Guide to the Battle of Gettysburg (U.S. Army War College Guides to Civil War Battles) [Paperback]

Jay Luvaas (Editor), Harold W. Nelson (Editor)

Book Description

Series: U.S. Army War College Guides to Civil War Battles | Publication Date: November 1994

This guide uses first-hand accounts to illustrate how this skirmish, only three days long, turned into one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War.

Eyewitness accounts by battle participants make these guides an invaluable resource for travelers and nontravelers who want a greater understanding of five of the most devastating yet influential years in our nation's history. Explicit directions to points of interest and maps--illustrating the action and showing the detail of troop position, roads, rivers, elevations, and tree lines as they were 130 years ago--help bring the battles to life. In the field, these guides can be used to recreate each battle's setting and proportions, giving the reader a sense of the tension and fear each soldier must have felt as he faced his enemy.

This book is part of the U.S. Army War College Guides to Civil War Battles series.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"These guides are the most thorough, detailed, and accurate books of their kind. Indeed, they are unique. I have used them to lead guided tours of several battlefields, with great success."--James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom: The Era of the Civil War

"I most highly recommend this important and valuable series of guidebooks."--Herman Hattaway, coauthor of How the North Won the Civil War and Why the South Lost the Civil War

"These guides bridge the gap between sound military history and battlefield touring literature. They can be enjoyed without ever leaving the easy chair or they can become indispensable companions on tramps over the scenes of the greatest engagements of the Civil War."--William C. Davis, author of Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour and former editor of Civil War Times Illustrated

Product Details

• Paperback: 254 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Kansas (November 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0700606866
• ISBN-13: 978-0700606863
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #822,817 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good guide, but maybe not the best, February 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Guide to the Battle of Gettysburg (U.S. Army War College Guides to Civil War Battles) (Paperback)

I generally agree with the other reviewers that this guide book is informative and useful. I have had it in had twice when I visited Gettysburg. A solid resource with some very interesting historical exerpts from after action reports etc.

I would also encourge people considering this book to take a look at Gettysburg: A Battlefield Guide by Mark Grimsley. (ISBN 0803270771) In my opinion the Grimsley book is a bit clearer on some of the more confusing parts of the battle - the fighting in the Wheatfield for example.

All things considered both books are quite good.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ACW Battlefield Tour Bibles, August 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Guide to the Battle of Gettysburg (U.S. Army War College Guides to Civil War Battles) (Paperback)

These series of books from the U. S. Army War College are the best available resource for conducting ACW battlefield tours - assuming that your purpose in touring battlefields is to study and understand the applicable tactics, strategy and terrain and to develop an appreciation for the objectives and efforts of the participants. If you go to ACW battlefields to gawk and gossip as an everyday tourist then an investment in these guides is unnecessary. If you have an active interest in ACW history, military history in general or fascinating chapters in human history, then these guides are remarkable values, "Best Buys". Helpful maps illustrate troop engagements and key terrain features, excerpts from the Official Records provide first person commentary from the participants at each "Stop" on your tour and concise analysis is provided to tie the story together. Thorough but not intimidating, insightful and objective, with no deficiencies noted.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine resource on the battle at Gettysburg, October 14, 2008

By 

Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Guide to the Battle of Gettysburg (U.S. Army War College Guides to Civil War Battles) (Paperback)

This is one of the entries in a series of battlefield books/guides by the U. S. Army War College (AWC). AWC is an important institution in the American military. One effort undertaken since its founding in Carlisle PA has been assisting in (Page iv) ". . .in the historical research and then benefited from the results by taking extensive staff rides over the old battlefields, discussing leadership, decision making, tactics and strategy."

The organizational structure of the book is straightforward. Primary sources are used to illustrate from commanders reports from the field, day by day for the three days' carnage on the battlefield at Gettysburg. Then, some reflections from the authors on infantry, artillery, and cavalry. The final two sections? The "order of battle," in which the units involved and brigade commanders and above (up to the commanding generals--George Meade and Robert E. Lee) are listed. Last, casualty estimates (Page 231).

Officers' reports can often be misleading, but they do provide a sense from those on the ground as to what happened. As such, this volume represents officers' views of what was happening, day by day.

Some of the entries are well stated. One of my favorite quotations is from Brigadier General John Buford (who called Rock Island, IL, near my home town, as his residence for a time), as he wrote (Page 5): "I had gained positive information of the enemy's position and movement, and my arrangements were made for entertaining him until General Reynolds could reach the scene."

Other quoted from Day One at Gettysburg: Henry Heth, commanding a division in A. P. Hill's corps that began the attack on Buford's forces; James Hall, leader of the Second Maine Battery, ordered to use his artillery to slow the Confederate advance; Rufus Dawes, Colonel of the 6th Wisconsin regiment, as he sprung a trap at the unfinished rail cut--at heavy expense to his force; Robert Rodes, one of Ewell's division commanders, on the beginning efforts at flanking the Union position. . . .
And so on.

On Day Two, it is interesting to look at the various views of participants, such as McLaws' report on a disagreement between James Longstreet (commander of the First Corps) and Lee himself. And on the events at Little Round Top, including Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's rendition.

And then the third day. . . .

All in all, a useful volume. Maps and suggested movement by readers on the battlefield itself make this a useful work if one is visiting the battlefield. It can be part of an interactive and educational effort. I wish that I had had this with me when I visited the battlefield this summer. It would have added to the experience.

So, if you are interested in primary sources, a sense of the battlefield itself, and some reflection on strategy and tactics, this could prove a useful little volume for the reader.