From Booklist
This modest monograph might seem overspecialized were it not for the fact that its subjects include two perennial favorites of Civil War buffs, the Battle of Gettysburg and Confederate cavalry leader Jeb Stuart. Nesbitt assembles a cogent case for regarding Stuart's maneuvers before the battle as not having been decisive in the Confederate loss or at least as having been based on reasonable interpretations of Lee's orders, which are quoted. He also points out that Lee retained a substantial body of cavalry whose leaders apparently did not do their jobs and that much of the dubious bespattering of Stuart's reputation after the battle was done in a misguided effort to leave Lee seemingly the shining paladin. Uneven but generally readable, Nesbitt's effort is definitely worthwhile reading for serious Civil War enthusiasts. Roland Green
