Gettysburg 1863: High tide of the Confederacy (Campaign) [Paperback]

Carl Smith (Author), Adam Hook (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Campaign | Publication Date: January 15, 1998

Osprey's study of the Battle of Gettysburg (1863), one of the decisive battles of the American Civil War (1861-1865). The Confederate invasion of the Northern states was General Lee's last great gamble. By taking the war to the Union he hoped to force Lincoln into peace negotiations, or win support from the European powers who were watching events closely from across the Atlantic. Equally, Meade's Army of the Potomac needed to regain it's fighting credibility after the setbacks of Fredericksburg and saw this as an opportunity to redeem its honour. The clash of 150,000 soldiers from both sides would ultimately decide the fate of a nation.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Highly visual guides to history's greatest conflicts, detailing the command strategies, tactics, and experiences of the opposing forces throughout each campaign, and concluding with a guide to the battlefields today.

About the Author

Carl Smith has had a life long fascination with many aspects of the military history of the United States. A specialist writer of many years experience, Carl has worked for several popular military magazines. He has written several volumes on the key battles of the Civil War in Osprey's Campaign series. Carl lives and works in Virginia, USA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (January 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1855323362
• ISBN-13: 978-1855323360
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 0.4 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #487,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Useful work on Gettysburg, April 1, 2008

By 

Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gettysburg 1863: High Tide of the Confederacy (Praeger Illustrated Military History) (Hardcover)

This is a decent quick and dirty introduction to the battle of Gettysburg. It has some nice visuals (maps of the battlefield from day to day). If one really wants to understand the battle, go to Coddington, Sears, Trudeau, and so on. But for a brief introduction, this is serviceable.

There are some things one might wish to see done differently. There is no map showing the Union forces' "fish hook" position. Given the heavy use of visuals (photos, drawings, maps, etc.), it is surprising that there are not more maps.

There are also some idiosyncratic judgments. At one point, he speaks glowingly of Slocum (whose nickname was "slow come") and Howard as leaders showing "inventiveness and an ability to work with others to achieve a goal. . . ." I am not sure that a huge number of Civil War experts would agree. Howard's performance was adequate, but no more. Slocum was somewhat dilatory getting to the battlefield (although one can understand his caution, moving into the unknown). But compare Reynolds' aggressiveness and spirit before his untimely death with Slocum's performance, and I'm not sure that the latter comes off so well.

Nonetheless, this slim volume has some value. Again, for those wanting a brief introduction to Gettysburg, this is adequate.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Do not buy this book., September 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Gettysburg 1863: High tide of the Confederacy (Campaign) (Paperback)

Please, do youself a favor and do not waste your money on this book. This is probably the worst book ever written on the battle of Gettysburg. I have read hundreds of volumes on the subject and have never seen anything approching the amount of errors in this work. I feel pretty confident that the author has never been to Gettysburg. The interpretation of the battle is childish. There are multiple errors on the maps, and most of the photographs are just copied out of other Civil War books. Oh! And I think is is obvious that the previous review was written by someone with a personal interest in the book. It may be of interest to note that the Gettysburg National Military Park book store refuses to carry this book on its shelves. Simply put, this book should not have been printed.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Buy the Park's Guidebook Instead, May 20, 2003

By 

Allan W. Goodall (Monroe, LA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gettysburg 1863: High tide of the Confederacy (Campaign) (Paperback)

Another Carl Smith Osprey effort, though this one isn't quite as bad as his Chancellorsville. The maps by Adam Hook are quite good, but I found it annoying that there wasn't a _single_ overhead view of the battlefield showing the reader the distinctive "fish hook" formation of the Union lines. The problem, though, isn't with the maps, it's with the text.

Like his other Osprey books, Smith's text has a number of factual errors and sloppy editing. Some of the errors are fairly minor, like Captain W. A. Tanner of the Courtney Artillery (Confederate II Corps artillery) being named Turner, but when there are so many of them you start to really wonder about the accuracy of the work. For instance, he suggests that Buford heard about the Confederates marching through Gettysburg on the 26th when he arrived in the town on the 30th. In actuality Buford knew of this _before_ he entered Gettysburg because Union troops went through the town on the 28th.

A previous review mentioned the wounding of Hancock, and how it shows Smith's accuracy and the "bar he set for himself". This is rather ironic as Smith gets the incident wrong. In the book he makes a big deal of a bullet smashing the pommel of Hancock's saddle, sending shrapnel and a nail into his thigh, and bouncing off his belt buckle. The buckle supposedly saved Hancock's life, leaving him with a wound that was "merely painful". I would like to know the source of this (there are no footnotes or end notes), for that's not what happened. According to Earl Hess (_Pickett's Charge: The Last Attack at Gettysburg_) and Jeffry Wert (_Gettysburg: Day Three_) the bullet hit the pommel and entered Hancock's leg. A nail was removed from his leg, but the bullet remained until August when it was finally pulled out. The bullet broke part of his hip, and he spent most of the rest of his service in the war riding in an ambulance. As for the "smashed" pommel, that is not mentioned in the other books. In fact Hess brings in evidence to suggest that the nail did not come from the pommel but might have been in the musket when it was fired! In any case, Smith appears to have made up the part about the belt buckle.

There are plenty of books about Gettysburg, but admittedly the Osprey book fills an important niche: a short overall volume on the battle. The many errors, however, perpetuate inaccuracies in the minds of those who use this as their only reference to the battle. I'd give it 1.5 stars due to its length and the maps but 2 stars is too generous. Osprey has a reputation for poorly edited books. While most of their books are much better than this one, for some reason their Campaign series -- particularly the American Civil War campaign books -- are notably poor. I _can_ recommend Osprey's 6 volume Order of Battle series for Gettysburg, though the format is not much use for newcomers to the battle. If you want a single short book on the battle buy the guide they sell at the battlefield instead.