30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pfanz's Gettysburg - The First Day is recommended reading., September 10, 2002
This review is from: Gettysburg--The First Day (Civil War America) (Hardcover)
Harry Pfanz, a former historian at Gettysburg National Military Park and retired Chief Historian of the National Park Service, is well known in American Civil War literary circles for his excellent work on Gettysburg - The Second Day and its companion volume, Gettysburg - Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill. Both are definitive works featuring new interpretations and fresh looks on both known and more obscure facets of the famous battle.
Now Pfanz has written Gettysburg - The First Day, which continues his excellent research and writing to cover the marches to Gettysburg leading to that fateful first day. Pfanz details the personalities behind the first day's fighting, down to the brigade level (and occasionally the regimental level). He handles the day's fighting in somewhat chronological order (see below), and as major units arrive he details their command and personality individually and succinctly. Controversial and contradictory events or decisions -- such as who fired the first shot of the battle, the Union XI Corps' rout, the battles at the railroad cut, the work of the Union cavalry at the beginning of the day, and Ewell's lack of attack at the end of the day -- are covered (as well as many others) on a factual and well-thought basis. I couldn't find myself arguing with any of the points he brought up to any great extent, and there doesn't appear to be any kind of side bias.
One of Pfanz's great strengths is his ability to recreate the terrain of the battlefield in various ways and the deployments therein, giving the reader a visual capacity to understand the peculiarities, vulnerabilities, and practicalities of various positions over others -- the advantage of I Corps's position on the afternoon of July 1 over that of XI Corps, for instance. When Pfanz describes Schurz's anxiousness at the beginning of Chapter 19, you can feel it.
The other great ability of Pfanz is to describe the fighting in such a way that the reader can identify with it - typically by a mixture of describing how the regiments and sometimes even companies were moved and deployed, mixed with a description of that particular event and how the survivors on either side recalled it. With literally hundreds of tons of writings about the battle from its survivors, there is a lot of good material to choose from, and Pfanz has chosen wisely. Of course, it seems like every little action or scrap was the "hottest" the speaker had ever been in, but that is understandable given the circumstances.
What the reader doesn't get is a great sense of is the serious of movements that led to Gettysburg. While Pfanz describes them somewhat, it can still be hard to visualize, and the maps provided that lead up to July 1 are not particularly helpful. On the other hand, the tactical maps that help describe the action (and have textual footnotes) are completely wonderful and accompany the text very well. Pfanz also doesn't seem to dwell on the events that led up to Gettysburg or the political machinations (aside from Meade replacing Hooker) that took place before the battle, which is thankful.
Another thing the reader may find annoying is that while the battle unfolds in a chronological fashion (as it should), it is not entirely in order. For instance, the multiple attacks by Daniel's brigade near the railroad cut and the huge flanking attack by Early on the XI Corps right is fully featured before cutting back to Heth's attack against the I Corps, though the latter is mentioned during the former. It's not that big of a problem, but to those not initially educated about the battle it can be a little disconcerting because the reader may quite honestly have no idea what was going on at the other flank.
Despite a few quibbles Gettysburg - The First Day is a wonderfully researched (with a meticulously detailed end notes section), complete with first-rate tactical maps, an order of battle (shortened for the units that fought on the first day only), and some interesting appendices of related or side stories. Gettysburg - The First Day is another great work by this well-respected author and I recommend it.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Beginning of the End, December 30, 2002
This review is from: Gettysburg--The First Day (Civil War America) (Hardcover)
I had the greatest pleasure in spending the first week of my retirement reading this account of the first day's struggle at Gettysburg and it's outlying areas. Pfanz continues as absolutely one of the greatest Civil War historians writing today.
So much has been written about the struggle for Little Round Top, Chamberlain's exploits, Pickett's Charge, and all of the other events which followed the first day's events, however, this book is an essential read for those who really want to examine how day two and three evolved. It is certainly understandable why the average reader would be drawn to the flashier confrontations which followed, however after day one it became clearer and clearer that the Confederate states could not conceivably win this battle.
The beauty of this account is that it is studded with maps which is a definite plus to anyone not particularly familiar with the outlying geography of the battle. And the dominant sites such as McPherson's Woods, the Railroad Cuts, Oak Ridge, the various farms all become focus points for the reader to see how the battle surged back and forth. Pfanz also details the battle unit by unit and interlaces his narrative with wonderful inserts of recollections by the participants.
The first day of the battle will also introduce the casual reader to soldiers both north and south who are not the usual suspects in Civil War accounts. People like Buford emerge as heroes and corps commanders play lesser roles. The effect of combat on civilians is also greatly documented and gives a real picture of the total impact of war in the 19th century.
This is not a work for the casual reader who would just want to pick up a book on Civil War history. However, for those who have a humble introduction it is very approachable and for those who have done additional reading it is a valuable resource.
Thanks for writing this one Mr. Pfanz.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gettysburg: The First Day destined to become a classic!, October 10, 2004
This review is from: Gettysburg--The First Day (Civil War America) (Hardcover)
Whenever a Civil War study receives the kudos of Gary Gallagher and the redoutable Ed Bearss a lover of history should take notice!
In this excellent book Pfanz describes in great details the fighting in the Oak Hil, McPherson Ridge area northwest of Gettysburg the fighting of the first day of the battle on July 1st.
Pfanz has included an impressive bibliography and the work contains many maps. He gives thumbsketch portraits of the commanders and common soldiers who took part in this opening round of the three day bloofest that makes Gettysburg the most famous battle of the Civil War.
This book is not for beginners since it is detailed and the battle actions are complex in his descriptions.
The book is well illustrated but more maps are needed to clarify the description of the actions.
The author knows the battle perhaps as well or better than anyone else writing history. This book is well recommended!
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