Category Gettysburg
What if Robert E. Lee had Sent Troops to Vicksburg?
This article comes from the Fall 2021 issue of America’s Civil War magazine. “That question was certainly on the mind of Confederate Secretary of War James Seddon that season. By default, then, it was also on Lee’s. Anchored on bluffs lining the Mississippi River, Vicksburg was the key to success in the West for either […]
Encounter at Hanover: Prelude to Gettysburg
This book comes from the Hanover Chamber of Commerce. It was originally published in 1962 and its third printing was 1988. It begins with a short history of Hanover, PA up to the Gettysburg campaign, then gives a short overview of Lee’s move in late June and early July of 1863, along with George G. […]
CWTR Episode 2015: Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South
This is an excellent discussion between host Professor Gerald Prokopowicz and his guest, Professor Elizabeth Varon about Professor Varon’s biography of James Longstreet.
Distorted Truth: The Legacy of George Gordon Meade
This article from novelist Robert Kofman comes to us from July of 2022. “Despite the critical role Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade played in the Civil War, his historical legacy typically downplays or ignores his success on the battlefields upon which he bettered the Confederacy’s legendary General Robert E. Lee. An intelligent, hard-working, and […]
Stay and Fight It Out
This book by Kristopher White and Chris Mackowski comes to us from the Emerging Civil War Series published by Savas-Beatie. It covers the fighting on Culp’s Hill on July 2, 1863, the second day of the battle of Gettysburg. I have to say I have a few minor problems with the first parts of the […]
On Great Fields
In this presentation at the 2023 Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, PA, author Ronald C. White discusses the life of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. The video’s description reads, “Historian Ronald White talked about Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, an unlikely Civil War General who became a hero of the 1863 Union victory in Gettysburg. This event was part the 2023 […]
The War for the Union: The Organized War 1863-1864
This book by Allan Nevins is the penultimate volume in his series, The Ordeal of the Union. “From the outset,” Professor Nevins writes, “the antagonists had been aware of a fundamental difference in position. The North had to fight for a decisive victory in the field; for the destruction or hopeless crippling of the Confederate […]
Unraveling the Story of a Somber Gettysburg Photograph
This article by historian John Heiser is from the Winter 2024 issue of Civil War Times magazine. “One of the many iconic photographs taken on the Gettysburg battlefield by Alexander Gardner’s photographic team was the heartbreaking image of the bloated corpse of a horse. The unfortunate animal was one of the wheel pair, and it […]
Meade at Gettysburg
In this book, author Kent Masterson Brown looks at Major General George G. Meade’s performance at the battle of Gettysburg, especially at his command decisions. On the evening of Saturday, June 27, 1863, Major General Joseph Hooker, commander of the Army of the Potomac, went to bed. Earlier that day, after unsuccessfully having requested the […]
The Burning of Wrightsville Bridge 1863
Here’s my friend Scott Mingus giving his typically excellent presentation, this time on the burning of the Wrightsville Bridge during the 1863 Gettysburg campaign. Up until that time it was the largest covered bridge in the world. The video’s description reads, “Historian Scott Mingus discussed the burning of the Wrightsville Bridge in Pennsylvania over the Susquehanna […]
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