The Stand of the U.S. Army at Gettysburg [Hardcover]

Jeffrey C. Hall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 8, 2003

"This is not just 'another Gettysburg book,' but a different Gettysburg book. Most of the prior Gettysburg books have been accounts of Confederate command failures that led to Confederate defeat. This is the story of the Federal defense leading to Federal victory. The book contains new material and new insights. It rivals Coddington as an essential Gettysburg book, and it maps the battle like Bigelow mapped The Campaign at Chancellorsville." —Alan T. Nolan, author of Lee Considered and The Iron Brigade

This major reinterpretation of the key battle of the American Civil War tells the story of the Gettysburg campaign as it unfolded from early June through mid-July 1863, and its climax with the Federal victory at Gettysburg. The book strives to describe the campaign with utmost clarity. In pursuit of this goal, it restricts itself to the campaign's major events and participants. Yet many components of even a boiled-down account of the campaign are complex. Accordingly, The Stand features more than 160 maps and numerous diagrams that allow the reader to understand what happened at every important stage of the campaign, with special emphasis on the three-day battle of July 1–3. The book also pays tribute to the vast literature on Gettysburg, with careful consideration of the many analyses of the campaign, paying particular attention to recent works. The appearance of new interpretations, including those offered here, suggests that only now, nearly 150 years after the event, are we approaching a complete and accurate view of what happened during those crucial days at Gettysburg.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Discerning the forest through the trees is one of the great tasks of historical writing, one that this exhaustive but sometimes exhausting study hasn't quite mastered. Refreshingly for a Civil War enthusiast, Hall is something of a Union partisan; he views Gettysburg not as a dour attritional struggle but as a sparkling example of Northern courage and generalship, which he tries to convey through an hour-by-hour, sometimes minute-by-minute account of the fighting down to the regimental and even company level. Diligent readers will uncover much intelligent commentary on the battle's strategic aspects and how the limitations of Civil War weaponry in the hands of inadequately trained soldiers constrained infantry and artillery tactics; the many detailed topographical maps give a superb sense of the battle's geography. But Hall is a biologist, not a professional historian (though he teaches a history course at Brandeis), and his judgments, informed by ill-considered analogies to later wars, sometimes stray outside the scholarly consensus. Apparently eager to portray Union commanders in the most favorable light, he can interpret disastrous blunders as morale-boosters that reassured the Northern army of its ability to surmount crises. Worse, the bloodless, plodding text lacks both narrative sweep and impressionistic color, often getting bogged down in the details of small-unit deployments while making no use of first-hand observations that could have helped convey the feel of combat. Gettysburg obsessives will pore over the maps and wallow in the minutiae, but casual readers may find themselves lost. 168 maps, 115 charts.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"... a positive contribution to the historiography of the battle of Gettysburg. To have such a treasure of tactical maps about Gettysburg in one volume makes [its] purchase... a bargain. — Journal of Military History By concentrating on specific infantry movements and timing, Hall uncovers new ways of evaluating Gettysburg. —Index-Journal (Greenwood, SC)" —Journal </I>(Greenwood, SC)

(Journal (Greenwood, SC) )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (July 8, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253342589
• ISBN-13: 978-0253342584
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,586,269 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An concise account of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 2003

By 

1. "John Henninger" (Littleton, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Stand of the U.S. Army at Gettysburg (Hardcover)

This is a clear and concise account of the Battle of Gettysburg that has several interesting views about the personalities involved in the battle. Hall believes that Sickles flawed position in the Peach Orchard actually helped the Union cause because it slowed the Confederate advance. Hall praises General Warren for moving his forces to the southern end of the battlefield and repelling the Confederate attacks, but Hall states that the famous charge on Little Round Top was not organized by Chamberlain, but rather it was an spontaneous act by the Union soldiers. Hall is very critical of Longstreet in this book and thinks that if Longstreet attacked earlier on the second day of the battle that the Union army coud have been defeated. According to Hall, Longstreet also failed on the third day of the battle because he did not give enough forces to General Pickett and this allowed the Confederate force to be surrounded by Union forces since it did not have enough flank protection. I would reccomend this book to anyone interested in a new perspective of Gettysburg. .

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine edition to the literature on Gettysburg, January 16, 2006

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Stand of the U.S. Army at Gettysburg (Hardcover)

In sports parlance, Jeffrey Hall is a "fan" of the Battle of Gettysburg. He is a biologist by occupation who has fallen in love with this one particular event of the Civil War and through study has made himself an "expert" on it. Like most fans of anything he carries a prejudice with him, that being that Mr. Hall is a Union man, pure and simple. He announces this loudly in the Introduction: "Gettysburg was a battle that was not sitting there for the Confederates to win or lose. ... The Army of the Potomac was much more than a passive participant that benefited solely from Confederate errors . . . the Southerners did not flounder at Gettysburg; they were outfought." What follows in the text is a detailed and well-argued account of the battle and events immediately surrounding it that attempts to make good Mr. Hall's premise.

Beginning with the cavalry engagement at Brandy Station on June 9, Hall traces the movement of Lee's army up the Shenandoah Valley and across the Mason-Dixon Line and Meade's accompanying moves to the east. He discusses Stuart's well-known raid that brought him many miles north of Gettysburg at Carlisle on July 1 and is very critical of it. At Gettysburg proper he discounts a Southern "victory" on the First Day since the Union forces gained the best ground for the fighting that would take place the next two days. Through the use of many (literally hundreds) of excellent maps, Hall explains what precisely occurred on the battlefield throughout the battle. Hall believes that only a small fraction of the advancing Southern forces in "Pickett's charge" ever made it to the Union lines, thanks largely to the actions of the 8th Ohio which was positioned west of the Emmitsburg Road on the Southern left. Hall also writes about the Southern retreat and, in appendices, about other (mainly cavalry) battles.

Again in the Introduction Hall says he did not want to go into "excruciating detail" about the battle, and one might want to dispute him there. Though "excruciating" is one of those relative terms, Hall is about as detailed as one could be while still being relevant. He is also prone to draw comparisons with specifics from other world battles; it was a bit disconcerting at first to suddenly find a detailed map of part of Crete from 1941, for example, placed there to explain some of the action on Little Round Top. Once again, though, I found the superb maps to be the highlight of the book. Hall's annotations are also thorough and interesting. It's an excellent book for serious students of the Battle of Gettysburg. Highly recommended.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More of the same, August 21, 2003

By 

James W. Durney (Tampa Bay area) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Stand of the U.S. Army at Gettysburg (Hardcover)

This is an average book on Gettysburg with most of the "historical revisions" added. The author agrees with all of the revisions with out presenting any of the things that made them impossible at the time. Did/did not Chamberlain order the charge, probley not, but his actions that day inspired it and he did hold the line. Longstreet was late, yes, but it had as much to do or more to do with Lee's actions than anything else. Pickett's Charge was a bad idea and nothing Longstreet could do would change that. Mlavern Hill and Fredicksburg had already proven this to everyone but Lee.

Sears' book is much better and if you want a large format book look at David J. Eicher's "Gettysburg Battlefield".