into Captain Charles Corbit and ninety-four men of the First Delaware Cavalry.

Vastly outnumbered, Corbit charged anyway. A newspaper called it suicidal bravery. His men were quickly overwhelmed and most were captured, but the skirmish cost Stuart precious hours, delaying his reunion with Lee.

Historians have argued ever since how much that delay mattered at Gettysburg. Corbit's small, reckless charge became a footnote with outsized consequences, a reminder that individual decisions on obscure back roads can ripple through the largest battles.