Pickett's Charge [Paperback]

George Stewart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 1991

This book covers a critical part of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Stewart tells this only too familiar story as if it had never been told before . . . in spite of ourselves, we sit breathless to the end. A splendid and stirring book." The New Yorker

About the Author

George R. Stewart (1895—1980) was born in Pennsylvania and educated at Princeton. He received his Ph.D. in English literature from Columbia University in 1922, and joined the English faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1924. He was a toponymist, founding member of the American Name Society, and a prolific and highly successful writer of novels and of popular nonfiction, especially dealing with U.S. history and with the American West.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co.; First edition/Full number line edition (October 18, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395597722
• ISBN-13: 978-0395597729
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #925,473 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eminently readable, thoroughly enjoyable., February 17, 2000

By 

Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pickett's Charge (Paperback)

The author has written an eminently readable, thoroughly enjoyable, and well-researched book on the third day of the Gettysburg battle, July 3, 1863. An especially rewarding read if one has toured, or plans to visit, the battlefield site. The author's unpretentious, conversational style of writing succeeds in putting the reader on the ground occupied by both the Confederate and Union forces before, during and after Pickett's and Pettigrew's famous assault on Meade's Second Corps. Interspersed with humor and down-to-earth observations concerning battlefield conditions, the author conscientiously describes all aspects of the battle, from massing of the assault columns and pre-assault artillery barrage to the last shots and the flight of the surviving rebels back to the safety of their lines. Having visited Gettysburg several years ago (my chief interest then being Joshua Chamberlain's heroic defense of Little Round Top on the battle's second day), this superb volume makes me want to go again.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely detailed, excellently told., October 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Pickett's Charge (Paperback)

Having been a Civil W buff for years, and having read many of the more common titles dealing with Gettysburg in particular I found this to be the most detailed book I have read. Opinions are expressed, and backed with explanations, yet never placing blame. After having read this book, if you had been there, even knowing what you do today and that the charge was going to be a tragic failure, agreeing with Longstreet that, "no 15,000 men ever lived could break that line", you would still have giving the orders to make the charge.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great history of the Civil War's pivotal moment, June 17, 2001

By 

David E. Levine (Peekskill , NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pickett's Charge (Paperback)

This fine book goes into detail about what has become known as "Pickett's Charge" without becoming boring. There is complete coverage of the connonade which preceded the charge and a discussion of the damage which was done. We learn of the different types of artillary and ammunition used by both sides in the canonade and the placement of these guns. The author also gives detailed coverage of the placement of troops and how they marched in formation. Ultimately, under heavy fire, the Confederate formations break up and in the ultimate "charge" it became almost impossible to map out where each regiment was as they fell apart. Therefore, to a great extent, the Confederate army on Cemetary Ridge was each man for himself.

Although we know the outcome in advance, the narrative is still thrilling as we read about Confederate troops breaking through and penetrating the Union defenses. Through the author's masterful story telling, the outcome, for a while, almost seems to be in doubt. In addition to documenting, almost regiment by regiment, the action which occured, the author provides many interesting, and often amusing, annecdotal tales of individual experiences. The carnage was terrible and the Confederate army suffered a horrific loss of officers, including generals.

The author also gets us into the heads of the key players in this event. He gives a lot of coverage to Lee's steadfastness in ordering the charge and Longstreet's serious misgivings. Written in the elegant, highly readable style of other Civil War historians of that era (the late 1950s), such as Bruce Catton, this is historical writing which almost reads like a novel. I highly recommend this classic history of this key event in American history.