Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863, Scott Mingus, Ironclad Publishing, maps, illustrations, $24.95Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863 describes the significant expedition and raid by a mixed force of Confederate infantry, artillery, and cavalry with the goal of capturing Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Newly promoted Brig. Gen. John B. Gordon led roughly 1,500 Southern soldiers on a mission to seize a vital bridge crossing over the Susquehanna River between Wrightsville and Columbia, Pennsylvania. The capture of this bridge, which carried both trains and foot traffic, was crucial for the advance of Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early's division into Lancaster County. Additionally, the capture and ransom of very prosperous York, Pennsylvania, along with the destruction of important railroad bridges and the critical Hanover Junction rail yard further isolated Washington, D.C. In conducting this mission, Gordon and his men became the first Confederates to occupy Gettysburg the week before the battle.
Flames Beyond Gettysburg is a very detailed and accurate account of the Gordon Expedition and the Pennsylvania emergency militiamen and civilians who resisted the invasion. Like others books in Ironclad Publishing's "Discovering Civil War America" series, Volume 5 features detailed driving tours of sites associated with the Gordon mission, such as the Rebels' route from Maryland, the June 26, 1863 skirmishing at Gettysburg's Witmer Farm, CSA Lt. Col. Elijah V. White's cavalry raid on Hanover Junction, Gordon's triumphal march through York, and the crucial burning of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge by Federal troops.
Text Source: CWL edited and added content found at author's website. Also, there is a wonderful online picture gallery that accompanies the book.
Ironclad Publishing now has seven volumns in its Discovering Civil War America Series.
