The two cavalry forces met three miles east of Gettysburg near the Rummel farm about noon on July the 3rd. Stuart deployed his brigades (about 6,300 men) in the woods on Cress Ridge to the north. Gregg's Division, along with George Custer's Brigade (totalling about 4,500 men) was situated along Hanover road to the south.

The fighting began as skirmishers between the two forces from both sides exchanged fire. Stuart then sent the 1st Virginia charging into the Union cavalry. Gregg then ordered a countercharge by the 7th Michigan that halted the Confederates. Stuart then ordered most of Hampton's and Fitz Lee's Brigades into a column to attack Gregg's position. The Confederate column - extremely vulnerable enroute, ran headlong into Custer's 1st Michigan. The clash of the two forces was spectacular.

The cavalry battle continued with fierce hand-to-hand combat with neither side gaining the upper hand. Finally, the 3rd Pennsylvania attacked the Confederate column from the east and the forced the rear portion of the column to retreat from the rest of the body. Eventually, the Confederates, cutoff and attacked from all sides, were forced to retreat back to Cress Ridge. The total Confederate loss numbered about 230 men, while the Union lost about 250. Neither side lost ground and both would claim victory, but Stuart was denied access to the Union rear.

During Stuart's battle, BG Judson Kilpatrick ordered a frontal cavalry assault against Longstreet's heavily entrenched and fortified right wing near Little Round Top. BG Elon Farnsworth, seeing the futility of such an attack against infantry, protested strongly against it. Nonetheless, Farnsworth obeyed his orders and led a disastrous charge against the Confederate infantry. Farnsworth's Brigade suffered immensely and he himself was killed, shot five times.