Customer Reviews

Cavalry Battle That Saved the Union, The: Custer vs. Stuart at Gettysburg

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

After finishing this book, I wasn't sure if I'd read one that was intended to be fact, or a novel. Despite its title, only one small chapter is devoted to the cavalry fight on Gettysburg's East Cavalry Field. The balance of the book, mostly devoted to the Gettysburg Campaign itself, is full of so many errors it's laughable. John Buford's fight the morning of July 1, the first day, is completely screwed up. It appears as though the author has never been within 1000 miles of Gettysburg. Throughout the book, the author presents easily DISPROVEN myths about Gettysburg as though they were facts. Anyone reading this book is going to get a completely incorrect idea of not only Gettysburg but much of America's Civil War in general. I collect books on the Civil War (with some 2000), the cavalry specifically, and I have just thrown this book in the trash. I will NOT permit this "work" to have a place on my shelves, and I completely regret purchasing it. The sources are scanty, and the author relied mostly on secondary resources. If the author had simply done the minimum required research in primary resources, and just cracked open the Official Records just once, he would have had to completely re-write his manuscript. DO NOT waste your money. Go to McDonald's and have a Happy Meal. It would be money much better spent. Hopefully this book will go out of print and disappear VERY soon.

Amazon needs to update its rating system to include minus stars for books like this. How this stinker ever got published is a mystery to me. Walker cobbles his narrative together from a handful of secondary sources (Bruce Catton, D. S. Freeman, Gregory Urwin), has apparently never heard of the "Official Records" or regimental histories or "Gettysburg Magazine", spends 11 pages in a confused and and mostly wrong retelling of his "subject", and sets up this chapter with 125 pages of an irrelevant (and often wrong) summary of Lee's command of the Army of Northern Virginia. He knows just about nothing of the Civil War and detracts, rather than adds to the literature of the conflict. As a retired Army officer and professional historian I symbolically throw my hands skywards in dispair.

This is the absolute worst book I've ever read. Not just the worst Civil War book, the worst book, period. The author devotes 11 measley pages to the actual engagement referred to in the title. The editing is so sloppy, every few pages are typos. The maps offered in the book are useless. No orientations to North, no scales, lacking in all detail. The most upsetting thing is the lack of documentation. It was almost as if this guy saw the movie and used that as the outline of his book. He offered very little in the way of proof to any of his assertations. The worst thing is, this guy was an officer in the Army. As an officer myself, I'm extremely disappointed in my peer. Do not waste your time with this book.

This book advertises itself as being a study of the cavalry battle on East Cavalry Field at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. It's not, which is a shame.

The book is approximately 120 pages long. Of those 120 pages, only 12 deal the fight on East Cavalry Field. The rest of the book deals with a bunch of miscellaneous stuff that really has nothing to do with the themes suggested by the title. The little bit of information on the fight at East Cavalry Field sheds no light on the complicated battle that raged there. There's virtually no discussion of the extended and brutal dismounted fight that preceeded the two mounted charges and which necessitated them. There are only a couple of not particularly useful maps, and very little in the way of illustrations.

The title is also misleading in many ways. First, and foremost, George Custer played only a small and somewhat insignificant role in the battle. Brig. Gen. David M. Gregg commanded the Union forces there, and he's the one who made the critical decisions that impacted the outcome of the battle. Second, Gregg gave the orders for the 7th Michigan Cavalry, and later, the 1st Michigan Cavalry, to charge, usurping Custer's authority. In fact, Custer just went along for the ride, albeit a ride into glory. He had nothing to do with the decisions to charge.

Further, not even the most stalwart of cavalry buffs would be so arrogant to suggest that a sideshow to the Battle of Gettysburg somehow saved the Union. Perhaps the main fight at Gettysburg did, but this sideline action most assuredly did not. The repulse of the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble charge was much, much more significant to saving the Union than the Gregg-Stuart fight on East Cavalry Field.

Finally, and most troubling is the fact that this book's bibliography is only a page and a half long. It's clear that the author relied almost exclusively on secondary sources, as only three or four primary sources are cited in the bibliography. Stunningly, not one of those primary sources is the Offical Records of the Civil War, which must be starting point for anyone trying to analyze and understand a Civil War campaign or battle. There's no substance here to speak of, and certainly nothing to make it worth buying.

Do yourselves a favor...don't waste your money on buying this book. It's not worth it.

This book advertises itself as being a study of the cavalry battle on East Cavalry Field at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. It's not, which is a shame.

The book is approximately 120 pages long. Of those 120 pages, only 12 deal the fight on East Cavalry Field. The rest of the book deals with a bunch of miscellaneous stuff that really has nothing to do with the themes suggested by the title. The little bit of information on the fight at East Cavalry Field sheds no light on the complicated battle that raged there. There's virtually no discussion of the extended and brutal dismounted fight that preceeded the two mounted charges and which necessitated them. There are only a couple of not particularly useful maps, and very little in the way of illustrations.

The title is also misleading in many ways. First, and foremost, George Custer played only a small and somewhat insignificant role in the battle. Brig. Gen. David M. Gregg commanded the Union forces there, and he's the one who made the critical decisions that impacted the outcome of the battle. Second, Gregg gave the orders for the 7th Michigan Cavalry, and later, the 1st Michigan Cavalry, to charge, usurping Custer's authority. In fact, Custer just went along for the ride, albeit a ride into glory. He had nothing to do with the decisions to charge.

Further, not even the most stalwart of cavalry buffs would be so arrogant to suggest that a sideshow to the Battle of Gettysburg somehow saved the Union. Perhaps the main fight at Gettysburg did, but this sideline action most assuredly did not. The repulse of the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble charge was much, much more significant to saving the Union than the Gregg-Stuart fight on East Cavalry Field.

Finally, and most troubling is the fact that this book's bibliography is only a page and a half long. It's clear that the author relied almost exclusively on secondary sources, as only three or four primary sources are cited in the bibliography. Stunningly, not one of those primary sources is the Offical Records of the Civil War, which must be starting point for anyone trying to analyze and understand a Civil War campaign or battle. There's no substance here to speak of, and certainly nothing to make it worth buying.

Do yourselves a favor...don't waste your money on buying this book. It's not worth it.

Purportedly an examination of the cavalry fighting on July 3rd, 1863.

Deeply problematic in its historical research -- quoting at length from reputable but old secondary sources and at even greater length from totally unknown secondary sources; making no apparent use of primary documents at all. This sort of 'research' may be responsible for the repetition in the text of many problematic anecdotes. Unorthodox in its use of punctuation and spelling -- Stuart's response to being called 'The Plumbed (sic.) Knight' not once but thrice can only be imagined, and various grammatical errors make their way even into quoted material. Limited at best in its evocation and analysis of the battle that is the book's subject. Strange in several of its assumptions -- that the Confederates who briefly broke through the Union line on Cemetery Ridge on July 3 spent "twenty minutes" just sort of looking around and waiting for reinforcements; that Ewell could have easily taken Culp's Hill on the 2nd; that 'Pickett's Charge' should have been followed immediately, over the same ground, by a shoulder-to-shoulder cavalry charge by Stuart's troopers. (After they trampled Pickett's men, their next move was to be...?)

Readers interested in this subject are encouraged to look at Longacre's THE CAVALRY AT GETTYSBURG.

The book details the cavalry action between JEB Stuart (CSA) and Custer (USA) on the crucial day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Lee's plan was to have Stuart attack from the rear as Picket attacked from the front. Custer saw Stuart and attacked vastly superior numbers of cavalry bringing confusion and delay to the CSA cavalry so that they did not play the part the Lee envisioned. The CSA lost and the Union was preserved. A good read by anyone interested in "the rest of the story".

This item was sourced then cancelled and re-ordered. It took a while to arrive but to be fair I was kept informed and have no complaint even though it was a Christmas Present that I was able to give six weeks late. I bought it for a friend who is very interested in the American Civil War and he is very pleased with it. It arrived in good condition.

The book was insightful. Nothing like the Custer Last Stand movie with Errol Flynn. In the book, Custer was brash and courageous and full of spirit BUT he always followed orders. He was not the maverick depicted by Errol Flynn.

There are too many "ifs" on who saved the Union at Gettysburg. Was Custer's role very significant? Was Lee's Pickett's charge a blunder or a masterpiece of strategy that suffered a few mishaps? Would the Union line have held if Pickett received timely reinforcements? Would the Union line have held if Jeb Stuart was able to defeat Custer and be able to attack the Union's rear?

We will never know the answer to this or other countless questions. We do know that the Union would rather not image the consequence had Custer not defeated Jeb Stuart's calvary.

The book was very enjoyable because it brought to light that part of the battle at Gettysburg that was largely unknown to mainstream America.