Discovering Gettysburg

Discovering Gettysburg
Author: W. Stephen Coleman
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2017-07-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1611213541

A “witty, entertaining, educational” blend of travel memoir and Civil War history (Scott L. Mingus, Sr, award-winning author of Flames beyond Gettysburg). Gettysburg is a small, charming city nestled in south central Pennsylvania—but its very name evokes passion and angst, enthusiasm and sadness. For about half the year its streets are mainly empty, its businesses quiet, the weather cold and blustery. For the other months, however, the place teems with hundreds of thousands of visitors, bustling streets and shops, and more than a handful of unique larger-than-life characters. And then, of course, there is the Civil War battle that raged there during the first days of July 1863 at the price of more than 50,000 casualties. Its monuments and guns and plaques tell the story of the colossal clash of arms and societies, just as its National Cemetery bears silent witness to at least part of the cost of that bloody event. Yet, the author explains, he did not fully appreciate the profound meaning of this mammoth battle, its influential characters (living and dead), its deep meaning to our society, until he visited this hallowed ground in person. In this travelogue, you can join him at a host of famous and off-the-beaten-path places on the battlefield, explore the historic town as it is today, and learn fascinating facts and stories. Also included are maps and caricatures provided by award-winning cartoonist Tim Hartman.

Battle Digest: Gettysburg

Battle Digest: Gettysburg
Author: Christopher J. Petty
Publisher: Savas Beatie
Total Pages: 6
Release: 2020-10-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1649217129

A concise guide to the American Civil War battle that set the North on the path to victory, with maps, facts, historical significance, and more. Gettysburg represented a strategic turning point in the American Civil War and has thus been referred to as the “high-water mark” of the Confederacy. Although tactically a draw, strategically it was a major victory for the Union. After the battle, the Army of Northern Virginia limped home, never to regain its former strength and confidence. And although the fighting would continue for another two years, Gettysburg instilled new confidence in the Union army. It had proven to itself, and to the world, that it could fight and win against the remarkable Robert E. Lee. Learn why each side did what it did, and how Meade outgeneraled Lee during this famous engagement. The Battle Digest summary includes all the key aspects of the campaign and battle, including maps, images, and lessons learned.

Too Much for Human Endurance

Too Much for Human Endurance
Author: Ronald D. Kirkwood
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2020-04-19
Genre:
ISBN: 9781611215311

The bloodstains are gone, but the worn floorboards remain. The doctors, nurses, and patients who toiled and suffered and ached for home at the Army of the Potomac's XI Corps hospital at the George Spangler farm in Gettysburg have long since departed. Fortunately, what they experienced there, and the critical importance of the property to the battle, has not been lost to history. Noted journalist and George Spangler farm expert Ronald D. Kirkwood brings these people and their experiences to life in "Too Much for Human Endurance": The George Spangler Farm Hospitals and the Battle of Gettysburg.Using a large array of firsthand accounts, Kirkwood re-creates the sprawling XI Corps hospital complex and the people who labored and suffered there--especially George and Elizabeth Spangler and their four children, who built a thriving 166-acre farm only to witness it nearly destroyed when war paid a bloody visit in the summer of 1863. Stories rarely if ever told about the wounded, dying, nurses, surgeons, ambulance workers, musicians, and others are weaved seamlessly through gripping and smooth-flowing prose.A host of notables spent time at the Spangler farm, including Union officers George G. Meade, Henry J. Hunt, Edward E. Cross, Francis Barlow, Francis Mahler, Freeman McGilvery, and Samuel K. Zook. Pvt. George Nixon III, great-grandfather of President Richard M. Nixon, would die there, as would Confederate Gen. Lewis A. Armistead, who fell mortally wounded at the height of Pickett's Charge. In addition to including the most complete lists ever published of the dead, wounded, and surgeons at the Spanglers' XI Corps hospital, this study breaks new ground with stories of the First Division, II Corps hospital at the Spanglers' Granite Schoolhouse.Kirkwood also establishes the often-overlooked strategic importance of the property and its key role in the Union victory. Army of the Potomac generals took advantage of the farm's size, access to roads, and central location to use it as a staging area to get artillery and infantry to the embattled front line from Little Round to Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill, often just in time to prevent a collapse and Confederate breakthrough."Too Much for Human Endurance," now in paperback, introduces readers to heretofore untold stories of the Spanglers, their farm, those who labored to save lives, and those who suffered and died there. They have finally received the recognition that their place in history deserves.

The Struggle for the Bliss Farm at Gettysburg, July 2nd and 3rd, 1863

The Struggle for the Bliss Farm at Gettysburg, July 2nd and 3rd, 1863
Author: Elwood Christ
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022-12-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781611216257

Few visitors to the Gettysburg battlefield take note of the peculiar grassy rise in the fields southeast of the town between Seminary and Cemetery ridges. It was there that the Bliss home and barn once stood, between the lines in a no-man's-land during the largest battle of the Civil War. The 60-acre farm witnessed back-and-forth bloody clashes that began on the morning of July 2, 1863, as a fitful episode between skirmishers and ended in a small but important combat all its own. The fight played an oversized role in the overall battle and directly impacted the massive rolling Confederate assault later that afternoon. In a bit more than 24 hours, the back-and-forth Bliss farm combat would attract at least 10 Union and Confederate regiments, draw heavy artillery fire, disrupt the seemingly unstoppable Confederate assault moving northward against Cemetery Ridge, and kill and wound hundreds of men. This study is based on official records, letters, diaries, and other unpublished archival sources. A new foreword by award-winning author and Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide James Hessler opens this facsimile edition, which originally appeared to great acclaim in a small print run in 1994. Elwood Christ's extraordinary "Over a Wide, Hot . . . Crimson Plain" The Struggle for the Bliss Farm at Gettysburg, July 2nd and 3rd, 1863 remains the only book ever published on the subject.

The Summer of ’63 Gettysburg

The Summer of ’63 Gettysburg
Author: Chris Mackowski
Publisher: Savas Beatie
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2021-06-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1954547048

“An outstanding read for anyone interested in the Civil War and Gettysburg in particular . . . innovative and thoughtful ideas on seemingly well-covered events.” —The NYMAS Review The largest land battle on the North American continent has maintained an unshakable grip on the American imagination. Building on momentum from a string of victories that stretched back into the summer of 1862, Robert E. Lee launched his Confederate Army of Northern Virginia on an invasion of the North meant to shake Union resolve and fundamentally shift the dynamic of the war. His counterpart with the Federal Army of the Potomac, George Meade, elevated to command just days before the fighting, found himself defending his home state in a high-stakes battle that could have put Confederates at the very gates of the nation’s capital. The public historians writing for the popular Emerging Civil War blog, speaking on its podcast, or delivering talks at the annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge in Virginia always present their work in ways that engage and animate audiences. Their efforts entertain, challenge, and sometimes provoke readers with fresh perspectives and insights born from years of working on battlefields, guiding tours, presenting talks, and writing for the wider Civil War community. The Summer of ’63: Gettysburg is a compilation of some of their favorites, anthologized, revised, and updated, together with several original pieces. Each entry includes original and helpful illustrations. Along with its companion volume The Summer of ’63: Vicksburg and Tullahoma, this important study contextualizes the major 1863 campaigns in what was arguably the Civil War’s turning-point summer.

"The Devil's to Pay"

Author: Eric J. Wittenberg
Publisher: Savas Beatie
Total Pages: 492
Release: 2014-10-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 161121209X

An award-winning Civil War historian’s profile of the brilliant Union cavalry officer and the strategies he employed to prevent catastrophe at Gettysburg. The Battle of Gettysburg turned the tide of the Civil War. But the outcome of the decisive confrontation between North and South might have been dramatically different if not for the actions of Brig. Gen. John Buford, commander of the Union army’s First Cavalry Division. An award-winning chronicler of America’s War between the States and author of more than a dozen acclaimed works of historical scholarship, Eric J. Wittenberg now focuses on the iconic commanding officer known to his troops as “Honest John” and “Old Steadfast.” Wittenberg describes in fascinating detail the brilliant maneuvers Buford undertook to keep Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army at bay and later rescue what remained of the devastated First and Eleventh Corps.”The Devil’s to Pay” celebrates the stunning military achievements of an unparalleled tactical genius at the onset of the Gettysburg Campaign and paints an unforgettable portrait of a quiet, unassuming cavalryman who recognized a possible disaster in the making and took bold action to avert it. Based on a wealth of information from primary sources, “The Devil’s to Pay” includes pages of illustrations, maps, and photographs, as well as a walking and driving tour of the battlefield sites where America’s history was made at a staggeringly high cost in blood. A comprehensive tactical study that is both scholarly and eminently accessible, it is an essential addition to the library of any Civil War enthusiast.

Sickles at Gettysburg

Sickles at Gettysburg
Author: James A. Hessler
Publisher: Savas Beatie
Total Pages: 505
Release: 2009-06-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1611210453

“Sickles is as dividing a figure in Civil War history as there is. In his masterful work . . . Hessler . . . puts him out there with all his wrinkles” (Confederate Book Review). Winner of the Robert E. Lee Civil War Roundtable of Central New Jersey’s Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award Winner of the Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable’s Distinguished Book Award By licensed battlefield guide James Hessler, this is the most deeply-researched, full-length biography to appear on this remarkable American icon. No individual who fought at Gettysburg was more controversial, both personally and professionally, than Major General Daniel E. Sickles. By 1863, Sickles was notorious as a disgraced former Congressman who murdered his wife’s lover on the streets of Washington and used America’s first temporary insanity defense to escape justice. With his political career in ruins, Sickles used his connections with President Lincoln to obtain a prominent command in the Army of the Potomac’s 3rd Corps—despite having no military experience. At Gettysburg, he openly disobeyed orders in one of the most controversial decisions in military history. Hessler’s critically acclaimed biography is a balanced and entertaining account of Sickles colorful life. Civil War enthusiasts who want to understand General Sickles’ scandalous life, Gettysburg’s battlefield strategies, the in-fighting within the Army of the Potomac, and the development of today’s National Park will find Sickles at Gettysburg a must-read. “The few other Sickles biographies available will now take a back seat to Hessler’s powerful and evocative study of the man, the general, and the legacy of the Gettysburg battlefield that old Dan left America. I highly recommend this book.”—J. David Petruzzi, coauthor of Plenty of Blame to Go Around: Jeb Stuart’s Controversial Ride to Gettysburg

Fight Like the Devil

Fight Like the Devil
Author: Chris Mackowski
Publisher: Emerging Civil War
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781611212273

"Do not bring on a general engagement," Confederate General Robert E. Lee warned his commanders. The Army of Northern Virginia, slicing its way through south-central Pennsylvania, was too spread out, too vulnerable, for a full-scale engagement with its old nemesis, the Army of the Potomac. Too much was riding on this latest Confederate invasion of the North. Too much was at stake. As Confederate forces groped their way through the mountain passes, a chance encounter with Federal cavalry on the outskirts of a small Pennsylvania crossroads town triggered a series of events that quickly escalated beyond Lee's--or anyone's--control. Waves of soldiers materialized on both sides in a constantly shifting jigsaw of combat. "You will have to fight like the devil . . ." one Union cavalryman predicted. The costliest battle in the history of the North American continent had begun. July 1, 1863 remains the most overlooked phase of the battle of Gettysburg, yet it set the stage for all the fateful events that followed. Bringing decades of familiarity to the discussion, historians Chris Mackowski, Kristopher D. White, and Daniel T. Davis, in their engaging style, recount the action of that first day of battle and explore the profound implications in Fight Like the Devil. About the Authors: Chris Mackowski and Kristopher D. White are cofounders of Emerging Civil War and Daniel T. Davis is chief historian. Between them, they have authored more than a dozen books and have penned articles for Civil War Times, America's Civil War, Hallowed Ground, and Blue & Gray. Chris is a writing professor at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, NY, and historian-in-residence at Stevenson Ridge, a historic property on the Spotsylvania battlefield. Daniel is a graduate of Longwood University with a B.A. in public history and has worked as a historian at Appomattox Court House National Historic Site. Kris is a historian for the Penn-Trafford Recreation Board and a continuing education instructor for the Community College of Allegheny County near Pittsburgh; he is also a former Licensed Battlefield Guide. All have worked as historians at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. Read their blog at www.emergingcivilwar.com.

Meade and Lee After Gettysburg

Meade and Lee After Gettysburg
Author: Jeffrey Wm Hunt
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2017-07-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1611213444

This “very satisfying blow-by-blow account of the final stages of the Gettysburg Campaign” fills an important gap in Civil War history (Civil War Books and Authors). Winner of the Gettysburg Civil War Round Table Book Award This fascinating book exposes what has been hiding in plain sight for 150 years: The Gettysburg Campaign did not end at the banks of the Potomac on July 14, but deep in central Virginia two weeks later along the line of the Rappahannock. Contrary to popular belief, once Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia slipped across the Potomac back to Virginia, the Lincoln administration pressed George Meade to cross quickly in pursuit—and he did. Rather than follow in Lee’s wake, however, Meade moved south on the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains in a cat-and-mouse game to outthink his enemy and capture the strategic gaps penetrating the high wooded terrain. Doing so would trap Lee in the northern reaches of the Shenandoah Valley and potentially bring about the decisive victory that had eluded Union arms north of the Potomac. The two weeks that followed resembled a grand chess match with everything at stake—high drama filled with hard marching, cavalry charges, heavy skirmishing, and set-piece fighting that threatened to escalate into a major engagement with the potential to end the war in the Eastern Theater. Throughout, one thing remains clear: Union soldiers from private to general continued to fear the lethality of Lee’s army. Meade and Lee After Gettysburg, the first of three volumes on the campaigns waged between the two adversaries from July 14 through the end of July, 1863, relies on the official records, regimental histories, letters, newspapers, and other sources to provide a day-by-day account of this fascinating high-stakes affair. The vivid prose, coupled with original maps and outstanding photographs, offers a significant contribution to Civil War literature. Named Eastern Theater Book of the Year byCivil War Books and Authors