Customer Reviews

Stone's Brigade and the Fight for the McPherson Farm

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I have read most of the recent general books about Gettysburg and then started on the ones that deal with the First Day and the Second Day and so on. then I read a flurry of Picketts Charge books. Now I am reading individual brigade and regiment books like ht e Coffin book on Stannard's Vermont Brigade and Gibbs on the 11th Pennsylvania. This book on Stone's Brigade started out slow and I thought the style was a bit unpolished, but then it grew on me and I found it exceedingly engrossing for some reason. It documents a terrific battle on the first day in which a very high percentage of casualties were taken by the Pennsylvania Bucktails in their heroic stand against the first advancing waves of rebel invaders. It is as expected, heavy on detail, but not as oppressive as most such books. The inclusion of very adequate full page maps on almost every page helps keep the reader correctly oriented. It is easy to see the advance of the battle, In fact, if you flip the pages just right you can almost see a movie f the movement of the troops! There is maybe a bit much on the early history of McPherson's farm, but this is a book about McPherson's farm, so what. One thing I found very enlightening was the incompetence of the National Park Service in the 1970's. When they sought to restore the barn to its original condition, they restored it to its early 1900's restored condition! Furthermore they made no record of the repairs and took no photographs! The only record is a semi-literate report written by a NPS employee in 1979. One hopes that now the park service hires people who can read and write, and maybe even think. All in all, it is a very good afternoon read and has everything that is known about this important phase of the battle.

Mr. Dougherty uses extensive primary source information to tell the first accurate history of Stone's Bucktail Brigade at Gettysburg. His extensive research and committment to telling a provocative story is evident. His appendixes are as good as the main text of the book giving extensive supporting documentation. I can't believe this book is not yet more widely known by the Gettysburg history crowd!

I was much surprised by this book. I didn't expect much when I picked it up, but found it to be a rather well done piece examining the participation of Stone's Brigade at Gettysburg and especially it's fight on McPherson's Ridge.

The book doesn't go into a great deal of detail outside of Stone's Brigade so if you are looking for something to cover the entire fighting along McPherson's Ridge on July 1st try David Martin's book on the the first day. However if you are already familiar with Gettysburg then this will make a good addition to your Gettysburg book collection.

The book itself is short but informative. Dougherty has done a great job of weaving in the personal accounts of the men involved in the battle. His writing style is smooth and not at all dry. He's also done a first rate job of including maps showing the Brigade's changing positions during the battle. I wish more Civil War books put in the effort to include maps like this.

After reading this book you should have no trouble walking the battlefield positions of the 143rd, 149th and 150th Pa regiments near the McPherson Farm and understanding the events there better.

The only downside to this book is it's a bit pricey for it's size of only around 170 pages or so but if you are someone really into studying the battle of Gettysburg, you will find this worth picking up.

I purchased a copy of this book when it was first published. I have researched the Bucktail Brigade for many years, beginning in the early 1970's and have acquired many great reference sources, inluding copies of excerpts from diaries and copies of soldier's letters. So, when the publisher announced the publication of this book was I was excited as it was yet another reference for me to use in my research. After receiving the book I read it enthusiastically; however, I was a bit disappointed when finished. The author did a good job of chronicalling the Bucktails fight at McPherson's Ridge, but I felt he could have used more sources than those commonly available in the Civil War community. I have obtained great information from persons attending the Bucktail Reunion each year in Pennsylvania. For the novice, this book is a great start to understanding the Bucktails hard fight on the First Day of the Battle of Gettysburg, but for some, it may not fill the void that avid researchers and historians need.

Undoubtedly the absolute best book I've ever read about the PA Volunteers' involvement at the battle of Gettysburg . After years of studying other fictional and nonfictional accounts of the battle, I discovered that five of my ancestors were members of Stone's Brigade and the Pennsylvania Bucktails - one of them was killed at the McPherson Farm on July 1, 1863 - and this book relates in exacting detail every movement of these men, from their first encounter with the Confederate Army at the McPherson Farm to the routing and pursuit of Lee's army after their participation in Pickett's Charge.

I was engrossed from the first page, and the maps of the armies' positions on the battlefield were the best I've ever seen; I was able to imagine myself standing shoulder to shoulder with these men as they fought for their home state in the most written-about engagement of the Civil War.

A must-have book for all descendants of these brave men, and a must-read for all scholars of the battle and of the Civil War. Most highly recommended!