A Field Guide to Gettysburg: Experiencing the Battlefield through Its History, Places, and People

Carol Reardon and Tom Vossler

University of North Carolina Press, 2013, 454pp., $22.00

ISBN: 978-0-8078-3525-8

Image courtesy of amazon.com

                Released for the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, A Field Guide to Gettysburg written by Carol Reardon and pictures taken by Tom Vossler, offers a unique view into the battle.  While other Gettysburg Guides have offered in depth looks into the areas outside of Gettysburg, including the retreat from the field and the cemeteries in the borough, A Field Guide to Gettysburg gives an in depth look into the battle itself including many details on the days of combat not going outside the realm of the battle.  What Reardon has done is written a narrative split into three parts for the different days of combat including an analysis of the land and the regiments of the field. 

                Carol Reardon is an accomplished historian and teaches at Pennsylvania State University.  In the past, she has taught at West Point and the United States Army War College.  She also offers many staff tours all over Gettysburg for both groups of civilians and military personnel.  Her other works include Pickett’s Charge in History and Memory and With a Sword in one hand and Jomini in the Other.  Tom Vossler is a combat veteran and is retired from the army as a U.S. Colonel.  He is the former director of the United State Army Military Institute and is a licensed battlefield guide.

                As stated before, there are many guide books to the battlefield of Gettysburg.  For the most part, they are needed since most people are lost on the field when they are not well versed in Civil War knowledge.  Each guide is different and offers something new to the realm of field guides.  One thing which separates this guide from others is the in depth narrative which Reardon has provided and has greatly organized so the guide could be used on the battlefield.  As each stop is mentioned, there are seven sections to the area.  It begins with the orientation of the area surrounding you, and then a description about what happened there.  Though all stops may not have all seven sections of the narrative, these two parts are always present in the guide.  The other sections which may be part of the stop description are “who commanded here,” “What did they say about it later,” “who fought here,” “who fell here,” and “who lived here,” just to name a few.  Throughout these narratives, the reader gets a feeling that the general knowledge of Gettysburg is superseded than what they knew before.  What this guide does for the seasoned Gettysburg historian is add more depth into areas they may not understand as well as other sections of the battlefield.  My first use of this guide was to help me understand what happened at East Cavalry Battlefield.  When I arrived on that field, without the guide, I would have been completely hopeless.  But with the guide in hand, the amount of knowledge I gained is unmatched from any other guide I would have brought with me on the field.

                A Field Guide to Gettysburg is highly recommended to anyone visiting Gettysburg for the first time, or the seasoned Gettysburg historian.  The narrative by Reardon is unmatched in the realm of academia and the photographs taken by Tom Vossler are excellent.  When I met both Reardon and Vossler at Gettysburg, they told me that they were able to be one of the first people in the cupola of the Lutheran Theological Seminary to take last minute pictures for this guide.  This is the kind of devotion they poured into the writing of this book.  A Field Guide to Gettysburg was the winner of the 2013 Bachelder-Coddinton Literary Award and it is well deserved.  

The Complete Gettysburg Guide

J. David Petruzzi and Steven Stanley

2009, 306 pp., Savas Beatie, $39.95

ISBN: 978-1-932714-63-0

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                In the annals of Gettysburg works, to which there are many, there are also a collection of guides which have been published throughout the years.  This guide on Gettysburg is a little different than some of the others because of where it takes you.  In The Complete Gettysburg Guide, J. David Petruzzi and Steven Stanley take us to the battlefield, but they also take us to the field hospitals, the cemeteries and the other locations pertinent to the Gettysburg Campaign.  With a few other interesting tidbits of information, the detail presented in this work truly makes it the complete guide to the Gettysburg Campaign.

                J. David Petruzzi is an award winning Civil War cavalry historian and the author of many articles for many different magazines.  He has coauthored books with Eric Wittenberg called Plenty of Blame to Go Around: Jeb Stuart’s Controversial Ride to Gettysburg and with Michael Nugent and Wittenberg called One Continuous Fight: The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863.  He has recently authored The Gettysburg Campaign in Numbers and Losses with Steven Stanley.  Steven Stanley is a local Gettysburg graphic artist specializing in historic map sets and battlefield photography.  He has created some of the best maps in the industry and has work with Petruzzi before on Gettysburg.  For this work, he is credited with maps and photography.

                Among the slew of Gettysburg guides, the biggest difference this one brings to the table is the locations it covers.  The usual is performed with the first, second and third day of battle, but they also deal with Brinkerhoff’s Ridge, Hunterstown and Fairfield.  These are locations many other guides do not even venture.  Petruzzi offers a narrative which goes along with the maps and picture set and in a beige box throughout the narrative are driving directions to the next location.  These directions go as far as to tell you how many point miles it will be until the next stop.  These types of directions are crucial into touring battlefields not completely known about the area.  One of the things I found to be a strong point for the book was the tour of the town of Gettysburg itself.  Many people just drive through the town and do not even consider what they are looking at when the town itself was part of the major retreat on the first day of combat.  Other chapters are detailed tours of both cemeteries starting with the Soldiers National Cemetery then going to Evergreen Cemetery.  The book shines with the chapter on the rock carvings on the battlefield which made even me go and look for them.  Overall this guide is definitely a complete guide of the Gettysburg Campaign due to the close attention to detail and overall comprehensive nature of the book.

                I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a little more to their vacation than just the three days of combat.  If you want to spend hours on the battlefield looking for things unusual than the regular tour takes you, then you need this book in your collection.  If you want to venture outside of the regular path of the tour, then you need this book in your collection.  If you want a guide to the town and the field hospitals throughout the borough of Gettysburg, then you need this book in your collection.  Petruzzi and Stanley once again have proven their knowledge on this timeless battlefield.

Emancipation, The Union Army and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln

Jonathan W. White

2014, 275 pp., Louisiana State University Press, $39.95

ISBN: 978-0-8071-5457-1

Image courtesy of lsupress.org

                In the Union army, there seemed to be a peaceful realm of political opinions.  At least, that is what history has made us feel sometimes when it came to the Election of 1864.  In this book Emancipation, The Union Army and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln, there is a showcase to the problems which the Union army faced during the time of the election in the wake of the Emancipation Proclamation.  The problems created by giving soldiers the vote, the political issues throughout the army once the Proclamation was issued and the differences between the Republicans or Democrats, the army had its share of problems as 1864 reared its head during the time of the election.

                Jonathan W. White is an assistant professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University and has been enthralled with the political spectrum of the American Civil War.  His other work is called Abraham Lincoln and Treason in the Civil War: The Trials of John Merryman. 

                This work is something quite different than the usual study of politics in the American Civil War.  There have been many books on the politics throughout the country during the time of the war, but never before has a book presented the politics of the army during.  The surprising part of the subject, which White presents with excellence, is the issues which they face.  He separates the subjects in an easy to follow fashion starting with the issues of giving the soldiers the vote and the many arguments stemmed in state legislature and national legislature before they were given the vote.  Some of them were sent back home to vote while others had to remain in camp to vote with specific colored paper to show the party they would vote for.  The problem which occurred with that was the knowledge everyone else had on the person you voted for.  Whether your commander was Republican or Democrat could be a problem and many Republican commanders made their Democratic soldiers feel treasonous for even voting for George McClellan.  One of the major issues which White talks about is the effect the Emancipation Proclamation had on the army.  The idea that the army was formed to preserve the Union was the real reason many of the soldiers had signed up in the army, but now with the emancipation the efforts of the war had shifted.  White uses many primary sources through commanders and soldiers to show the hatred some of them had toward Lincoln when the Proclamation was issued.  Some of them went even as far to abandon their lines and go over to the Confederate camps, to which they were welcomed.  When commanders resigned because of the Proclamation, there was little which showed easement for them after the event.  Many of the men who attempted to resign was then dishonorably discharged or brought before a military tribunal.  Throughout the book, the atrocities the administration placed on the soldiers and commanders in the army just because they stood for a different political party than that of the president gives the reader a different look at Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet members.  Some soldiers who were Democrat but still wanted to fight for the Union became disenfranchised just because of their political stance in the country.  Whether or not these actions were shameful are up to the reader because White makes compelling arguments for both sides.  This well rounded work shows that scholarship is present in this work beyond some other works in the political realm when dealing with the American Civil War.

                I highly recommend this work to anyone interested in the American Civil War.  There are so many books which get us caught up in the realm of the battlefield, the political field gets lost.  Now, the army is thrown into the political field with such grace and flowing narrative that it is hard to put the book down.  Jonathan W. White has done an excellent job showing us the troubles the soldiers had just to garner the vote and then just to vote if they were Democrat.  He also places the question of the percentage of the soldier vote which Lincoln obtained in the election.  This is an excellent work and I look forward to what White can give us next.    

Field Armies and Fortifications in the Civil War: The Eastern Campaigns 1861-1864

Earl J. Hess

2005, 428pp., The University of North Carolina Press, $28.00

ISBN: 978-1-4696-0993-5

Image Courtesy of barnesandnoble.com

                When analysis of Civil War battles usually takes place, there are works written about the infantry, cavalry and artillery and their tactical movements around the battlefield.  But something rarely talked about are the fortifications and field works made by the armies in order to solidify the position of the armies both Union and Confederate.  Earl J. Hess uses this work, Field Armies and Fortifications in the Civil War, to better explain the design, need and uses of the field works on the battlefields and the fortifications all around the coastline.  This is the first in a series of books written on the field works during the Civil War.

                Earl J. Hess is an associate professor of history at Lincoln Memorial University and has authored other works such as The Civil War in the West: Victory and Defeat from the Appalachians to the Mississippi and Pickett’s Charge – The Last Attack at Gettysburg.  His book on Pickett’s Charge was the winner of the 2001 James I. Robertson Jr. Prize from the Civil War Library and Research Center. 

                Field Armies and Fortifications in the Civil War: The Eastern Campaigns, 1861-1864 is one of the three books Hess has written surrounding field works in the Civil War.  Others in the series are Trench Warfare Under Grant and Lee: Field Fortifications in the Overland Campaign and In the Trenches at Petersburg: Field Fortifications and Confederate Defeat.  This book about the fortifications during the Eastern Campaigns is a great start to the series, however, as it brings to light certain things which have been ignored or only slightly mentioned in the annals of history.  What Hess does in this work is describe in great detail the way in which the field works were built on the field and the problems which the engineers on both sides faced during that endeavor.  With the lack of engineers in the army, many times there would be infantrymen creating the field works.  This would create works which were not exactly up to par and the men of the ranks would often complain or slowly work because of the hard labor of construction field works.  Throughout the text are many examples through drawings, maps or pictures giving the reader a great idea as to what the fortifications looked like through the war.  Many times, people tend to think of forts as completely created with stone and embattlements, but sometimes that was just not the case.  For example, Hess talks about Federal Fort Sumner and along with his explanation is a picture of the fortification.  There is little to the fort, mainly some wood and sandbags placed upon dug embattlements with the cannons placed onto it.  This is something which some readers may not be aware of.  Another detail which Hess mentions is the fact that at the beginning of the war, Washington only had one fort as part of the defense.  If you look at a map of Washington after the war, the entire city is surrounded with forts some of which were quickly built to suppress Early’s attacks in 1864.  These attacks are not mentioned in this book since Hess only takes us up to Bristoe Station and the Fall of Plymouth.  He does this in order to deal with the field works and fortifications in the Overland and Petersburg in the coming volumes.  Nevertheless, this is a welcome addition to any Civil War Library.

                I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Eastern Campaigns of the Civil War.  It gives the readers a better idea of the time it took to create these fortifications and the effect which it had on the battlefield.  This work also gives the reader an understanding of how few engineers there were during the beginning of the war and throughout the conflict and the way in which they had to find additional help.  This would either end in success or failure and friction between commanders because of it.  Field Armies and Fortifications in the Civil War: The Eastern Campaign, 1861-8164 is a welcome addition to any Civil War library and to the academia of the conflict.

With Malice Toward Some: Treason and Loyalty in the Civil War Era

William A. Blair

2014, 432 pp., The University of North Carolina Press, $40.00

ISBN: 978-1-4696-1405-2

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                While a stream of books are released about the militaristic nature of the Civil War, there are only a handful which deal with the nature of politics in comparison.  Those books on politics rarely deal with the subject of treason but now there is an explanation of the term and how it was used during the great conflict.  William A. Blair’s With Malice Toward Some deals with the issue of treason and loyalties in the war and the difficulties which it presented.  This book is not only a great reference for any Civil War Historian to have on their shelf, but it is a great explanation for those who have been confused about the legal status of treason and the ways in which it was combated during the Civil War.

                William A. Blair is a professor of Liberal Arts Research on U.S. History at Pennsylvania State University.  He is also the director of the Richards Civil War Era Center and is an editor for the Journal of the Civil War Era which is also published by the University of North Carolina Press.  With Malice Toward Some is part of the Littlefield History of the Civil War Era, a sixteen volume series which offers a comprehensive narrative of this era in United States History.

                For many who read about the American Civil War, the word treason is thrown around politically quite a bit, but the realization of the effects of the word are different in their meanings than just throwing someone in prison for their treasonous acts.  Blair does an excellent job defining for the reader about the many types of treason in a flowing narrative which is quite easy to read.  At some points, the reader may feel as though they are reading a law textbook.  This should not stop anyone from reading this book, however, since it is one of the advantages of the work.  In order to understand about the types of treason, legislative and judicial law must be explained.  This type of detail to aid readers is why this book shines as a work on the political front of the Civil War.  But beyond treason, he talks about loyalty from both the Union and Confederate side.  The constant issues of compliance with the Loyalty Oaths made by certain members of Southern society were not complied with because less than ten percent of the state had not yet given the oath.  Taking the Loyalty Oath also opened up the avenue for public ridicule and the status of a social pariah.  Blair also spends a chapter on explaining the use and problems with the Provost Marshalls which has been a constant state of debate over the years since the war ended.  In a narrative which felt like “who will police the police,” Blair realizes the danger which ensued over the military promoted citizens who felt above the law during the state of war.  Blair also deals with politics in the military before 1863 when the Laws of War went into effect, written by Francis Lieber, a German who fled his country because of dangerous political change.  The 1863 Laws of War changed many of the issues going on in the army at the time, though the officers and soldiers did not care for them immediately, found solace in their statements as the war went on.  Blair concludes this massive undertaking with excellent appendices giving the reader a database of all Court-Martials for treason, disloyalty and Political Arrests Reported in the Newspapers.  After reading some examples of treason which I remembered from my studies, I found myself constantly reading the appendices in attempts to see if that person was listed.  Overall, after reading this book, there is a better understanding of the word treason and the fine lines which had to be walked before an arrest was made.  One such example comes in maritime law dealing with the issues of Privateers.  When the Confederacy hired privateers, the men pirating were doing so under the contract of the Confederacy.  If the United States tried them, it would be an admittance that the men were under contract from another country therefore recognizing the Confederacy as a nation.  It was a fascinating bit of information unknown to most Civil War readers.

                I highly recommend this book to any Civil War reader who wishes to know more about the political spectrum of the Civil War.  Not only was the narrative quite flowing and easy to read, but the information in the work is unmatched on the subject of treason and loyalty.  The wealth of information in the book is so massive that it deserves to be on the bookshelf of any Civil War historian.  With Malice Toward Some clarifies many of the issues within Civil War texts concerning arrests and issues of treason and loyalty all around the great conflict.    

Sickles at Gettysburg: The Controversial Civil War General Who Committed Murder, Abandoned Little Round Top and Declared Himself the Hero of Gettysburg

James A. Hessler

Savas Beatie, 2009, 490, $32.95

ISBN:978-1-932714-64-7

Image courtesy of civilwarobession.com

                When the name Dan Sickles is mentioned anywhere in Civil War writing, there is either scorn or praise from those around.  He is one of the most interesting characters in all Civil War history and yet he brings a sense of modernization to the whole thing.  James A. Hessler has brought a new study into the realm of Dan Sickles by looking at his actions during the Gettysburg Campaign but not without looking at what his past had brought him.

                James A. Hessler is a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park and has taught some Gettysburg related courses at the local community college, Harrisburg Area Community College and has also spoken for the Gettysburg Foundation.  He has also published articles for both Gettysburg Magazine and American Civil War.  He is a favorite of Civil War Roundtables and has a new book coming out soon about Pickett’s Charge which he wrote with Wayne Motts.

                I am very grateful that my first real exposure to Dan Sickles was through Hessler’s book back when I first became interested in the Civil War.  While researching the many other biographies on the man, I found that the older ones tended to hail him as a hero.  But Hessler’s work does not demonize the man, but paints a clear picture as to what happened with this man’s life and what he did during the Battle of Gettysburg.  I do not support what Dan Sickles did during the battle and I know that the debate still rages on today as to whether Sickles Salient was necessary or not.  But Hessler takes us on a journey through the life of Dan Sickles opening with the most famous story about the man before the war began.  It was considered the crime of the century when Sickles killed Philip Barton Key, the son of Francis Scott Key, for having an affair with his wife.  The amazing connections with the War of 1812 and Dan Sickles made me feel that this country has one history instead of just periods of time defined by the war the country was fighting.  Dan Sickles had breached that divide and then placed himself into the political realm of the American Civil War when he had Edwin Stanton defend him at his trial.  The constant connections of Sickles and the world is truly amazing.  As the narrative, which is quite excellent, moves on, there are moments when you wonder how large this man’s ego was.  I’m sure he could have given George McClellan a good fight over who’s ego was larger. 

                For those of you wondering, I did not get the impression that Hessler was a supporter of Sickles in this book.  On the contrary; I felt as though Hessler wrote an evenly supported narrative and presented the facts without any sort of spin in any of the writing.  I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the high command at Gettysburg or anyone interested in great reading of the Civil War.  I’m sure that many Sickles biographies will come and go, but this one is going to stand throughout all of time as the answer to the age old question about the character and actions of Sickles at Gettysburg.

Disgrace at Gettysburg: The Arrest and Court-Martial of Brigadier General Thomas A. Rowley, USA

John F. Krumwiede

McFarland

245 pp, 2006, softcover, $39.95

ISBN: 978-0-7864-2309-5

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            Brigadier General Thomas A. Rowley is an interesting character in the annals of the American Civil War.  As time went through the war, Rowley usually found himself in the right place at the right time garnering promotions and climbing the ladder quickly.  For most people, however, Rowley is an unknown character in the First Corps among other great leaders of Gettysburg taking a backseat to John Reynolds, Abner Doubleday and even Rufus Dawes of the 6th Wisconsin.  Here, in this work, John F. Krumwiede clarifies the issues surrounding the controversy of Rowley at the Battle of Gettysburg.

            John F. Krumwiede is a writer and researcher and has written many articles for Gettysburg Magazine and American Civil War.  He has also written a work on the career of General James Wadsworth, another commander of the First Corps who was the head of the division which included the famous Iron Brigade.

            What Krumwiede has done in this work is brought a biography of a man who has not been written about much in Civil War history.  Throughout the first few chapters in Disgrace at Gettysburg, Krumwiede has given us the biography which Rowley deserves.  Though he is a “character” in the strongest sense of the word, the author does great work giving us insight into the man who would later be arrested after the first day at Gettysburg.  During the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Brigadier General Thomas Rowley faced a dilemma.  He had serious boils on his thighs which caused great pain for any sort of action which hindered his ability to command his forces properly.  Under recommendation of the medic, he was not to ride a horse.  This diagnosis was given on the march towards Gettysburg and Rowley refused riding any which way on the horse except the traditional way of riding the horse.  The account which Krumwiede gives on Rowley at and on the way to Gettysburg is both informative and comical at some points.  To read that Rowley was slurring through orders shouting that he was the head of the First Corps after Doubleday was promoted to corps command on the first day explains a lot about the confusion of battle on McPherson’s Ridge.  Also, the way he was riding his horse, in a way to avoid riding traditionally, caused to his falling off and his saunter towards Cemetery Ridge.  To ease the pain, his drinking of whiskey caused him to be arrested of public drunkenness and would face court martial.  The best part of the work is the accounts of the court martial since Krumwiede separates the days helping the narrative move through the political end of the military.  

            I highly recommend this book to any Civil War historian and Gettysburg enthusiast who wants to learn more of the obscure characters of the battle.  Through all of the published works on Gettysburg, it is amazing that Rowley has largely been ignored.  Now, Krumwiede has brought light to a man who has not seen it for some time.  The narrative is flowing and easy to follow and his research is so in depth that no one can question this work.  Disgrace at Gettysburg needs to be on the shelf of every Gettysburg researcher and historian.    

The Homefront in Civil War Missouri

James W. Erwin

The History Press, 2014, 125 pgs.

ISBN: 978-1-62619-433-5

Image Courtesy of amazon.com 

                There are many people who consider the Civil War a  War in the East and a War in the South, but little is known of Civil War Missouri.  It ranks third in amounts of engagements throughout and, much like Maryland, was a hotbed of secessionists activity.  What James W. Erwin has done is brought us a work about the many aspects of life on the home front in Missouri which dealt with battles, political strife and issues with Emancipation before and after the Emancipation Proclamation.

                James W. Erwin is a native of the state of Missouri and graduated from Missouri State University with a BA in Mathematics.  He also served in the United States Army and afterward obtained an MA in history from the University of Missouri and a JD from the University of Missouri Law School.  For thirty-seven years, he studied law in St. Louis and to this day, is still a native of the state.

                The Homefront in Civil War Missouri is outlined for readers to completely understand the different types of home front issues throughout the war.  Whether it was for guerilla warfare or the issues of slavery in the state, everything is clearly laid out for the reader to immediately go to the chapter which sounds interesting to the reader.  However, this books works great as a whole to explain what exactly happened in the state.  With over a thousand engagements in the period of the war, the state was ravaged not only on a militaristic level, but on a political and social level.  Much like Maryland, many Missourians were defined by their loyalty either to the Union or the Confederacy.  There were those, also, who did not pledge their loyalty to either side in the war.  Those who pledge their loyalty to the Confederacy faced social ridicule and arrest most of which ended up in military commissions.  Other parts of the book deal with the problems of Emancipation both before and after the Emancipation Proclamation.  The actions of Benjamin Butler at the beginning of the war sparked many issued throughout the political realm not only in Washington, but in Missouri as well.  The many different things brought about in this work not only shows the problems throughout Missouri, but the good times as well.  One of the highlights of the work was the fair put on by the Sanitary Commission which both Julia Dent Grant and Nellie Grant, he nine year old daughter, raised a good amount of monies.  Some of the items in the raffle which were given away are unheard of today including a rosewood piano, bars of silver in Nevada and a farm which had been confiscated for failure of payment.  Another interesting point in the book was the amount of women soldiers who fought in the war, including Francis Clayton who not only fought in the war with her husband who died on the field, but posed for pictures later on in her uniform.

                I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in state history in the Civil War.  The state of Missouri had many problems throughout the war, but there were also high points for the state throughout the brutal years of guerilla warfare and intervention from the armed forces.  The narrative is flowing and interesting throughout and the separation of the subjects gives the reader a clearer idea of the certain issues the author is bringing up in the work.  With this work, the Civil War years of Missouri will be preserved in an easily accessible work provided by James W. Erwin.