Read complete books and articles on: Battle of Gettysburg

Gettysburg Campaign - June–July, 1863, series of decisive battles of the U.S. Civil War.

The Road to Gettysburg

Gettysburg Campaign - June–July, 1863, series of decisive battles of the U.S. Civil War.

The Road to Gettysburg

After his victory in the battle of Chancellorsville, Confederate general Robert E. Lee undertook a second invasion of the North. The reorganized Army of Northern Virginia crossed the Potomac (June 17) via the Shenandoah valley, which Richard S. Ewell (2d Corps), as leader of the advance, swept clear of Union forces. By late June, Ewell was seriously threatening Harrisburg, Pa., while Lee, with James Longstreet (1st Corps) and A. P. Hill (3d Corps), was at Chambersburg, Pa. However, with the absence of his cavalry under J. E. B. Stuart, which was raiding in the area between Washington and the position of the Union army, Lee was unable to determine the enemy's strength and movements.

When he finally learned that George G. Meade was concentrating N of the Potomac, he ordered the concentration of his own force. Meade, intending to make his stand at Pipe Creek in Maryland, sent ahead John F. Reynolds, commanding the left wing. But on July 1, John Buford's cavalry, covering Reynolds, came into contact with Harry Heth's division of Hill's corps on the Chambersburg pike just W of Gettysburg. The environs of Gettysburg thus became the unintended site of the greatest battle of the war (July 1–3, 1863).

The Battles

The Federals had the best of A. P. Hill's forces until midafternoon on the first day at Gettysburg, when, outflanked by Ewell, advancing from the north, they were driven to Cemetery Hill, south of the town. Meade on the recommendation of Winfield Scott Hancock abandoned his Pipe Creek plans and hurried up his whole force. On July 2, against the Union left, Longstreet led the main attack, which was not delivered until about 4 p.m.; the Army of the Potomac thus had time to consolidate its strong position. The Confederates took the Peach Orchard but were repulsed when they attempted to seize Round Top and Little Round Top, commanding eminences at the south end of Cemetery Ridge. On the Union right, Ewell carried Culp's Hill but was beaten off at Cemetery Hill.

Meade's counterattack on the morning of July 3 retook Culp's Hill. Lee ordered Longstreet to attack the Union center with George E. Pickett's division, supported by part of Hill's corps (about 15,000 men in all). After a bombardment of the Union position by the massed Confederate artillery, Pickett moved forward in his famous charge. In the face of terrific artillery and musket fire, the gallant Southerners reached and momentarily held the first Union line. But Pickett's support gave way, and Hancock drove him back with tremendous losses. Meanwhile Stuart's cavalry, in an attempt to get at the Union right and rear, was defeated by David M. Gregg. Both armies, exhausted, held their positions until the night of July 4, when Lee withdrew. High water in the Potomac delayed his crossing back to Virginia, but Meade did not attack him in force.

Aftermath

The Union army, which had been the more numerous, lost 23,000 men either killed, wounded, or missing; the Confederate army lost 25,000 (although that figure is questionable). Both commanding generals have been criticized for their conduct of the campaign—Lee for his unwarranted reliance on unseasoned commanders and his authorization of Pickett's charge; Meade for failing to organize his forces to counterattack and pursue the fleeing enemy. The campaign marked the high point of the Confederate activity during the war; thereafter the fortunes of the South went into a marked decline.

Bibliography

See F. A. Haskell, The Battle of Gettysburg (1898); C. Battine, The Crisis of the Confederacy (1905); J. B. Young, Battle of Gettysburg (1913); D. S. Freeman, R. E. Lee, Vol. III (1935); F. D. Downey, The Guns at Gettysburg (1958); E. B. Coddington, The Gettysburg Campaign (1968); B. Catton, Gettysburg: The Final Fury (1974).

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16 of the Best Books and Articles on: Battle of Gettysburg

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

The Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863 » Read Now
by Albert A. Nofi. 243 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

The climactic event in America's national epic took place at the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg. A search for shoes by bare-footed Confederate soldiers led to the biggest battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere, and to one of the defining moments in the development of the national...
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The climactic event in America's national epic took place at the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg. A search for shoes by bare-footed Confederate soldiers led to the biggest battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere, and to one of the defining moments in the development of the national character.
On the first day of the battle of Gettysburg, the Union captured the high ground and found good defensive positions. The Confederates inflicted heavy casualties, maintained the initiative, and prevented the full co-ordination of their opponents.
Tactical deployments made under fire by commanders on the first day at Gettysburg decisively shaped the battle to come, and the final fate of two mighty armies. July 1, 1863 saw the sacrifice of the Union's Iron Brigade to halt the advancing Confederates, the death of John Reynolds, the highest ranking Union officer killed in the war, and the repulse of the Union I and XI Corps. On a day of mixed results, July 1 saw a turning point in the history of the U.S. Cavalry, as Indian fighter John Buford introduced tactics of mobility and dismounted fire that were to become the hallmark of the Union horseman.
-- The most detailed regimental-level account ever written of the crucial first day of the battle of Gettysburg.
-- The result of exhaustive research, including the discovery of previously unknown Confederate archives.
-- A powerful narrative backed up by specially prepared maps and a definitive order of battle.
"This book is big -- a marathon -- but it had to be big enough to include a vigorous narrative, myriad delicious anecdotes, and examinations of controversies. Dave Martin's book is big enough to inform and entertain. Hecarefully mines the large mountain of Gettysburg's human interest and appeal. The maps deserve special mention -- they are truly exceptional and beautifully clear. ...to say more would only repeat the deserved superlatives I've al
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2.

Three Days at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership » Read Now
by Gary W. Gallagher. 359 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

No Civil War military campaign has inspired as much controversy about leadership as has Gettysburg. The contributors to this volume believe there is room for scholarship that revisits the sources on which earlier accounts have been based and challenges prevailing interpretations of key officer's...
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No Civil War military campaign has inspired as much controversy about leadership as has Gettysburg. The contributors to this volume believe there is room for scholarship that revisits the sources on which earlier accounts have been based and challenges prevailing interpretations of key officer's performances. They have trained their investigative lens on some obvious and some relatively neglected figures, with an eye toward illuminating not only what happened at Gettysburg but also the nature of command at different levels.
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3.

The First Day at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership » Read Now
by Gary W. Gallagher. 153 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...0-87338-457-1 pbk. : alk. 1. Gettysburg Pa. , Battle of, 1863. 2. Command of troops...GALLAGHER The literature on the Battle of Gettysburg dwarfs that devoted to any...We...
4.

Gettysburg, the Second Day » Read Now
by Harry W. Pfanz. 602 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Harry Pfanz, a former historian at Gettysburg National Military Park, has written a definitive account of the second day's brutal combat. He begins by introducing the men and units that were to do battle, analyzing the strategic intentions of Lee and Meade as commanders of the opposing armies, and...
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Harry Pfanz, a former historian at Gettysburg National Military Park, has written a definitive account of the second day's brutal combat. He begins by introducing the men and units that were to do battle, analyzing the strategic intentions of Lee and Meade as commanders of the opposing armies, and describing the concentration of forces in the area around Gettysburg. He then examines the development of tactical plans and the deployment of troops for the approaching battle.
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5.

The Third Day at Gettysburg and Beyond » Read Now
by Gary W. Gallagher. 222 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

The six essays collected together in this volume explore the enduring impact of the American Civil War on that nation's national consciousness.
6.

Gettysburg--Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill » Read Now
by Harry W. Pfanz, Gary W. Gallagher. 510 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

In this companion to his celebrated earlier book, Gettysburg: The Second Day, Pfanz provides the first definitive account of the fighting between the Army of the Potomac and Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia at Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill--two of the most critical engagements fought at Gettysburg. 15 maps. 76 illus.
7.

The Guns at Gettysburg » Read Now
by Fairfax Downey. 290 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...Con federate Armies, at the Battle of Gettysburg, and Location of Memorials...first artillery shot in the Battle of Gettysburg boomed, fired by Battery A...pregnant...
8.

The Gettysburg Nobody Knows » Read Now
by Gabor S. Boritt. 272 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

On the first three days of July in 1863, more than 160,000 Union and Rebel soldiers fought a monumental battle in Gettysburg, a bloody contest that has been hailed as "the turning point of the Civil War." It is without a doubt the best known engagement of the war and may in fact be the best known...
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On the first three days of July in 1863, more than 160,000 Union and Rebel soldiers fought a monumental battle in Gettysburg, a bloody contest that has been hailed as "the turning point of the Civil War." It is without a doubt the best known engagement of the war and may in fact be the best known battle in American military history. It is certainly the most studied battle Americans have ever fought in. And yet, for all its prominence, this singular moment in our history still stirs heated debate. Did Jeb Stuart's absence leave General Lee blind? Should Ewell have attacked Cemetery Hill? Was Joshua Chamberlain really the hero of Little Round Top? How close did the Confederates come to winning at Gettysburg? And if the Confederates had won, how would history have been different? Now, Gabor Boritt, the director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, has invited nine leading authorities to shed new light on the greatest battle in our history. Following the example of Richard Nelson Current's acclaimed history The Lincoln Nobody Knows, the contributors focus in particular on the unknown, the controversial, and what might have been. Readers learn, for instance, that though Jeb Stuart's cavalry provided no intelligence to the rebel army for several key days, Lee knew from other sources the location of the Army of the Potomac and he was able to concentrate his army before General Meade arrived at the battlefield in strength. Readers are treated to a fresh account of "the most celebrated forty minutes in all of American military history"--Pickett's Charge--watching that famed encounter from a perspective rarely described: the point of view of Union soldiers. There are careful analyses of the battlefield actions of General Ewell (whose failure to attack Cemetery Hill has been blamed for the South's loss at Gettysburg) and of General Daniel Sickles (whose dangerous repositioning of troops on July 2nd has been credited with stopping Longstreet's advance): Ewell is exonerated here, Sickles criticized for probably causing more Union losses than necessary. And throughout the volume, there is much vivid writing, such as a stirring account of the moment when General Winfield Scott Hancock ordered the First Minnesota to "take those colors," sending the Minnesotans into a desperate struggle that would cost most of them their lives but would help save the day for the Union. Well over a century has gone by since the guns fell silent at Gettysburg. Yet every year millions of tourists make the pilgrimage to this venerable site, to see for themselves the spot where thousands died so that the Union could be preserved. The Gettysburg Nobody Knows offers a marvelous reconsideration of this epic event. It will be must reading for the legions of Civil War buffs around the country and for everyone interested in American history.
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9.

Gettysburg, July 1 » Read Now
by David G. Martin. 718 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...Preface Gettysburg is without...most studied battle in the history of America...first day at Gettysburg alone ranks...23rd biggest battle of the war...happened at...
10.

Connecticut Yankees at Gettysburg » Read Now
by Charles P. Hamblen, Walter L. Powell. 156 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...pbk.: alk. paper ; 1. Gettysburg Pa. , Battle of, 1863. 2. Connecticut...AS WITH THE EVENTS of the Battle of Gettysburg, fate sometimes takes a strange...carried its colors...
11.

American Campaigns (1909) (Chap. XVII "The Campaign of Gettysburg: The First Day" and Chap. XVIII "The Campaign of Gettysburg: Second and Third Days") » Read Now
by Matthew Forney Steele. 731 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...XVI. The Battle of Chancellorsville...XVII. The Campaign of Gettysburg--The First Day 353...XVIII. The Campaign of Gettysburg--Second and Third Days...XXI. The Battles...
12.

At the Right Hand of Longstreet: Recollections of a Confederate Staff Officer (Chap. XX "Preparing for Gettysburg," Chap. XXI "Battle of Gettysburg, July, 1, 2, 3, 1863," and Chap. XXII "Gettysburg Aftermath") » Read Now
by G. Moxley Sorrel. 307 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

As a young man in Georgia, G. Moxley Sorrel enlisted in a cavalry unit even before the Civil War erupted, so eager was he to serve his home state. During the war, as an aide-de-camp on Brigadier General James Longstreet's staff he fought in many battles, including those at Chickamauga and...
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As a young man in Georgia, G. Moxley Sorrel enlisted in a cavalry unit even before the Civil War erupted, so eager was he to serve his home state. During the war, as an aide-de-camp on Brigadier General James Longstreet's staff he fought in many battles, including those at Chickamauga and Chattanooga. He was at Longstreet's side when Longstreet was struck down in 1864.
Sorrel's "rough jottings from memory" provide vivid and detailed descriptions of many of the war's chief participants and events. His military career was cut short when he was shot in the lung at Hatcher's Run. Although he survived, the war ended before he could return to duty. In his declining years he wrote, "For my part, when the time comes to cross the river like the others, I shall be found asking at the gates above, 'Where is the Army of Northern Virginia? For there I make my camp.'"
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13.

Gettysburg's Unknown Soldier: The Life, Death, and Celebrity of Amos Humiston » Read Now
by Mark H. Dunkelman. 272 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

He was found dead on the battlefield at Gettysburg, an unknown soldier with nothing to identify him but an ambrotype of his three children, clutched in his fingers. With the photograph as the single, sad clue to his identity, a publicity campaign to locate his family swept the North. Within a month...
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He was found dead on the battlefield at Gettysburg, an unknown soldier with nothing to identify him but an ambrotype of his three children, clutched in his fingers. With the photograph as the single, sad clue to his identity, a publicity campaign to locate his family swept the North. Within a month, the bereaved widow and children were located in Portville, New York, and the devoted father was revealed to be Sergeant Amos Humiston of the 154th New York Volunteers. Using many previously untapped sources, this book tells the tale of 19th-century war, sentiment, and popular culture in greater detail than ever before.
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14.

Richard S. Ewell: A Soldier's Life (Chap. 21 "Gettysburg") » Read Now
by Donald C. Pfanz. 660 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

General Richard Stoddert Ewell holds a unique place in the history of the Army of Northern Virginia. For four months, Ewell was Stonewall Jackson's most trusted subordinate. Together they battled Union armies in the Shenandoah Valley, at Richmond, and in northern Virginia. When Jackson died in 1863...
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General Richard Stoddert Ewell holds a unique place in the history of the Army of Northern Virginia. For four months, Ewell was Stonewall Jackson's most trusted subordinate. Together they battled Union armies in the Shenandoah Valley, at Richmond, and in northern Virginia. When Jackson died in 1863, Ewell took over the Second Corps and led it with mixed success at Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. His failure to capture Cemetery Hill on the first day's fighting at Gettysburg is frequently cited as a turning point in that pivotal battle. In this biography, Donald Pfanz presents a detailed portrait of the man sometimes referred to as Stonewall Jackson's right arm. Drawing on a rich array of previously untapped source materials, including more than two hundred letters written by Ewell himself, Pfanz concludes that Ewell was a highly competent general, whose successes on the battlefield far outweighed his failures. Pfanz thoroughly examines Ewell's life before and after the Civil War. He,recounts Ewell's years at West Point, his service in the Mexican War, his experiences as a dragoon officer in Arizona and New Mexico, and his postwar career as a planter in Mississippi and Tennessee.
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15.

Confederate Portraits (1914) (Chap. IX "The Battle of Gettysburg") » Read Now
by Gamaliel Bradford. 291 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...sketch of the battle of Gettysburg in the Youths...217 X. THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 247...of offensive battle; 47 that "in...immediate presence of the enemy General...the...
16.

War on Two Fronts: Shiloh to Gettysburg » Read Now
by John Cannan. 413 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...On to Gettysburg 326 The Iron Brigades Great Battle 330 viii. Gettysburg The Second Day 342 The Stand of the 20th Maine 357 "Until God stopped them ..." 365...