Debris of Battle [Hardcover]

Gerard A. Patterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1997

When the battle at Gettysburg ended, over 21,000 Union and Confederate wounded lay helpless in the shattered woods and decimated fields surrounding the small town. As both armies withdrew they left the care of the wounded--and the burial of the dead--to a stunned citizenry. Amazingly, an unprecedented number of volunteers from both the North and South, including the U.S. Sanitary Commission and the U.S. Christian Commission, soon descended upon the isolated town, bringing with them much-needed medical attention, supplies, and food. Now available for the first time in paperback.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A deeply moving, really wonderful book." -- Thomas Fleming, author and historian

"Adds a fascinating coda to the military campaign." -- Gary W. Gallagher, in Civil War Magazine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Gerard A. Patterson is the author of "From Blue to Gray: The Life of Confederate General Cadmus M. Wilcox" (0811706826), "Justice or Atrocity: Gen. George E. Pickett and the Kinston, N.C. Hangings" (1577470273), and ("Rebels from West Point: The 306 U.S. Military Academy Graduates Who Fought for the Confederacy" (0811720632), and has contributed more than 30 articles to "Civil War Times Illustrated," "American History," and other history publications. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; 1st edition (June 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081170498X
• ISBN-13: 978-0811704984
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,094,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history., February 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Debris of Battle (Hardcover)

The battle at Gettysburg, whatever else may be said of it, was a medical disaster.
The armies evacuated the field soon after the battle, leaving behind a 25-square-mile area covered with 7,000 dead and over 21,000 wounded of both armies, who lacked not only medical care but basic food and shelter. Most just lay where they fell, some for many days.
In traditional Army FUBAR fashion, the need for help was denied for some time, causing needless suffering and additional unnecessary deaths, but when word eventually got out, an unprecedented outpouring of civilian assistance took place. The participants included the Sisters of Charity, Frederick Law Olmsted (famous for his design of New York's Central Park), the engineer Haupt, and the formidable (if ineffectual) Dorothea Dix. Their contributions, as well as thousands of others', are well told here in this thoroughly researched, clearly written history. Your Civil War bookshelf is not complete without it.

The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A concise and informative book!, May 20, 2002

By 

Todd E. Newman (Valparaiso, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Debris of Battle (Hardcover)

After the largest battle to take place in the Civil War the city of Gettysburg was basically turned upside down. The wounded and the dead lied about 25 square miles of the battlefield left behind by both Confederate and Union armies. Few surgeons were on hand and the lack of medical supplies, food and proper shelter was an immense problem. Just as medical help slowly arrived, family members looking for lost loved ones, battlefield scavengers, volunteer medics, nurses and the curious fled to the battle ravaged town. Author Gerard Patterson covers many of these subjects and how the town struggled to come together and rebuild from it's shattered state. Civilian commentary, biographies of soldiers and medical leaders are brought forward to enhance the gripping information. If you are looking for a great book on Gettysburg to compliment the battle this is an excellent choice. A key to remember is that this book focuses quite a bit towards the medical aspects of how the town handled the awesome task at hand of taking care of the wounded and the dead. In order to understand Gettysburg one must compliment this book because there was so much more to the battle of Gettysburg than just the battle.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Gettysburg Wounded, June 17, 2004

By 

Robin Friedman (Washington, D.C. United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Debris of Battle (Paperback)

This is an excellent, readable book that describes the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863), the sufferings of the wounded, and the efforts of many private citizens and organizations to help deal with an unprecedented emergency resulting from three days of ferocious fighting.

Following their repulse on the third day of the Battle, the Confederate Army withdrew leaving approximately 2,000 wounded prisoners in Union hands together with 5000 severely wounded soldiers on the field. There were also over 14,000 wounded Union troops needing medical attention. The three-day Battle resulted in over 7,000 deaths, with the bodies requiring burial.

This situation produced a humanitarian and logistical crisis for the town of Gettysburg (population 2,400). The difficulty was compounded when the Union Army, in its pursuit of the retreating Confederates, took with it virtually all available medical personnel and supplies, leaving behind an inadequate team of surgeons and support personnel to offer treatment. In addition, because of exigencies before the Battle itself, the Union medical trains had been mostly left in the rear, resulting in a delay in getting supplies to the wounded.

Gerald Patterson's book details the sufferings and difficulties that followed in the wake of this, the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. He praises the relief efforts mounted by many private organizations, particularly the United States Sanitary Commission and the United States Christian Commission. These organizations were rivals, in a sense, but both worked valiantly to bring relief to the wounded of Gettysburg. Catholic relief organizations, such as the Sisters of Mercy, other organizations, and private citizens also contributed immeasurably. Patterson also shows how some individuals behaved less nobly by trying to profiteer from the needs of the wounded and to gather relics from the Battlefield.

The book shows the many difficulties that needed to be addressed in short order. These included housing (many of the wounded were left an intolerably long time on the field), finding adequate medical supplies, providing food, restoring rail service and other transportation, peforming necessary surgery, and much else. The military response was inadequate. But by late July, 1863, a camp had been established east of Gettysburg, known as Camp Letterman, which provided organized, centralized care for most of the remaining wounded of both armies. Without the assistance of the private organizations, the suffering would have been immeasurably more severe than it was.

Considerations of health, if nothing else, demanded the prompt burial of the Battle dead. Patterson describes their burial, exhumation, and reburial by details established for this purpose. He explains how the need to provide for the burial of the dead resulted ultimately in the formation of the Gettysburg National Cemetery and Gettysburg National Battlefield and also provided, more immediately, the impetus for Lincoln's Gettysburg address.

Patterson's book makes good use of first-hand sources. It introduces the reader to many of the women and men who provided humanitarian service following the Battle of Gettysburg. Interestingly, the book includes a brief but fascinating epilogue in which Patterson describes the subsequent careers of many who participated in providing medical care at Gettysburg, such as Confederate surgeon Simon Baruch, and Frederick Olmstead, the architect of Central Park.

This book presents in a thorough, convincing way a frequently overlooked aspect of the story of Gettysburg.