The History Book Club discussion

Very sad indeed.

I have never been to Gettysburg, it is on my bucket list of things I have to do. Of a personal note, my great,great grandfather's regiment made Pickett's Charge. The 52nd North Carolina sustained heavy losses in the charge that almost wiped out the 52nd. Hope you guys don't mind my comment.

Cool, Joseph, and it is an amazing experience. I plan to take my kids there someday, would be my third time.

Very impressive Joseph. Thank you so much for sharing. We welcome comments and discussions on all of the threads.

Joseph, thanks for sharing that information. We are three hours away from Gettysburg and have visited there about a dozen times. We always see and learn something new. It is truly hallowed ground there and they have done an amazing job with the new visitor's center and the maintenance of the battlefield.

Donna wrote: "Joseph, thanks for sharing that information. We are three hours away from Gettysburg and have visited there about a dozen times. We always see and learn something new. It is truly hallowed ground ..."

Donna..have you ever been to "lost lane" or "Neill Avenue" at Gettysburg?

No, Bill. Tell me about it.

Donna wrote: "No, Bill. Tell me about it."
It's a very narrow strip of property owned by the national park, squeezed between private property. You have to park and walk a bit to get to it. It was a position held by 4 regiments of the Army of the Potomac during the battle. It's very isolated, but when you get there you'll see several large monuments dedicated to the units who were located there. I'm sure the story of how those monuments got placed there would be very interesting. If you google "Neill Avenue Gettysburg" you can find more about it. It's said that 99.999999% of the visitors to Gettysburg are unaware of it, and after being there myself I can believe it. If you DO go, go with a friend. Like I said it's very isolated.

Thanks, we'll definitely look for it next time.

I am also happy to report that the Civil War Trust bought General Lee's HQ at Gettysburg (just a museum). It was in private hands, surrounded by private land. (I think it is a hotel next door). They will turn it back to its historic setting and turn it over to the NPS.

Very good news

Hi Bill - I have reposted minus the reference in the first sentence:

Bill posted (thank you):

"One of the most seldom-visited portions of the battlefield is Neill Avenue, also known as "Lost Lane". Although it's only 600 or so yards from the Baltimore Pike it really feels like the middle of nowhere. Although Lost Lane is national park grounds, it is surrounded by private property so it's important to stay between the marked areas for the national park property. Also it's best to go with a companion. It IS isolated and trail is very rocky. If you're by yourself and have a fall you could be in a world of hurt (I don't think the cell phone reception out there is good either).

If you go however, you will see a portion of the battlefield that few others have seen, completely untouched by development. I went with my buddy and after a couple of wrong turns we finally found it. Believe it or not, there are actually four large monuments for the regiments posted there; 49th New York, 7th Maine, 43rd New York and 61st Pennsylvania. I'm sure the story as to how these monuments were built in this location would be a story in itself.

In addition to visiting Lost Lane, I've walked along the old trolley path and then into Rose Woods to find the marker locating the spot where Captain Henry Fuller fell, I've walked along the horse trail to Slyder Farm to find the monuments for Companies E&H, Second US Sharpshooters and Company D, Second US Sharpshooters (which also has a great view of the ground leading to Devil's Den), I've walked up the reverse slope of Big Round Top to find the monument to the 118th Pennsylvania, I've walked along the trail between the Emmitsburg Road and the State of Virginia monument to see the monuments for the First Massachusetts (skirmish line) and Wisconsin sharpshooters, walked out into the fields of Pickett's Charge to find the location of the Bliss Farm and I've walked between Hancock Avenue and the Codori farm to find the marker showing the location of where Colonel George Willard fell. I've walked down the hill from Barlow's knoll into the woods alongside Rock Creek to find the marker showing the advance position of 45 soldiers from the 54th New York.

I've also walked the battlefield from the Eternal Peace monument down Doubleday Avenue (where I saw "General and Mrs Grant" checking into the B&B after touring the town), down Reynolds Avenue all the way to Fairfield Road. I've done the walking tour of Seminary Ridge (in the snow), walked the grounds of Pickett's charge with my buddy (including a dramatic recreation of climbing the fence along Emmitsburg Road), walked up Little Round top, found the marker showng the position for Company B of the 20th Maine, visited the monuments and emplacements on Powers Hill and walked the length of Brenner's Hill.

Bill, I think you should do a tour!

Great idea Donna

This book puts the reader "in the moment".

Guide to the Battle of Gettysburg

by Jay Luvaas (no photo)

Synopsis:

This guide uses first-hand accounts to illustrate how this skirmish, only three days long, turned into one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War.

Eyewitness accounts by battle participants make these guides an invaluable resource for travelers and nontravelers who want a greater understanding of five of the most devastating yet influential years in our nation's history. Explicit directions to points of interest and maps--illustrating the action and showing the detail of troop position, roads, rivers, elevations, and tree lines as they were 130 years ago--help bring the battles to life. In the field, these guides can be used to recreate each battle's setting and proportions, giving the reader a sense of the tension and fear each soldier must have felt as he faced his enemy.

This book is part of the U.S. Army War College Guides to Civil War Battles series.

Thank you Jill

by Matt Spruill (no photo) is another excellent guide to the Battle of Gettysburg. The author has been a heavy contributor to the series of guide books of civil war battlefields that includes the one mentioned in Jill's note above. This particular book is in the same format as the guidebook mentioned by Jill in that it takes you to various stops on the battlefield, explains what happened there, and then has statements from some of the commanders. This book, as the title suggests, focuses on the action of the various artillery units, north and south, that took part in the 3 day battle. It contains many maps which show the location of the batteries, includes the names of the units that fought at that particular spot and the composition of the batteries (number and types of guns contained in each battery). It's an excellent companion to the book mentioned by Jill in message 65.

One Continuous Fight: The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863

by Eric J. Wittenberg (no photo)

Synopsis:

The titanic three-day battle of Gettysburg left 50,000 casualties in its wake, a battered Southern army far from its base of supplies, and a rich historiographic legacy. Thousands of books and articles cover nearly every aspect of the battle, but not a single volume focuses on the military aspects of the monumentally important movements of the armies to and across the Potomac River. One Continuous Fight: The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863 is the first detailed military history of Lee’s retreat and the Union effort to catch and destroy the wounded Army of Northern Virginia.

Against steep odds and encumbered with thousands of casualties, Confederate commander Robert E. Lee’s post-battle task was to successfully withdraw his army across the Potomac River. Union commander George G. Meade’s equally difficult assignment was to intercept the effort and destroy his enemy. The responsibility for defending the exposed Southern columns belonged to cavalry chieftain James Ewell Brown (Jeb) Stuart. If Stuart fumbled his famous ride north to Gettysburg, his generalship during the retreat more than redeemed his flagging reputation.

The ten days of retreat triggered nearly two dozen skirmishes and major engagements, including fighting at Granite Hill, Monterey Pass, Hagerstown, Williamsport, Funkstown, Boonsboro, and Falling Waters. President Abraham Lincoln was thankful for the early July battlefield victory, but disappointed that General Meade was unable to surround and crush the Confederates before they found safety on the far side of the Potomac. Exactly what Meade did to try to intercept the fleeing Confederates, and how the Southerners managed to defend their army and ponderous 17-mile long wagon train of wounded until crossing into western Virginia on the early morning of July 14, is the subject of this study

One Continuous Fight draws upon a massive array of documents, letters, diaries, newspaper accounts, and published primary and secondary sources. These long-ignored foundational sources allow the authors, each widely known for their expertise in Civil War cavalry operations, to describe carefully each engagement. The result is a rich and comprehensive study loaded with incisive tactical commentary, new perspectives on the strategic role of the Southern and Northern cavalry, and fresh insights on every engagement, large and small, fought during the retreat.

The retreat from Gettysburg was so punctuated with fighting that a soldier felt compelled to describe it as “One Continuous Fight.” Until now, few students fully realized the accuracy of that description. Complimented with 18 original maps, dozens of photos, and a complete driving tour with GPS coordinates of the entire retreat, One Continuous Fight is an essential book for every student of the American Civil War in general, and for the student of Gettysburg in particular.

I was there last weekend. They opened the Spangler Farm for 8 weeks during the summer (can only get there via bus from the visitor center. The Farm served as a field hospital for the Union 11 Corps so they had a couple of programs that discussed the treatment of the wounded.

I also happened to run into John Michael Priest, author of Antietam: The Soldiers' Battlefield: A Self-Guided Mini-Tour, Before Antietam: The Battle for South Mountain, Nowhere to Run: The Wilderness, May 4th & 5th, 1864, Victory without Triumph: The Wilderness May 6th and 7th, 1864 and got the chance to chat with him a little. A very nice man.

Awesome, Bill, fascinating.

Good job on citations, if you have covers, you don't need links, and just put them all at the end like:

by John Michael Priest (no photo)

Thank you Bill for your awesome post and to Bryan for helping Bill.

High Tide at Gettysburg: The Campaign in Pennsylvania

by Glenn Tucker (no photo)

Synopis:

High Tide at Gettysburg tells the story of the Army of Virginia. How near the South came to victory is clearly set forth in these pages. The author vividly conveys the background of the crucial b attle of the Civil War so that the reader can fully appreciate its unfolding.

Thank you Jerome

An upcoming book:
Release date: December 3, 2016

Much Embarrassed: Civil War, Intelligence and the Gettysburg Campaign

by George Donne (no photo)

Synopsis:

Before the first shots were fired at Gettysburg - for many, the most significant engagement of the American Civil War - a private battle had been raging for weeks. As the Confederate Army marched into Union territory, the Federal Forces desperately sought to hunt them down before they struck at any of the great cities of the North. Whoever could secure accurate information on their opponent would have a decisive advantage once the fighting started.

When the two armies finally met on the morning of 1 July 1863 their understanding of the prevailing situation could not have been more different. While the Rebel Third Corps was expecting to brush away a group of local militia guarding the town, the Federal I Corps was preparing itself for a major battle. For three brutal days, the Rebel Army smashed at the Union troops, without success. The illustrious Confederate General Robert E. Lee would lose a third of his army and the tide of the rebellion would begin its retreat. Robert Lee himself would begin the argument on the contribution of military intelligence to his defeat by seeking to blame his cavalry.

Generations of historians would debate into what factors played a decisive role, but no one has sought to explore the root of how the most able General of his era could have left himself so vulnerable at the climax of such a vital operation. Much Embarrassed investigates how the Confederate and Union military intelligence systems had been sculpted by the preceding events of the war and how this led to the final outcome of the Gettysburg Campaign. While the success of the Confederate strategy nurtured a fundamental flaw in their appreciation of intelligence, recurrent defeat led the Federal Army to develop one of the most advanced intelligence structures in history. Lee was right to highlight the importance of military intelligence to his failure at Gettysburg, but he would never appreciate that the seeds of his defeat had been sown long before.

Thank you Jerome

Interesting book. I would hope that Union intelligence would have improved since the days of Allan Pinkerton.

Gettysburg: The Last Invasion

by Allen C. Guelzo (no photo)

Synopsis:

Though the Battle of Gettysburg has been written about at length and thoroughly dissected in terms of strategic importance, never before has a book dived down so closely to the individual soldier to explore the experience of the three days of intense fighting for the people involved, or looked so closely at the way politics swayed military decisions, or placed the battle in the context of nineteenth-century military practice. Guelzo shows us the face, the sights and sounds of nineteenth-century combat: the stone walls and gunpowder clouds of Pickett's Charge; the reason that the Army of Northern Virginia could be smelled before it could be seen; the march of thousands of men from the banks of the Rappahannock in Virginia to the Pennsylvania hills. What emerges is a previously untold story: from the personal politics roiling the Union and Confederate officer ranks, to the peculiar character of artillery units. Through such scrutiny the cornerstone battle of the Civil War is given extraordinarily vivid new life.

Into the Fight: Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg

by John Michael Priest (no photo)

Synopsis:

Challenging conventional views, stretching the minds of Civil War enthusiasts and scholars as only John Michael Priest can, Into the Fight is both a scholarly and a new interpretation of the most famous charge in American history. Using a wide range of sources, ranging from the monuments on the Gettysburg battlefield to the accounts of the participants themselves, Priest here rewrites the conventional thinking about this unusually emotional, yet serious, moment in our Civil War. Starting with a fresh point of view, and with no axes to grind, Into the Fight challenges all interested in that stunning moment in history to rethink their assumptions.

Last Chance For Victory: Robert E. Lee And The Gettysburg Campaign

by Scott Bowden (no photo)

Synopsis:

Long after nearly fifty thousand soldiers shed their blood there, serious misunderstandings persist about Robert E. Lee's generalship at Gettysburg. What were Lee's choices before, during, and after the battle? What did he know that caused him to act as he did? Last Chance for Victory addresses these issues by studying Lee's decisions and the military intelligence he possessed when each was made.Packed with new information and original research, Last Chance for Victory draws alarming conclusions to complex issues with precision and clarity. Readers will never look at Robert E. Lee and Gettysburg the same way again.

Thank you Jerome and Jill.

Brandy Station and the March to Gettysburg: The History of the Confederate Invasion of Pennsylvania Before the Biggest Battle of the Civil War

by Charles River Editors (no photo)

Synopsis:

Buoyed by his recent successes at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederate cavalry commander JEB Stuart held a field review on June 5, but when Robert E. Lee couldn’t attend that one, he held another one in Lee’s presence on June 8. During that one, the Confederates paraded nearly 9,000 mounted troops and four batteries of horse artillery for review, which included mock battles near Brandy Station. Some of the cavalrymen and newspaper reporters at the scene complained that all Stuart was doing was “feeding his ego and exhausting the horses,” and he was referred to as a “headline-hunting show-off.”

More importantly, Union Army of the Potomac commander Joseph Hooker interpreted Stuart's presence around Culpeper as a precursor to a raid on his army's supply lines. In response, he ordered his cavalry commander, Maj. General Alfred Pleasonton, to take a combined force of 8,000 cavalry and 3,000 infantry on a raid to "disperse and destroy" the 9,500 Confederates. Crossing the Rappahannock River in two columns on June 9, 1863 at Beverly's Ford and Kelly's Ford, the first infantry unit caught Stuart completely off guard, and the second surprised him yet again.
In addition to being the largest cavalry battle of the war, the chaos and confusion that ensued across the battlefield also made Brandy Station unique in that most of the fighting was done while mounted and using sabers.

As Lee’s army moved into Pennsylvania, Stuart’s cavalry screened his movements, thereby engaging in the more traditional cavalry roles, but it’s widely believed that he was still smarting over the results of June 9. As a result, many historians think it likely that he had already planned to remove the negative effect of Brandy Station by duplicating one of his now famous rides around the enemy army, much as he did to McClellan’s Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862. This time, however, as Lee began his march north through the Shenandoah Valley in western Virginia, it is highly unlikely that is what he wanted or expected.

To complicate matters even more, as Stuart set out on June 25 on what was probably a glory-seeking mission, he was unaware that his intended path was blocked by columns of Union infantry that would invariably force him to veer farther east than he or Lee had anticipated. Ultimately, his decision would prevent him from linking up with Ewell as ordered and deprive Lee of his primary cavalry force as he advanced deeper and deeper into unfamiliar enemy territory. According to Halsey Wigfall (son of Confederate States Senator Louis Wigfall) who was in Stuart’s infantry, “Stuart and his cavalry left [Lee’s] army on June 24 and did not contact [his] army again until the afternoon of July 2, the second day of the [Gettysburg] battle.”

As it would turn out, Lee’s army inadvertently stumbled into Union cavalry and then the Union army at Gettysburg on the morning of July 1, 1863, unaware of the force in their front.From July 1-3, Lee’s army tried everything in its power to decisively defeat George Meade’s Union Army of the Potomac, unleashing ferocious assaults that inflicted nearly 50,000 casualties in all. Day 1 of the battle would have been one of the 25 biggest battles of the Civil War itself, and it ended with a tactical Confederate victory. But over the next two days, Lee would try and fail to dislodge the Union army with attacks on both of its flanks during the second day and Pickett’s Charge on the third and final day.

The Hero of Little Round Top: The Life and Legacy of Joshua Chamberlain

by Charles River Editors (no photo)

Synopsis:

Includes pictures of Chamberlain and important people, places, and events in his life.
*Discusses the controversies surrounding Chamberlain's actions at Gettysburg and Appomattox.
*Includes a Bibliography for further reading.
For much of the 20th century, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's life and career remained mostly obscure, outside of dedicated scholars of the Battle of Gettysburg and alumni and students of Bowdoin College. Colonel Chamberlain had led the 20th Maine regiment at Gettysburg, holding the extreme left of the Union line on Little Round Top, and he continued to rise up the ranks toward the end of the war until he was commanding a brigade and present at the surrender ceremony of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox. After the Civil War, Chamberlain served as Governor of Maine and President of Bowdoin College.

The author discusses why Pickett's Charge is considered the seminal battle of the Civil War.

Pickett's Charge in History and Memory

by Carol Reardon (no photo)

Synopsis:

If, as many have argued, the Civil War is the most crucial moment in our national life and Gettysburg its turning point, then the climax of the climax, the central moment of our history, must be Pickett's Charge. But as Carol Reardon notes, the Civil War saw many other daring assaults and stout defenses. Why, then, is it Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg--and not, for example, Richardson's Charge at Antietam or Humphreys's Assault at Fredericksburg--that looms so large in the popular imagination? As this innovative study reveals, by examining the events of 3 July 1863 through the selective and evocative lens of 'memory' we can learn much about why Pickett's Charge endures so strongly in the American imagination. Over the years, soldiers, journalists, veterans, politicians, orators, artists, poets, and educators, Northerners and Southerners alike, shaped, revised, and even sacrificed the 'history' of the charge to create 'memories' that met ever-shifting needs and deeply felt values. Reardon shows that the story told today of Pickett's Charge is really an amalgam of history and memory. The evolution of that mix, she concludes, tells us much about how we come to understand our nation's past."A fresh look at the disastrous assault.--"New Yorker""A splendidly lively study of the manipulation, not necessarily deliberate or malign, of public opinion.--"Atlantic Monthly""Exceptionally lucid. . . . This fine book provides vivid evidence of just how far we will go to alchemize fantasy into fact.--Jonathan Yardley, "Washington Post""Well-written and meticulously researched, Pickett's Charge in History and Memory utilizes first-rate scholarship to tell a fascinating story. . . . Should win a wide audience among general readers.--"Civil War History"Assessing the myths and facts surrounding Pickett's Charge, Carol Reardon explores why this event endures so strongly in the American imagination. She demonstrates that the story told today of the charge is really an amalgam of history and memory and that the evolution of that mix tells us much about how we come to understand our nation's past.

Another look at the famous Pickett's Charge.

Nine Months to Gettysburg: Stannard's Vermonters and the Repulse of Pickett's Charge

by Howard Coffin (no photo)

Synopsis:

"A Vermont brigade held the key position at Gettysburg and did more than any other body of men to gain the triumph which decided the fate of the Union," the New York Times reported soon after the historic battle over the Fourth of July, 1863. The citizen soldiers of General George J. Stannard's Second Vermont Brigade, only a few days short of their nine-month enlistments, occupied a sector of Cemetery Ridge, helped stabilize the line, and then shattered the right flank of Pickett's famous charge just when the outcome of the battle hung in the balance.


In this unique eye-witness account, Coffin draws on scores of soldiers' letters to relate how and why young recruits from isolated hill farms flocked to the Union colors in response to Lincoln's call in 1862. During the nine months leading up to their rendezvous with destiny at Gettysburg, they recorded, in humorous detail, foraging for food, and, in more sober terms, enduring homesickness, monotony, and often fatal diseases. We share, too, their anxieties as they are thrust suddenly into the most important infantry maneuver directed against the Confederate assault.

A great military leader and a gentleman.

In The Hands of Providence: Joshual L. Chamberlain and the American Civil War

by Alice Rains Trulock (no photo)

Synopsis:

This remarkable biography traces the life and times of Joshua L. Chamberlain, the professor-turned-soldier who led the Twentieth Maine Regiment to glory at Gettysburg, earned a battlefield promotion to brigadier general from Ulysses S. Grant at Petersburg, and was wounded six times during the course of the Civil War. Chosen to accept the formal Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Chamberlain endeared himself to succeeding generations with his unforgettable salutation of Robert E. Lee's vanquished army. After the war, he went on to serve four terms as governor of his home state of Maine and later became president of Bowdoin College. He wrote prolifically about the war, including "The Passing of the Armies," a classic account of the final campaign of the Army of the Potomac.

I also really enjoyed "In The Hands of Providence". A great book.

I read a book about Sickles, but really disliked the book and the Thomas Keneally's style.
I'll be reading another bio of Sickles by Swanberg. A biography about Sickles should be really good because this guy was such a disgraceful person involved in so many momentous events.

I enjoyed one of the few biographies I could find about General Meade by Cleaves.

But, one of the best books I've read about Gettysburg has to be Chamberlain himself. Truly an excellent, enjoyable read!

Books mentioned:
by Alice Rains Trulock (no photo)
by Thomas Keneally
by W.A. Swanberg (no photo)
by Freeman Cleaves (no photo)
by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

Thank you David - all excellent adds and review

Challenges of Command in the Civil War: Generalship, Leadership, and Strategy at Gettysburg, Petersburg, and Beyond, Volume I: Generals and Generalship
Release Date - July 19, 2018

(no image) Challenges of Command in the Civil War: Generalship, Leadership, and Strategy at Gettysburg, Petersburg, and Beyond, Volume I: Generals and Generalship by Richard Sommers (no photo)

Synopsis:

Dr. Richard Sommers’ Challenges of Command in the Civil War distills six decades of studying the Civil War into two succinct, thought-provoking volumes. This first installment focuses on “Civil War Generals and Generalship.” The subsequent volume will explore “Civil War Strategy, Operations, and Organization.” Each chapter is a free-standing essay that can be appreciated in its own right without reading the entire book.

Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee stand out in Volume I as Dr. Sommers analyzes their generalship throughout the Civil War. Their exercise of command in the decisive Virginia Campaign from May 1864 to April 1865 receives particular attention—especially during the great Siege of Petersburg, about which the author has long ranked as the pioneering and pre-eminent historian.

Five chapters evaluating Grant and Lee are followed by five more on “Civil War Generals and Generalship.” One of those essays, “American Cincinnatus,” explores twenty citizen-soldiers who commanded mobile army corps in the Union Army and explains why such officers were selected for senior command. Antietam, Gettysburg, and Petersburg are central to three essays on Northern corps and wing commanders. Both Federals and Confederates are featured in “Founding Fathers: Renowned Revolutionary War Relatives of Significant Civil War Soldiers and Statesmen.” The ground-breaking original research underlying that chapter identifies scores of connections between the “Greatest Generations” of the 18th and 19th Centuries—far more than just the well-known link of “Light Horse Harry” Lee to his son, Robert E. Lee.

From original research in Chapter 10 to new ways of looking at familiar facts in Chapters 6-9 to distilled judgments from a lifetime of study in Chapters 1-5, Challenges of Command invites readers to think—and rethink—about the generalship of Grant, Lee, and senior commanders of the Civil War.

This book is an essential part of every Civil War library.

About the Author:

Dr. Richard J. Sommers has contributed extensively to Civil War and military history.

In addition to his latest books Challenges of Command, and Richmond Redeemed, he has authored more than 100 books, chapters, articles, entries, and reviews on a wide variety of Civil War topics.

The SB updated, expanded 150th anniversary edition of Richmond Redeemed earned the Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award as the best reprint on U.S. Army history for 2014.

The original edition was awarded the Bell Wiley Prize for the best Civil War book published in 1981-82. Dr. Sommers himself is also the recipient of a host of awards, including the Harrisburg Civil War Round Table General John F. Hartranft Award “for meritorious service,” the Houston Civil War Round Table Frank E. Vandiver Award “for merit,” and the Army Heritage Center Foundation General John Armstrong Award “for significant contributions.”

In 2015, the Army War College designated him a “Distinguished Fellow.” He is a popular speaker to Civil War audiences, including the Civil War Round Table circuit, all across America. He retired in 2014 as the Senior Historian of the Army Heritage and Education Center, where he served for more than four decades, but he continues to teach at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and to write and speak about the Civil War.

Born in Indiana and educated at Carleton College (B.A.) and Rice University (Ph.D.), Dr. Sommers resides in Carlisle with his wife, Tracy.

This is what the bookcover should look like but it is not in goodreads yet:

An upcoming book:
Release date: August 1, 2019

"Lee Is Trapped, and Must Be Taken": Eleven Fateful Days After Gettysburg: July 4 - 14, 1863

by Thomas J. Ryan (no photo)

Synopsis:

Countless books have examined the battle of Gettysburg, but the retreat of the armies to the Potomac River and beyond has not been as thoroughly covered. "Lee is Trapped, and Must be Taken": Eleven Fateful Days after Gettysburg: July 4 to July 14, 1863, by Thomas J. Ryan and Richard R. Schaus goes a long way toward rectifying this oversight.

This comprehensive study focuses on the immediate aftermath of the battle and addresses how Maj. Gen. George G. Meade organized and motivated his Army of the Potomac in response to President Abraham Lincoln's mandate to bring about the "literal or substantial destruction" of Gen. Robert E. Lee's retreating Army of Northern Virginia. As far as the president was concerned, if Meade aggressively pursued and confronted Lee before he could escape across the flooded Potomac River, "the rebellion would be over."

The long and bloody three-day battle exhausted both armies. Their respective commanders faced difficult tasks, including the rallying of their troops for more marching and fighting. Lee had to keep his army organized and motivated enough to conduct an orderly withdrawal away from the field. Meade faced the same organizational and motivational challenges, while assessing the condition of his victorious but heavily damaged army, to determine if it had sufficient strength to pursue and crush a still-dangerous enemy. Central to the respective commanders' decisions was the information they received from their intelligence-gathering resources about the movements, intentions, and capability of the enemy. The eleven-day period after Gettysburg was a battle of wits to determine which commander better understood the information he received, and directed the movements of his army accordingly. Prepare for some surprising revelations. Woven into this account is the fate of thousands of Union prisoners who envisioned rescue to avoid incarceration in wretched Confederate prisons, and a characterization of how the Union and Confederate media portrayed the ongoing conflict for consumption on the home front.

The authors utilized a host of primary sources to craft their study, including letters, memoirs, diaries, official reports, newspapers, and telegrams, and have threaded these intelligence gems in an exciting and fast-paced narrative that includes a significant amount of new information. "Lee is Trapped, and Must be Taken" is a sequel to Thomas Ryan's Spies, Scouts, and Secrets in the Gettysburg Campaign, the recipient of the Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award and Gettysburg Civil War Round Table Distinguished Book Award.

Thank you Jerome.

Fateful Lightning

by Allen C. Guelzo

Synopsis:

The Civil War is the greatest trauma ever experienced by the American nation, a four-year paroxysm of violence that left in its wake more than 600,000 dead, more than 2 million refugees, and the destruction (in modern dollars) of more than $700 billion in property. The war also sparked some of the most heroic moments in American history and enshrined a galaxy of American heroes. Above all, it permanently ended the practice of slavery and proved, in an age of resurgent monarchies, that a liberal democracy could survive the most frightful of challenges.

In Fateful Lightning, two-time Lincoln Prize-winning historian Allen C. Guelzo offers a marvelous portrait of the Civil War and its era, covering not only the major figures and epic battles, but also politics, religion, gender, race, diplomacy, and technology. And unlike other surveys of the Civil War era, it extends the reader's vista to include the postwar Reconstruction period and discusses the modern-day legacy of the Civil War in American literature and popular culture. Guelzo also puts the conflict in a global perspective, underscoring Americans' acute sense of the vulnerability of their republic in a world of monarchies. He examines the strategy, the tactics, and especially the logistics of the Civil War and brings the most recent historical thinking to bear on emancipation, the presidency and the war powers, the blockade and international law, and the role of intellectuals, North and South.

Written by a leading authority on our nation's most searing crisis, Fateful Lightning offers a vivid and original account of an event whose echoes continue with Americans to this day.

Reviews:

"Guelzo has a masterful command of the intricate narrative of the Civil War period. His tale contains familiar stories, but also new insights." --Journal of American History

"Guelzo's book is a shining example of the virtues of the macro approach when it is undertaken with energy and efficiency. By panning out and reviewing the events that occurred over several decades, Guelzo offers a useful synthesis of the developing Civil War narrative..." --The New York Times

"It's hard to imagine a better one-volume history of the American Civil War than Gettysburg College professor Allen C. Guelzo's new work." --The Washington Times

"Guelzo's prose is graceful and erudite - indeed, almost poetic. His is as comfortable with military topics as he is with the political, social, and economic aspects of the war and its aftermath." --The Weekly Standard

"Allen C. Guelzo's new book should occupy the same position in the current Civil War sesquicentennial as Bruce Catton's books did 50 years ago during the war's centennial. Fateful Lightning: A New History of the Civil War & Reconstruction deserves this prominence for Guelzo's thorough knowledge of the subject, his ability to draw fresh conclusion, and his exceptional writing skills." --The Saturday Evening Post

"This is an outstanding effort to recount and explain our greatest national trauma to general readers." --Booklist

"With his accustomed eloquence and erudition, Allen C. Guelzo has produced a grand and sweeping account of the Civil War, vividly depicting its events, its characters, and, most of all, the ideas that drove them. Fateful Lightning is destined to take its place alongside the classic narratives of the nation's greatest crisis." --Steven E. Woodworth, author of This Great Struggle: America's Civil War

"[A] splendidly-written narrative" --Civil War Book Review

"Fateful Lightning is a splendid accomplishment." --David Frum, Daily Beast

"Fateful Lightning is a wonderful book. It is the summit of a long career of a consumate historian. ... [A] timely addition to a long tradition of scholarly histories of both the Civil War and Reconstruction. ... Guelzo seamlessly weaves the history of actual warfare with other cultural and historical events of the time. ... Because it is so well-written and produces such an engrossing story, it is one that students and scholars alike will relish." --International Social Science Review

About the Author

Allen C. Guelzo is the Henry R. Luce Professor of the Civil War Era, and Director of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College. He is the author of Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President and Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America, both of which won the Lincoln Prize. His most recent books on Lincoln and the Civil War era are Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates That Defined America and Lincoln: A Very Short Introduction.

An upcoming book:
Release date: November 1, 2019

Custer at Gettysburg: George Armstrong Custer vs. Jeb Stuart in the Battle's Climactic Cavalry Charge

by Phillip Thomas Tucker

Synopsis:

George Armstrong Custer is famous for his fatal defeat at the Little Bighorn in 1876, but Custer’s baptism of fire came during the Civil War. After graduating last in the West Point class of 1861, Custer served from the First Battle of Bull Run (only a month after graduation) through Appomattox, where he witnessed the surrender. But Custer’s true rise to prominence began at Gettysburg in 1863.

On the eve of the Battle of Gettysburg, only twenty-three years old and barely two years removed from being the goat of his West Point class, Custer received promotion to brigadier general and command – his first direct field command – of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade, the “Wolverines.” Now that he held general rank, Custer felt comfortable wearing the distinctive, some said gaudy, uniform that helped skyrocket him into fame and legend. However flashy he may have been in style, Custer did not disappoint his superiors, who promoted him in a search for more aggressive cavalry officers. At approximately noon on July 3, 1863, Custer and his men heard enemy cannon fire: Stuart’s signal to Lee that he was ready for action. Thus began the melee that was East Cavalry Field at Gettysburg. Much back and forth preceded Custer’s career-defining action. An hour or two into the battle, after many of his cavalrymen had been reduced to hand-to-hand infantry-style fighting, Custer ordered a charge of one of his regiments and led it into action himself, screaming one of the battle’s most famous lines: “Come on, you Wolverines!” Around three o’clock, Stuart mounted a final charge, which mowed down Union cavalry – until it ran into Custer’s Wolverines, who stood firm, with Custer wielding a sword at their head, and broke the Confederates’ last attack.

In a book combining two popular subjects, Tucker recounts the story of Custer at Gettysburg with verve, shows how the Custer legend was born on the fields of the war’s most famous battle, and offers eye-opening new perspectives on Gettysburg’s overlooked cavalry battle.

Thank you Jerome

Such a sad but important battle. I’m currently reading a novel based on true stories from the battle called Widow of Gettysburg by Jocelyn Green

Thank you Clara Belle for your post - all posts are very much appreciated; but we add the bookcover, the word by, the author's photo and the author's link so that the powerful goodreads can populate the site.

We are primarily a history and nonfiction site; so we are glad that you mentioned that the book was a novel.

We do also read historical fiction; but we always let our members know when that is the case. Thank you for letting our members know that this book was a Novel and I am glad that you enjoyed it.

by Jocelyn Green

Bentley wrote: "Thank you Clara Belle for your post - all posts are very much appreciated; but we add the bookcover, the word by, the author's photo and the author's link so that the powerful goodreads can populat..."

I don’t understand what your point is. I’ll delete that portion of my comment if it was against the rules. I just was sharing the reason that I was currently interested in the Battle of Gettysburg.

No, sometimes a comment box is a difficult way to convey information - we are happy for everybody to post on all of the threads. We have a format to follow for adding books and authors so that the white space on the side of each thread captures the names of the books and the authors for our members. Also, the goodreads software then populates the entire site. You do not have to delete anything. Have you introduced yourself on the introduction thread as yet. If you had (and maybe you have) - one of my assisting moderators would have shown you how we do citations - it is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. If you did introduce yourself - look back at the post they sent you because there are many helpful links and one to our Help Desk folder and a thread Mechanics of the Board which is very helpful.

We are delighted that you are here and you are sharing. We are here to help you along the way.

If you would like to try to add the bookcover, etc. - you will see above the comment box add book/author and you can try your hand at getting the citation that I showed you.

An upcoming book:
Release date: June 7, 2021

Meade at Gettysburg: A Study in Command

by Kent Masterson Brown (no photo)

Synopsis:

Although he took command of the Army of the Potomac only three days before the first shots were fired at Gettysburg, Union general George G. Meade guided his forces to victory in the Civil War's most pivotal battle. Commentators often dismiss Meade when discussing the great leaders of the Civil War. But in this long-anticipated book, Kent Masterson Brown draws on an expansive archive to reappraise Meade's leadership during the Battle of Gettysburg. Using Meade's published and unpublished papers alongside diaries, letters, and memoirs of fellow officers and enlisted men, Brown highlights how Meade's rapid advance of the army to Gettysburg on July 1, his tactical control and coordination of the army in the desperate fighting on July 2, and his determination to hold his positions on July 3 insured victory.

Brown argues that supply deficiencies, brought about by the army's unexpected need to advance to Gettysburg, were crippling. In spite of that, Meade pursued Lee's retreating army rapidly, and his decision not to blindly attack Lee's formidable defenses near Williamsport on July 13 was entirely correct in spite of subsequent harsh criticism. Combining compelling narrative with incisive analysis, this finely rendered work of military history deepens our understanding of the Army of the Potomac as well as the machinations of the Gettysburg Campaign, restoring Meade to his rightful place in the Gettysburg narrative

Jerome, thank you very much.