GETTYSBURG
By
Stephen W. Sears
Over the years, there have
been hundreds of books and articles written about Gettysburg and many have
tried to recount the reasons why the Union Army defeated the Army of Northern
Virginia at this small Pennsylvania
town.
Some have tried to put a personal
spin on the event by telling it from the participants view while others have
put it into a dull and dusty recounting of the battle.
Mr. Sears effort is a very informative and entertaining
effort. While he doesn’t try to tell the story as in the style of THE KILLER ANGELS
neither does he relate it in a dull classroom monotone. He gives life to Lee, Longstreet, Meade, and
makes it seem like you are there in the council of war.
Mr. Spears did his homework and
the research into this pivotal battle shows through by his recounting of events
leading to Lee deciding to go back North following his victory at
Chancellorsville. He recounts how Grants action around Vicksburg triggered
the 15 May conference in Richmond which
in turn led to Davis approving the second invasion of the North by Lee.
The West was being nibbled away by
Federal armies under Grant in Mississippi, Rosecrans in Tennessee was being held to a standoff
by Confederate General Bragg, who
couldn’t send much help to Pemeberton in Vicksburg. At this point, the
Confederate Forces were stretched very close to the breaking point. This in
turn led to political pressure being exerted on Jefferson Davis to do something
to repair the events in the West.
One of the proposals was to
dispatch reinforcements from the East in the form of the First Corps of the
Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. Pete Longstreet. Longstreet and two of his divisions had already been sent to
Southeastern Virginia, Longstreet proposed that the remaining two divisions of
the 1st Corps be detached
and then sent west. Longstreet reasoned that by combining his command with
troops from Joe Johnston’s command and that of Bragg’s they could begin a
offensive in Central Tennessee against Rosecrans. Once Rosecrans was defeated, the Army of Tennessee would push on westward and erase
the threat of Grant on Vicksburg.
Lee did not hold with this
reasoning as he thought that come spring the Army of the Potomac would open a
offensive on the Rappahannock and that he could not hold the line with only
half the Army of Northern Virginia.. Should the North not move against him, Lee
would take the initiative and go North, which would require all of his
troops. Lee also did not think that
shifting forces all across the Confederacy would be nothing but a logistical
nightmare…
Mr. Sears goes on to relate the
debate on the course of action needed by the Confederacy in the spring of 1863.
He makes the political dueling come to life as he relates each argument for and
against the course of action put forward by the Confederate High Command.
As the book goes forward, the
failures and successes of the invasion are revealed and in many cases he makes
the reader stop and yells at Stuart not to go for one of his famous rides
around the Yankee army. He shows how the Federal Army was beginning to jell
into an effective force as the Union cavalry demonstrated at Brandy Station for
example.
He also goes into the political
infighting in both armies- most notably in the way General Hooker was removed
from command of the Army of the Potomac., and in the way that Lee ‘s
orders not to bring a organized battle
was disregarded by Heth when he moved into Gettysburg and engaged Buford’s
Cavalry and the elements of the Union 1st
and 11th Corps on the 1st of July.
As the reader turns each page the
battle seems to come alive and grows as both armies converge and collide at the
little town. And like a small spark is
fanned into a raging fire by the wind, the Battle of Gettysburg seems to take a
life of it’s own as the battle rages
over the next 3 days..
Mr. Spear’s writing is concise and
well thought out. It seems to pick you up and enfolds you into the events that
he is writing about. You seem to be able to see the flash of the bayonets in
the sunlight, the terrible crashing of the cannon, smell the acrid smoke of the
battle field, and though you know the outcome, you still ache to see the
mistake being made that results in the beginning of the end of the Confederate
States of America.
GETTYSBURG is the second book of a series, the first
being CHANCELLORSVILLE
. Having read both, I suggest that you read them in order, which by doing so
will give you a better picture of the 1863 campaign.
GETTYSBURG has
several well detailed maps and numerous pictures illustrating it. It is comes in at 622 pages long and has an
extensive bibliography of resources that the author used It is not a book that
one can consume at one sitting, It is so packed with information that it
demands one to read and think about the subject.
For those of us that play the BATTLEGROUND:
GETTYSBURG game it is a excellent tutor on the strategy
and the tactics involved in fighting the battle . The maps are especially good
to orient yourself by as well as giving
you insights into how to handle your opponent in a PBEM encounter.
I recommend it highly and it
deserves a spot on every Civil War
shelf. It rates a 4.5 stars and
is the first book in the Gazette’s Library.
GETTYSBURG is
published by HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY, Boston , Mass
Retail price @ $30.00
Stephen W. Sears is the author of six award winning books on
the Civil War, which includes
LANDSCAPE TURNED RED: The
Battle of Antietam,
CHANCELLORSVILLE
TO THE GATES OF RICHMOND:
The Peninsula Campaign
GEORGE B. McClellan: The
Young Napoleon
CONTROVERSIES &
COMMANDERS: Dispatches from the Army of the Potomac
FOR COUNTRY,CAUSE, AND
LEADER: The Civil War Journal of
Charles B. Haydon
THE CIVIL WAR PAPERS OF
GEORGE B. McClellan: Selected Correspondence 1860-
1865
ON CAMPAIGN WITH THE ARMY
OF THE POTOMAC: The Civil War Journal of Theodore A. Dodge
GETTYSBURG
The Chicago Tribune has called him “the finest and most provocative
Civil War historian writing today,”
He is a former editor of
American Heritage.
Reviewed by Lloyd H. Cole, Col.
3rd Va Cavalry Division, II Corps, Army of Northern Va,