Sesquicentennial News---- 150 Canon Volleys Within One Hour in Gettysburg, April 30

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Adams County, and Gettysburg National Military Park are hosting The Official 150th Gettysburg Kick-Off Event entitled The Invasion of Pennsylvania - Gettysburg. Sueinf Friday, April 29, 2011 and Saturday, April 30, 2011 the event will include 150 volleys from artillery. The launch event will feature the advancement of Union and Confederate troops into this historic town, followed by living history encampments at various locations throughout Gettysburg, reenactment skirmishes and a formal evening program. The highlight of this event will be the firing of 150 cannon shots to salute the brave men and women who fought in the American Civil War. Here's the posted schedule

Friday, April 29
7:00 - 9:00 PM Living History Encampments throughout Gettysburg
8:00 PM Luminary on Lincoln Square
8:00 PM Songs and Stories of a Civil War Hospital

Saturday, April 30
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Living History Encampments throughout Gettysburg

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Historic Church Walking Tours

11:00 AM Skirmish - "Holding the Line"

12:00 Noon The African American Experience

2:00 PM Skirmish - "A Hasty Retreat"

4:00 PM Skirmish - "Defending Cemetery Heights"

5:30 PM Period Worship Service

6:30 PM Musical Performance at the Pennsylvania Monument

7:00 PM Kick-Off Ceremony to include a one-hour 150 volley Cannonade

8:00 PM Songs and Stories of a Civil War Hospital

CWL: On this schedule it does not note the location of the events. Possibly the 150 volleys may take place on the reenacment sites on Pumping Station Road or the Yingling Farm.

Text Source: Gettysburg Convention and Visitors Bureau

Image Source: Howizers.com

News---Digitized Photograph Gives Up 'Ghosts'

Unfit For Service, Licensed Gettysburg Battlefield Guides, Gettysburg.Daily December 30, 31, 2010.

Gettysburg Daily is offering some amazing work by the GLBG and their digitally inclined friends. An often reproduced photograph of a wrecked artillery caission at Gettysburg has been found to have to contain an wagon train in its bleached out background. Taken from the Library of Congress online collection, the digital historians have darkened the foreground and the background. Some of the detail in foreground is lost but the the bleached horizon now contains a wagon train with a forge wagon and a man with a head wound. The Guides have searched for the location from which the photograph was taken by Alexander Gardner. It appears that they have found several spots. One location is very dramatic. The wrecked artillery caisson possibly "belonged to Hugh Garden’s Palmetto (South Carolina) Artillery that was brought east of the Emmitsburg Road on July 3, 1863, to attempt to protect the right flank of Confederate infantry during Pickett’s Charge" and was wrecked by McGilvery's batteries.

Check out the process of the discovery and the competing notions of where the photograph were taken. Visit Gettysburg Daily's entries for December 30 and 31.

New Edition---Maps of Gettysburg 2007 vs. Maps of Gettysburg 2010

Maps of Gettysburg: An Atlas of the Gettysburg Campaign, June 3-July 13, 1863, Bradley M. Gottfried, Savas-Beatie LLC, 363 pp., 149 maps, index, bibliography, 2010, $39.95.

Maps of Gettysburg, Revised Full Color [2010] Edition, is identical in all ways to the original [2007] edition, except on the final page is a brief description of the author. Both editions' list price are $39.95. So, the obvious choice for the first time buyer is choose the Revised Full Color Edition.

So how about those colors? Red (Confederate), purple (Federal), sky blue (streams), green (vegetation), black (labels) gray (fences) and brown-gold (roads at the time of the battle). Each look great on the glossy buff colored paper. The 2007 was gray-scale on white non-glossy paper. Vegetation includes trees, corn, orchards and grains, Fences include worm, post & rail, and stone. Elevations are generalized with hash marks. The maps are scaled for distance.

Maps of Gettysburg [2010] or Phil Laino's Gettysburg Campaign Atlas [2009]? If readers are shopping for an atlas, both are equally valuable. Gottfried's is a hard cover binding and Laino's is paperbound. Gottfried's has smaller dimensions than Laino's. Gottfried's has a sturdy 'perfect' [glued] binding and Laino's has a spiral binding with thick, sturdy wire. Those who are Gettysburg Magazine readers will recognize Laino's work.

Internet buyers should use caution. It appears that many Amazon.com 'second-sellers' do not generally differentiate between the 2007 and the 2010 editions.

Interviewed 1---Brian Mallon/Winfield Scott Hancock Reflects on Gettysburg and G&G

Greg Caggiano [Revolutionary War Reenactor and Film Enthusiast] Interviews Brian Mallon/Winfield Scott Hancock.

Brian Mallon offers reflections and insights on Ron Maxwell and his two films along with Mallon's own distinguished career in the UK and the US. Caggiano's question are on the mark.

GC: Before we begin, I just want to say that it is an honor to talk to you because Gettysburg was a film I watched when I was little, and it turned me into the Civil War enthusiast I am today—your portrayal of General Hancock was a big part of that. And also, I thank you for reading the reviews on my site. Not many people I interview actually read through it.

BM: I thought they were good, very thoughtful reviews with reasonable criticisms. I really enjoyed playing Hancock because he ended up becoming one of my favorite characters out of all those generals, as it turned out. He was the least preachy…he was a democrat (laughs), and his story appealed to me. It’s too bad that [The Last Full Measure], the last of the trilogy, doesn’t seem to be forthcoming.

GC: That was actually another thing I was going to ask you about, but yes, Hancock seemed like a very straightforward, to-the-point guy, as you said, not very preachy.

BM: And he was so constantly overlooked due to political reasons. He really should have been given a higher rank because his decisions were always the good ones.

GC: Out of all the roles you’ve played, obviously to me, you will always be General Hancock, so what first attracted you to take his role for Gettysburg in 1993?

BM: I was delighted to be offered it. Ron Maxwell came to see me at Cafe Beckett in Hollywood at the time, and we were sitting there talking and he hadn’t told me yet what he wanted me to play, and there’s this friend of mine, an Apache, who was wearing a Civil War general’s hat which was navy blue. Ron laughed and said, “I like your hat.” This friend of mine just puts the hat on my head and Ron thought this was very funny because he was going to offer me the role of this Union general and I didn’t know it yet. My friend then said to me that he wouldn’t take the hat back because it looked so right on me. So Ron thought this was all very amazing because here he was, about to offer me the role of a Union general and I was already wearing the hat.

GC: Before we begin, I just want to say that it is an honor to talk to you because Gettysburg was a film I watched when I was little, and it turned me into the Civil War enthusiast I am today—your portrayal of General Hancock was a big part of that. And also, I thank you for reading the reviews on my site. Not many people I interview actually read through it.

BM: I thought they were good, very thoughtful reviews with reasonable criticisms. I really enjoyed playing Hancock because he ended up becoming one of my favorite characters out of all those generals, as it turned out. He was the least preachy…he was a democrat (laughs), and his story appealed to me. It’s too bad that [The Last Full Measure], the last of the trilogy, doesn’t seem to be forthcoming.

GC: That was actually another thing I was going to ask you about, but yes, Hancock seemed like a very straightforward, to-the-point guy, as you said, not very preachy.

BM: And he was so constantly overlooked due to political reasons. He really should have been given a higher rank because his decisions were always the good ones.

Read the entire interview at the Text and Image link.

Text and Image Source: Greg Caggiano

News---Alonzo Cushing Recevies the Medal of Honor For Gettysburg July 3 Heroics

147 Years Later, Wisconsin Civil War Soldier Gets Medal, Dinesh Ramde, Associated Press, May 19, 2010

Seven score and seven years ago, a wounded Wisconsin soldier stood his ground on the Gettysburg battlefield and made a valiant stand before he was felled by a Confederate bullet. Now, thanks to the dogged efforts of modern-day supporters, 1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing shall not have died in vain, nor shall his memory have perished from the earth.

Descendants and some Civil War history buffs have been pushing the U.S. Army to award the soldier the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration. They'll soon get their wish. Secretary of the Army John McHugh has approved their request, leaving a few formal steps before the award becomes official this summer. Cushing will become one of 3,447 recipients of the medal, and the second from the Civil War honored in the last 10 years.

It's an honor that's 147 years overdue, said Margaret Zerwekh. The 90-year-old woman lives on the land in Delafield where Cushing was born, and jokes she's been adopted by the Cushing family for her efforts to see Alonzo recognized. "I was jumping up and down when I heard it was approved," said Zerwekh, who walks with two canes. "I was terribly excited."

Cushing died on July 3, 1863, the last day of the three-day battle of Gettysburg. He was 22. The West Point graduate and his men of the Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery were defending the Union position on Cemetery Ridge against Pickett's Charge, a major Confederate thrust that could have turned the tide in the war.

Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was planning an invasion of the North; both sides knew how important this engagement was. Cushing commanded about 110 men and six cannons. His small force along with reinforcements stood their ground under artillery bombardment as nearly 13,000 Confederate infantrymen waited to advance. "Clap your hands as fast as you can — that's as fast as the shells are coming in," said Scott Hartwig, a historian with the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. "They were under terrific fire." The bombardment lasted two hours. Cushing was wounded in the shoulder and groin, and his battery was left with two guns and no long-range ammunition. His stricken battery should have been withdrawn and replaced with reserve forces, Hartwig said, but Cushing shouted that he would take his guns to the front lines. "What that means is, 'While I've got a man left to fight, I'll fight,'" Hartwig said. Within minutes, he was killed by a Confederate bullet to the head.

Confederate soldiers advanced into the Union fire, but finally retreated with massive casualties. The South never recovered from the defeat. The soldier's bravery so inspired one Civil War history buff that he took up Cushing's cause by launching a Facebook page titled "Give Alonzo Cushing the Medal of Honor." Phil Shapiro, a 27-year-old Air Force captain, said such heroism displayed in one of the nation's most pivotal battles deserved recognition, even at this late date. "We need to honor those people who got our country to where it is," said Shapiro, of Cabot, Ark.

Zerwekh first started campaigning for Cushing in 1987 by writing to Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire. Proxmire entered comments into the Congressional Record, she said, and she assumed that was as far as it would go. But current Sen. Russ Feingold later pitched in and helped Zerwekh and others petition the Army. After a lengthy review of historical records, the Army agreed earlier this year to recommend the medal.

More than 1,500 soldiers from the Civil War have received the Medal of Honor, according to the Defense Department. The last honoree for Civil War service was Cpl. Andrew Jackson Smith of Clinton, Ill., who received the medal in 2001. The Cushing name is prominent in the southeastern Wisconsin town of Delafield. A monument to Cushing and two of his brothers — Naval Cmdr. William Cushing and Army 1st Lt. Howard Cushing — stands at Cushing Memorial Park, where the town holds most of its Memorial Day celebrations.

Shapiro, the Facebook fan, said he thought of Alonzo Cushing plenty of times last year as he faced a number of dangerous situations during a five-month stint in Iraq. "I'd think about what Cushing accomplished, what he was able to deal with at age 22," Shapiro said. "I thought if he could do that then I can certainly deal with whatever I'm facing."

Text Source: Yahoo News
Top Image Source: Buffalo News
Second Image Source: MOH

Looking Forward--- Ed Bearrs Tours Vicksburg and Gettysburg, May 2010

Receding Tide: Vicksburg and Gettysburg: The Campaigns That Changed the Civil War, Edwin Cole Bearss, National Geographic Publishing,400 pages, $30.00, May 2010.

It’s a poignant irony in American history that on Independence Day, 1863, not one but two pivotal battles ended in Union victory, marked the high tide of Confederate military fortune, and ultimately doomed the South’s effort at secession. But on July 4, 1863, after six months of siege, Ulysses Grant’s Union army finally took Vicksburg and the Confederate west.

On the very same day, Robert E. Lee was in Pennsylvania, parrying the threat to Vicksburg with a daring push north to Gettysburg. For two days the battle had raged; on the next, July 4, 1863, Pickett’s Charge was thrown back, a magnificently brave but fruitless assault, and the fate of the Confederacy was sealed, though nearly two more years of bitter fighting remained until the war came to an end.

In Receding Tide, Edwin Cole Bearss draws from his popular tours to chronicle these two widely separated but simultaneous clashes and their dramatic conclusion. As the recognized expert on both Vicksburg and Gettysburg, Bearss tells the fascinating story of this single momentous day in our country’s history, offering his readers narratives, maps, illustrations, characteristic wit, dramatic new insights and unerringly intimate knowledge of terrain, tactics, and the colorful personalities of America’s citizen soldiers, Northern and Southern alike.

Edwin Cole Bearss is America’s premier battlefield historian and the historian emeritus of the National Park Service. Author of 13 books, he has also served as a consultant on numerous documentaries and films, including Ken Burns’s The Civil War.

Text Source: Amazon.com

2010 Two Day Seminar---Gettysburg: The Aftermath and the End of the Campaign

The Gettysburg National Military Park and the Gettysburg Foundation co-sponsor a every other year two day seminar that is limited to the first 240 registrants. The previous three seminars have focused on the July 1, July 2, and July 3 military engagements. In April 2010,the focus is on aftermath and the end of the campaign with seven lectures, the choice of two of five tours, and two 45 minute evening programs offered. The registration fee is $90 for the April 10-11 event.

Attendees will the following issues being addressed: What shortcomings did Lee, Longstreet and and Meade reveal during the retreat/advance? In what way, if any, was Gettysburg the turning point of the American Civil War? What roles did the Federal Provost Guard perform during the campaign? How significant is Camp Letterman Hospital that covered 80 acres and lasted 121 days? How do the letters and diaries of the wounded reveal about medical care after the battle? How do letters and diaries from the troops reveal about the retreat/advance and the end of the campaign?

Elective tours will walk the Rose Farm, the Seminary grounds, the photographic image sites of Devils Den and the Rose Farm, the hospital sites, and the post-July 3 4pm location of Confederate troops and their July 4 preparations for their retreat. Additionally registrants will spend 45 minutes with the Cyclorama and GNMP guide Sue Boardman and will spend 45 minutes with five NPS rangers who will perform living history of four civilians and on wounded Rebel soldier.

Among the presenters are many familiar names: NPS ranges John Heiser, Eric Campbell, Scott Hartwig, Bert Barnett, Matt Atkinson, Charles Teague, Angela Atkinson and Karlton Smith, GLBGs Sue Boardman, Waynes Motts, Ed Guy, Tim Smith, Garry Adelman and several others from NPS parks other than Gettysburg. Contact Evangelina Rubalcava-Joyce, Park Ranger, Suite 100 GNMP, 1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, PA 17325. Unfortunately the April 10-12 weekend is the anniversary 145th anniversary weekend of Appomattox.

Image Source: Bill Dowling Photography

CWL---Lee In the Hands of God at Gettysburg

Did Lee Doom Himself At Gettysburg?, Military History Quarterly Online, August 7, 2009.

By blindly relying on meager intelligence and by being unspecific with his commanders, did Lee place himself in the hands of God at Gettysburg? Lee wrote three different reports explaining decisions he made during the 1863 Pennsylvania Campaign. He implied that his corps and division commanders had failed to move in coordination with each other and he speculated that he had asked to much of the men in the ranks. What is not in his report is an awareness that he believed intelligence that he may have realized, even during the campaign, was wrong and should have treated with caution.

Could Lee have done more to ensure that his commanders understood his intentions? With a thoroughly reorganized army after the battles at Chancellorsville and 2nd Fredericksburg, should Lee have done more to communicate with leaders working in new positions. Did misapprehension and miscommunication flourish in Lee's hands-off management style?

On July 2 though in physical proximity to Hill's headquarters, it appears that Lee did not facilitate Hill's communication with either Longstreet or Ewell. With both Ewell and Longstreet, Lee had one meeting before noon on July 2 with each. A foreign observer at Lee's headquarters reported that only one was sent and one report received at the headquarters. Lee did not have a meeting of all three corps commanders together at any time on July 1, 2, or 3.

"The result of this day's (July 20 operations induced the belief that with proper concert of action and the increased support that the positions gained on the right would enable the artillery to render the assaulting columns, we should ultimately succeed," Lee reported later. He was determined to continue the July 2 assault on July 3; the objective remained unchanged from July 2 through July 3.

In his second official report Lee admitted that he might have asked more of this men that they were able to perform. To his wife Mary, Lee wrote that his men ought not to have been expected to have performed impossibilities. Lee does not leave a statement that explains how he mispreceived impossibilities as possibilities. Lee does not blame his chief of artillery, Pendleton though later Porter Alexander, Second Corps artillery commander does. A decade later at Washington College Lee spoke to William Allen of Stuart's disappointing effort during the Pennsylvania Campaign. Stuart, Lee lamented had failed to give him information and this lack of information deceived him into pursuing a battle the first week in July 1863. Lee further stated that his plan would have routed the Federal army if all elements of the Army of Northern Virginia had moved simultaneously on July 2. At most it was a 'combination of circumstances' that brought about the defeat in Pennsylvania.

It is often noted that Lee explained his generalship as making and communicating plans then allowing his commanders find ways to implement them. How the commanders did that and how the Federals resisted those actions was in God's hands. At Gettysburg his commanders and their troops (in Longstreet's words) never fought harder than on the afternoon and evening of July 2. Was Lee a fatalist like Lincoln?

The article is found at Military History Quarterly

New and Noteworthy---Louisiana Tigers On The Way In and On The Way Out Of Pennsylvania

The Louisiana Tigers in the Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863, Scott Mingus, Louisiana State University Press, 352 pages,8 maps, bibliography, index, $34.95.
Previous works on Confederate brigadier general Harry T. Hays's First Louisiana Brigade--better known as the "Louisiana Tigers"--have tended to focus on just one day of the Tigers' service--their role in attacking East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863--and have touched only lightly on the brigade's role at the Second Battle of Winchester, an important prelude to Gettysburg. In this commanding study, Scott L. Mingus, Sr., offers the first significant detailed exploration of the Louisiana Tigers during the entirety of the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign.
Mingus begins by providing a sweeping history of the Louisiana Tigers; their predecessors, Wheat's Tigers; the organizational structure and leadership of the brigade in 1863; and the personnel that made up its ranks. Covering the Tigers' movements and battle actions in depth, he then turns to the brigade's march into the Shenandoah Valley and the Tigers' key role in defeating the Federal army at the Second Battle of Winchester.

Combining soldiers' reminiscences with contemporary civilian accounts, Mingus breaks new ground by detailing the Tigers' march into Pennsylvania, their first trip to Gettysburg in the week before the battle, their two-day occupation of York, Pennsylvania--the largest northern town to fall to the Confederate army--and their march back to Gettysburg. He offers the first full-scale discussion of the Tigers' interaction with the local population during their invasion of Pennsylvania and includes detailed accounts of the citizens' reactions to the Tigers--many not published since appearing in local newspapers over a century ago.

Mingus explores the Tigers' actions on the first two days of the Battle of Gettysburg and meticulously recounts their famed assault on East Cemetery Hill, one of the pivotal moments of the battle. He closes with the Tigers' withdrawal from Gettysburg and their retreat into Virginia. Appendices include an order of battle for East Cemetery Hill, a recap of the weather during the entire Gettysburg Campaign, a day-by-day chronology of the Tigers' movements and campsites, and the text of the official reports from General Hays for Second Winchester and Gettysburg. Comprehensive and engaging, Mingus's exhaustive work constitutes the definitive account of General Hays's remarkable brigade during the critical summer of 1863.

Scott L. Mingus, Sr., has written numerous books on the Civil War, including the two volume Human Interest Stories of the Gettysburg Campaign, its companion volume Gettysburg Glimpses: True Stories from the Battlefield; and Flames beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863. He lives in York, Pennsylvania. (Text from publisher)

CWL: Mingus' work is most likely the first that dwells exclusively on the Pennsylvania Campaign. Previous books on the Louisiana Tigers include Wheat's Tigers: The 1st Louisiana Special Battalion in the Civil War by Gary Schreckengost, Gentle Tiger: The Gallant Life of Roberdeau Wheat by Charles L. Dufour, and Lee's Tigers: The Louisiana Infantry in the Army of Northern Virginia by Terry L. Jones.

New---The Complete Gettysburg Guide

The Complete Gettysburg Guide: Walking and Driving Tours of the Battlefield, Town, Cemeteries, Field Hospital Sites, and other Topics of Historical Interest, J. David Petruzzi (text), Steven Stanley (maps, photographs, Savas Beatie Publishing, 306 pp., maps, photographs, bibliography, index, $39.95.

CWL suspects any book with complete in the title. But Savas Beatie Publishing, with J.D. Petruzzi and Steven Stanley have come as close as possible given the fact that the book is reasonably priced at $40 and is a mere 306 pages. You will find the book in three places near an armchair, on the front seat of an automobile, and in the haversack of a walker. Opening the shipping envelope in late June, CWL really didn't put the book down for about three hours at home, at Starbucks and then in the car at stop lights.

Visually the book is engaging on every page. There are very few pages were there is just text; nearly all pages have either an attractive map, an clear period or modern photograph or an appropriate sidebar biography or period text. The eleven tours include: the June 26 Marsh Creek skirmish, the fighting July 1-3 including the four cavalry battles, the historical sites in the borough, the National Cemetery, the Evergreen Cemetery, the hospital farms, and the rock carvings.

Impressive as the book is visually, CWL tested the book July 2 and 3 on the Gettysburg battlefield with ranger led battlefield walks. Once with Matt Atkinson of Vicksburg NMP and twice Troy Harmon of Gettysburg NMP, the book went into the field. On July 2 morning Atkinson walked in the steps of Anderson's brigade of Hood's division from Pitzer's Woods to Houck's Ridge. Harmon covered the path of Avery's brigade of Early's division from Winebrenner Run to East Cemetery Hill.On July 3 morning Harmon followed Colgrove's brigade of Ruger's division from McAllister's Mill to Spangler's Meadow. CWLmatched the ranger's tour with the book and found the maps and text consistent with what the rangers said and where they went.

The tours of July 2 and 3 fight are not set forth chronologically in the book. The tours are of the area were the fight occurred. For example, tour stop 12 is Bigelow's Stand at the Trostle Farm (July 2), tour stop 13 is Longstreet's corps Assault at Cemetery Ridge (July 2), tour stop 14 is the Grand Assault (July 3), tour stops 15 and 16 are at Spangler's Spring (July 2) and Culp's Hill July 2 and 3, and tour stop 17 is the night attack on Culp's Hill (July 2). Organize in this manner the book is very useful for the touring student of the battle.

Highlights for this reader were the hospital farms tour stop 35 (the Camp Letterman General Hospital site) the entire tour of the historical sites of the borough of Gettysburg, both tours of the cemeteries, and the June 26 Marsh Creek skirmish. Cavalry enthusiasts will be happy with the tours of the four cavalry fights and the July 1am engagement by Buford. Having taken the Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide exam twice (2006 and 2008), CWL saw dozens of exam questions' answers. Of the 60 maps in the book 54 cover the fighting and have in the upper right hand corner a clock with the time of the engagement. That was something that Trudeau in Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage and CWL wished more authors addressing other battles followed the examples of Trudeau and Stanley'

Is there anything lacking in the Complete Gettysburg Guide? Well, for CWL the June 30 Battle of Hanover is crucial but, as the author explained in an online conversation, it is ten miles away from the battlefield and the book is only 304 pages. Petruzzi et al. covered the importance of the Battle of Hanover in two chapters in Plenty of Blame to Go Around. A second edition will address some quibbles on a few of the maps regarding such things as the route across the front of the 13th New Jersey by 27th Indiana against the 49th Virginia across Spangler's Meadow during the morning of July 3 (page 125). The Complete Gettysburg Guide has a Facebook Page which carries readers' questions forward.

While carrying the book on the tours I loaned it to a friend to view over lunch. With his Blueberry phone he took a picture of the barcode and ordered a copy of the book from Amazon.com. I was surprised that could be done. Of course he said, 'Yea. There's an app for that.' I second buddy I escorted to Jim Glessner's American History Store at the corner of Baltimore and Steinwehr Streets and he purchased his copy in the more traditional manner.

CWL's Top Ten Gettysburg Books: Most Frequently Consulted and Enjoyed

The Battle:
Generals of Gettysburg: The Leaders of America's Greatest Battle, Larry Tagg.
Brigades of Gettysburg: Union and Confederate Brigades at the Battle of Gettysburg, Bradley Gottfried.

Studying for the Gettysburg Licenced Battlefield Guide Test taught me that the key to developing a tour was to understand the generals and the brigades. Both Tagg and Gottfried have provided books that are comprehensive and accurate. Nearly anyone reading a short biography of a general and then the movements of his brigade to, during and after Gettysburg will come to a new level of understanding of the process of the battle.

Gettysburg Trilogy: The First Day The Second Day, Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill, Harry Pfanz.
Gettysburg: The Third Day, Jeffry Wert.

Taken together Pfanz's and Wert's works provide an integrated story of the brigades and their movements in the battle. Both authors offer telling details and anecdotes that emphasize the human element on a battlefield that held over 150,000 troops.

Guides to the Battlefield:
Complete Gettysburg Guide, J.D. Petruzzi.
Gettysburg: A Battlefield Guide, Mark Grimsley.

Petruzzi's and Grimsley' companions to touring the military park are accurate and easy to use. The Complete Gettysburg Guide has many photographs, maps, and sidebars that are vital to successful tour. It also features extensive tours of the pre-July fighting, the cavalry fights that are east, south, and west of the main battlefield, the borough, the two cemeteries, the hospital sites, and the rock carvings. Grimsley's book is clear, conscise and nearly complete with maps and tours that offer the essentials.

Post Battle:
A Strange and Blighted Land, Gregory Coco.
A Vast Sea of Misery: A History and Guide to the Union and Confederate Field Hospitals at Gettysburg, July 1-November 20, 1863, Gregory Coco.
Retreat From Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics and the Pennsylvania Campaign, Kent Masterson Brown.

Coco's and Brown's work enlarge the three day battle in a tactical, strategic and human ways. Coco's writing is wonderful and his immersion in primary sources of the civilians and the enlisted men is without parallel. Brown handles tactics and logistics quite well and offers sound insights into Lee's and Meade's leadership and the ability of their endure a rigorous and deadly campaign.

The Gettysburg National Military Park
This Holy Ground: A History of the Gettysburg Battlefield, Barbara Platt.
Often neglected is the history of the military park, its monuments, and its interpretations. Platt's work may be close to one of a kind, having a clear focus on the acres in the park's boundaries but not becoming overwhelmed by the myths and realities of interpreting the battle.

Honorable Mention: Learning the Battle of Gettysburg From the Official Records, Ben Dixon. This work clearly opens the Official Records to the layman; the 'needle in the haystack' days of the three Gettysburg volumes of the OR are over.

Honorable Mention: Virtual Gettysburg, Stephen Recker. Offering a two hour audio tour of the battle, a huge photo archive of the monuments and the farms, and clear maps that show you where the tour guide is on the battlefield, Recker was achieved a remarkable and thorough presentation for use on your computer.

Honorable Mention: Grappling With Death: The Second Corps Hospital at Gettysburg, Roland Maust. Maust has mined primary sources to a remarkable level in order to tell the story of one Union corps' medical staff, the civilian workers and the wounded. The agony of the July heat and humidity are told in the words and incidents of the people who were there. The heartbreaking relief of the rain and then the terror of the flood that engulfed Rock Creek leaves the reader humbled.

Coddington's A Study in Command, Sears' Gettysburg, Trudeau's A Testing of Courage and Frassinito's studies of photography are all well known, have their obvious strenghts and are on most top ten lists. They are on CWL's shelves and are consulted, especially Trudeau's maps with the clocks. The list consists of CWL's favorites.

News---Gettysburg Anniversary Battlewalks

Battle of Gettysburg Anniversary Programs, 2009

Join Park Rangers and Licensed Battlefield Guides for a series of free guided walks that discuss the three days of battle and its impact. Each program is approximately three hours in length and may include up to two miles or more of walking. Some of the terrain is moderately difficult and programs may pass through tall grass. Water, headgear, sun protection and comfortable, sturdy walking shoes are highly recommended.

July 1, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. The Attack and Defense of Oak Ridge
After the initial Confederate thrust toward Gettysburg was repulsed on the late morning of July 1, the battle escalated as both armies brought more troops onto the field, lengthening their respective battle lines. Sometime around noon Maj. Gen. Robert Rodes’s Confederate Division arrived from the north and quickly occupied Oak Hill, a strategic height northwest of town. Rodes deployed his troops and soon after launched them against the right flank of the Union First Corps located on Oak Ridge. The resulting action was confused and bloody, as the outnumbered Union defenders tenaciously held their ground against repeated Confederate attacks from the north, northwest and west. Join Park Ranger Eric Campbell as he examines this chaotic struggle from the perspective of both the advancing Confederates and the Union defenders.
Meet at the Eternal Light Peace Memorial, Auto Tour Stop 2. Additional parking is available along the right side of North Confederate Avenue, beyond the Eternal Light Peace Memorial parking lot, or along Buford Avenue, south of the Mummasburg Road. Note: Please park your vehicle on the right side of the road, but with all wheels on the pavement.

July 1, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. "We got off 80 men out of 350 that went into the fight." In the Footsteps of the 157th New York
Follow in the footsteps of the 157th New York Infantry on July 1. For years the scene of their desperate battle with Doles' Georgia brigade was occupied by a car dealership. Today, the dealership is gone and the ground restored so that the story of this unheralded but desperate action can finally be understood. The 157th lost more men killed and wounded than any regiment in the 11th Corps on July 1, 1863, and though driven from the battlefield, the regiment was not defeated for want of courage and determination. Join Park Historian D. Scott Hartwig in retracing the route of this hard- fought Union regiment at Gettysburg.
Meet just east of the 157th New York monument on the corner of Mummasburg Road and West Howard Avenue. Be prepared for hiking through tall grass meadows over uneven ground, total distance of approximately two miles.

July 2, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.
“Impeded by immense boulders and sharp ledges of rock.” The Attack of Maj. Gen. John B. Hood’s Division on July 2, 1863
Join a team of Park Rangers as they follow in the footsteps of the four brigades in Maj. Gen. John B. Hood’s Division during their attack against the Federal forces stationed in Devil’s Den and the adjacent areas of the Wheatfield and Little Round Top. The focus of the program will be the fight for Devil’s Den but it will also examine how the terrain effected movements and complicated the command and control of a 7,000 man infantry division.
Meet rangers John Heiser, Karlton Smith, Matt Atkinson and Eric Campbell at the Texas Brigade monument on South Confederate Avenue. The program will end at the 99th Pennsylvania Monument on the summit of Devil’s Den. The walks will average between a mile and a mile and one half. It is highly recommended that you wear good hiking boots and be prepared for rough terrain and tall grass. Park at the picnic area on South Confederate Avenue, or along the right side of South Confederate Avenue.

July 2, 2009 at 2:30 p.m. “I gave orders to General Hays to...advance upon Cemetery Hill when a favorable opportunity should occur.” Major-General Jubal A. Early Early’s Attack on East Cemetery Hill
On July 2, 1863, General Early’s Confederate division faced Cemetery Hill, the centerpiece of the Union position at Gettysburg. Commanding General Robert E. Lee had ordered the Union flanks to be attacked on July 2, either for the purpose of driving them toward a critical mass against Cemetery Hill or to pull Union strength away from that point for Confederate reserves to seize it directly. It seemed apparent, at least by 6:00 pm on July 2, that Union Commanding General George G. Meade had committed his strength to the flanks, thus leaving General Early’s division, along with other Confederate reserves facing Cemetery Hill, the daunting task of seizing the main position directly. Early’s attack was not an afterthought, but rather the defining moment of the three day battle in Lee’s plan. Cemetery Hill was the main position of the Union army and Meade had given Early “a favorable opportunity” to seize it directly. Join Ranger Troy Harman as he follows the steps of Early’s July 2 evening assault, and traces the more precise High Water Mark at Gettysburg. Meet in front of Keefauver School on Lefever Street. Be prepared for hiking through tall grass meadows over uneven ground, total distance of approximately one and one-half miles.

July 2, 2009 at 2:30 p.m. In the Footsteps of the 15th Alabama: A Family Program
A special program for children ages 8-14 and accompanied by an adult or guardian. Ranger Barb Sanders will explain the role of the 15th Alabama Infantry during the fighting on July 2, 1863, and the impact the battle had on the local populace. Meet at Alabama Monument, near Auto Tour Stop 7. This walk is over hilly terrain and ends approximately 1.5 miles from its starting location, so please plan and dress accordingly.

July 2, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. “The Fight Was Remarkable” The Struggle for Culp’s Hill on July 2
Join Licensed Battlefield Guide Charlie Fennell as he details the significant action at Culp’s Hill, the anchor of the Union right, on July 2, 1863. Here it can be argued was the best chance for a Confederate victory at Gettysburg. That the Union army prevailed was in no small part due to the heroic valor of a single brigade of New Yorkers commanded by the oldest general in the Army of the Potomac, Brig. Gen. George Greene. As one veteran stated, “Deeds of heroic valor were preformed upon every part of the field during the three days…but nowhere…was more dauntless heroism displayed than in defense of Culp’s Hill by the men in Greene’s brigade…on the night of July 2, 1863.” Meet at the Culp’s Hill Observation Tower on the summit of Culp’s Hill.

July 3, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. “We arrived on the open ground within a few hundred yards of our old position...the night being quite dark....” Col. Silas Colgrove, 27th Indiana. The Pre-Dawn Engagement at McAllister Ridge
Shortly after 10 p.m. on July 2, 1863, Union Brigadier General Alpheus Williams’ Division returned to the Baltimore Pike expecting to reoccupy their defensive works located along an obscure ridge between Powers Hill and Spangler Meadow. To their dismay, Confederates held their fortifications and the ridge, prompting Colonel Colgrove to push-out skirmishers from the 2nd Massachusetts to investigate. In a rare instance of Civil War night fighting, the Massachusetts soldiers successfully completed a sortie that not only found the enemy and recaptured the Union breastworks; it set off a confusing chain of events that lasted well into the early morning hours of July 3. The success of the 2nd Massachusetts overnight was countered by their ill-fated charge across Spangler Meadow later that morning. Join Ranger Troy Harman in walking this recently rehabilitated “open ground”, visible for the first time in over a century thanks to ongoing battlefield rehabilitation. Meet at the flagpole in front of the new Museum and Visitor Center at 1195 Baltimore Pike. Be prepared for hiking through tall grass meadows over uneven ground, total distance of approximately two miles.

July 3, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. The Attack and Repulse of Pickett’s Charge
Follow in the footsteps of Virginia soldiers of General George E. Pickett’s Division during their ill-fated assault against the Union center. Join the team of park rangers- Jim Flook, Raffi Andonian, and Jennifer Murray, as they tramp the route of the brigades of Brig. Gen. Richard Garnett, Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead and Brig. Gen. James Kemper of Pickett’s now famous command. Meet the rangers at the Virginia Memorial (Auto Tour Stop 5), along West Confederate Avenue.
For the perspective of the Union soldiers who repulsed the attack and to learn about the Union response to Pickett’s Charge, meet the park ranger at the Abraham Brien farmhouse, located along Hancock Avenue, directly behind the old Cyclorama Center. Suggested parking at the National Cemetery Parking Lot.

July 3, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. Cemetery Ridge: A Visual History
The history of Gettysburg’s Cemetery Ridge goes far beyond the stories of Generals Lewis Armistead and Winfield Scott Hancock. Tens of thousands of soldiers were involved in the fighting there on July 2 and 3, 1863, and in the years following the area would develop into one of the Civil War’s most iconic places. Join Licensed Battlefield Guides Garry Adelman and Tim Smith to explore Cemetery Ridge though the lens of the camera. Like no other resource, historical photographs provide us with a glimpse into the transformation of the field of battle into the memorial it is today. The Angle, the Copse of Trees, the Bryan House, Meade’s Headquarters, the old observation tower, and the soon-to-be removed Cyclorama building are just some of the topics to be covered. Learn of the 1890s efforts to restore Zeigler’s Grove, and the battle over the Gettysburg Electric Railway. As always we will discuss moved monuments and avenues long gone. Meet at “Ranger Program Begins Here” sign at the National Cemetery Parking Lot.

July 4, 2009 at 3:30 p.m.
To Save a Life – The Evacuation and Treatment of the Wounded
Follow the path of men of Brigadier General George Willard’s New York brigade into combat on July 2, and then trace the experience of those who are wounded through their evacuation and treatment. Meet a team of rangers at the Pennsylvania Monument, Auto Tour Stop No. 12. Please park along the right side of Hancock Avenue.
National Park Service

Source: Gettysburg National Military Park

Images: Civil War Librarian

The Forthcoming Complete Gettysburg Guide Is On Facebook

The Complete Gettysburg Guide book has a Facebook page.
Here's the link.

Here's a map posted there. Looks clear and sharp. CWL likes: the clock in the upper right hand corner, the 1863 fence lines, wood lines, and farm buildings. The scale is marked in 500 and 1000 feet and that's a nice feature to use at home. Quibble: the Wentz house is not show but it is in the middle of the 2nd New Hampshire's line, showing and labeling the house might clutter the map; but on the other hand the Staub house is shown and it is usually left off most other books' maps. There are 70 maps like in The Complete Gettysburg Guide.

When taking anniversary tours of the battlefield with NPS rangers CWL 's cargo pants' pockets carry the Friend's Maps, McElfresh Watercolor Maps and the Trailhead map. Hopefully The Complete Gettysburg Guide will fit in the wide side pockets, because it looks like it will be travelling on the battlefield with me.

Forthcoming In May---The Complete Gettysburg Guide For Walking and Driving the Battlefield

The Complete Gettysburg Guide: Walking And Driving Tours of the Battlefield, Town, Cemeteries, Field Hospital Sites, and other Topics of Historical Interest by J. David Petruzzi and Steven Stanley, Savas Beatie Publishing, 320 pages, 70 maps, photographs, index, bibliography, $39.95.

The Complete Gettysburg Guide is the first and only of its kind - this scholarly full-color book contains complete walking and driving tours of the June 26 skirmishes, the entire battlefield (much more than the park's auto tour provides), East Cavalry Field, the battles of Hunterstown and Fairfield, the National Cemetery and Evergreen Cemetery, the field hospital sites, and even a special tour of all the known rock carvings on the battlefield. Written by noted Gettysburg scholar J. David Petruzzi, the book features the beautiful photography and maps of Steven Stanley, widely acclaimed for his cartographic work for the Civil War Preservation Trust and "America's Civil War" magazine. Even GPS coordinates for many outlying stops and spots are included, making this guide the easiest to use.

Table of Contents

Introduction by J. David Petruzzi and Steven Stanley
Foreword by Eric A. Campbell, Gettysburg National Military Park Ranger/Historian
Helpful Hints for using the Guide
Overview of the Battle and Campaign of Gettysburg
Tour of the Marsh Creek skirmish and Witmer Farm skirmish, June 26, 1863
Tour of the First Day of the Battle of Gettysburg
Tour of the Second and Third Day of the Battle of Gettysburg
Tour of the July 2 fight at Brinkerhoff's Ridge and July 3 battle at East Cavalry Field
Tour of the July 2 battle of Hunterstown
Tour of the July 3 battle of Fairfield
Tour of Historical Sites in the town of Gettysburg
Tour of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg
Tour of Gettysburg's Evergreen Cemetery
Tour of Rock Carvings on the battlefield
Tour of Field Hospital sites
Bibliography
Index

Text Source: The Complete Gettysburg Guide

CWL: A copy is on pre-order at Amazon.com and CWL will immediately open the box when it comes. Though CWL winces at any media with the words 'Complete' or 'Definitive' in the titles, it is likely that this book will be the best of its kind to date and will probably be essential to those aspiring to take the Gettysburg licensed battlefield guide exam.

Forthcoming This Spring: Complete Guide To Touring the Gettysburg Battlefield

The Complete Gettysburg Guide: Walking and Driving Tours of the Battlefield, Town, Cemeteries, Field Hospital Sites, and other Topics of Historical Interest, J. David Petruzzi, Savas Beattie Publishing, 320 pp, maps, May 2009, $39.95.

Some two million people visit the battlefield at Gettysburg each year. It is one of the most popular historical destinations in the United States. Most visitors tour the field by following the National Park Service's suggested auto tour that however, skips crucial monuments, markers, battle actions, town sites, hospital locations, and other hidden historical gems that should be experienced by everyone. These serious oversights are fully rectified in The Complete Gettysburg Guide, penned by noted Gettysburg historian J. David Petruzzi and illustrated with the lavish, full-color photography and maps (70) of Civil War cartographer Steven Stanley.

Complete, detailed, and up-to-date,The Complete Gettysburg Guide: Walking and Driving Tours of the Battlefield, Town, Cemeteries, Field Hospital Sites, and other Topics of Historical Interest includes:

Several of the detailed driving and walking tours of the entire battlefield include:
A tour of many identified field hospital sites for both armies;
Tours of the National Cemetery and the town's Evergreen Cemetery;
A tour of Gettysburg borough's sites of historical interest before and after the battle;
Outlying battlefields including the June 26, 1863 skirmish site, East Cavalry Field, South Cavalry Field, Hunterstown, and Fairfield;
A tour of the various rock carvings on the battlefield, many of which were created by returning veterans and pre-date most of the monuments.

About the Authors: J. David Petruzzi is widely recognized as one of the country's leading Gettysburg experts. In addition to his numerous articles for a wide variety of publications, he is the author (with Eric Wittenberg) of bestsellers Plenty of Blame to Go Around: Jeb Stuart's Controversial Ride to Gettysburg (Savas Beatie, 2006) and (with Wittenberg and Michael Nugent) One Continuous Fight: The Retreat From Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863 (Savas Beatie, 2008). Petruzzi is also a popular speaker on the Civil War Roundtable circuit and regularly conducts tours of Civil War battlefields. His website is www.jdpetruzzi.com.

Steven Stanley lives in Gettysburg and is a graphic artist specializing in historical map design and battlefield photography. His maps, considered among the best in historical cartography, have been a longtime staple of the Civil War Preservation Trust and have helped raised millions of dollars for the Trust through their preservation appeals and interpretation projects. Steve's maps have appeared in a wide variety of publications.

Text Supplied by publisher and author with slight CWL edits.
CWL will be pre-ordering this book and pack it for every trip to Gettysburg. Without seeing it yet, The Complete Guide appears that it may be essential for the Licensed Battlefield Guide Exam.

CWL--The Rock On Which Longstreet's July 2nd Tide Broke: The Bliss Farm

The Bliss Farm, John Archer, GLBG, PCN Gettysburg Battlewalks, 75 minutes, dvd, 2007, $19.95

John Archer sets out the key elements and effects of the nearly continuous fight for the Bliss Farm on July 1-3. Having lost two sons to western New York state's harsh winters, John Bliss sold his farm and moved his family to Adams County, Pennsylvania in 1857. There within six years he would lose everything except his life and the lives of his family.

Located on the west side of the Emmitsburg Pike and opposite of the Brian Farm on Cemetery Ridge, Bliss' 59 acres were in the path of Longstreet's July 2nd assault and the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble Assault of July 3rd. Noting the arrival of Buford's Division on June 30 and Reynold's Corps on July 1st, the Bliss family fled with nothing except the clothes on their backs. Around noon on July 1st the flight was so hasty that a prepared meal was left in the kitchen the homes' front doors doors were left open. Confederate skirmishers were ensconced in the buildings by late evening of July 1st.

As Longstreet's July 2nd en eschelon attack rolled from south to north, Wright's Georgia brigade's left wing encountered the Cordori farmstead and pushed aside the 82nd New York, the 15th Massachusetts and Brown's battery. The brigade crested Cemetery Ridge, then forced the 13th Vermont, the 7th Michigan and the 59th New York back. On Wright's brigade(Anderson's division) left, Wilcox's and Lang's brigade were trading volleys with the 1st Minnesota and the 19th Maine. On Wright's right Posey's brigade (Pender's division) engulfed the Bliss farmstead held by the 12th New Jersey. Posey's brigade were nearly fought to a standstill who had turned the the barn and house into a bastion. Though Posey's brigade pushed the New Jersey soldiers out of the farmstead, the Mississippians appeared to be fought out and stayed on the west side of Emmitsburg Road while Wright briefly held a portion of the crest of Cemetery Ridge.

During the course of the battle, LBG John Archer states that the Bliss farmstead exchanged hands 10 times. In this respect, the Bliss Farm is quite similar to the Wheatfield which was probably exchanged 8 times. On the morning of July 3rd, the buildings exchanged hands at least twice before Union general Alexander Hays ordered both the barn and the house burned. During the Grand Assault, Brockenbrough's brigade marched past the smoking ruins but also, like Posey's brigade, stopped short of the Emmitsburg Road.

John Bliss filed a claim for $2,500 to $3,500 in damages three different times. The federal government turned him down twice because the farm buildings were used by the Rebels. The Pennsylvania legislature passed a bill for the amount to be paid but a check was never written. Bliss lost about $2,500 in buildings, improvements, tools, equipment crops, cattle and personal belongs when he sold the farm to Nicholas Cordori for $1,000 in 1866. Archer quotes Bliss as later saying "Let it go. I would give twenty farms for such a victory." The family returned to western New York stay where it maintained a meager existence.

Archer recommends Woodrow Christ's book on the Bliss Farm and several articles in Gettysburg Magazine. He notes that the fighting and the importance of the Bliss Farm was generally overlooked until Christ's book, Over a White Hot Crimson Plain, appeared in the mid-1990s. Archer's descriptions include many remarks made by the soldiers. Of course, the viewer would do well to have the McElfresh Watercolor Maps or the Friends of the National Parks at Gettysburg maps handy.


Top Image Source: Brothers' War Relief from the monument to the 12th New Jersey on Cemetery Ridge which depicts one of the Union assaults on the Bliss Farm. Gettysburg National Military Park, Pennsylvania.

Bottom Image Source: Gettysburg NMP Virtual Tour, Day Three The Bliss Farm is across the Emmitsburg Road and below the right foot of the 111th New York monument. Note the tip of the roof of the Brian barn at the right of the monument.

News---Limestone, Dolomite and Casualties At Antietam

Geology and the Civil War, Reeves Wiedman, Chronicle of Higher Education, November 21, 2008.

The Battle of Antietam left 23,100 soldiers wounded or killed in the bloodiest single-day conflict in American history. Rifles downed most of the soldiers, but a pair of geologists say they have found an unexpected accomplice: limestone. A survey of the 25 bloodiest battles of the Civil War by Robert C. Whisonant and Judy Ehlen, both geologists at Radford University, has found a correlation between high casualties and the Civil War's terra firma.

"Military people have known for thousands of years that you want to have the high ground," says Mr. Whisonant. "But there's a reason for the terrain, and that's geology." At Antietam, for instance, the battle in Miller's Cornfield produced about half of the day's casualties. One reason: It took place on pure limestone, which proved to be a sign of heavy casualties in several battles, because it creates flat, open fields that proved deadly for the lines of riflemen that dominated 19th-century warfare. By contrast, a nearby struggle with a similar number of soldiers at Antietam saw fewer than half as many casualties, in part due to the dolomite rock that produced more rugged terrain.

Geology was an equal-opportunity killer at Gettysburg, where limestone fields left Confederates vulnerable, while hard igneous rock prevented Union troops from digging trenches as protection from artillery attacks. The study of terrain in warfare is nothing new. Mr. Whisonant points to studies of the geological reasons why the D-Day invasion took place at Normandy (the ground was softer, making it easier to build airstrips), and the effects of hard and soft sand on battles in the Middle East.But he says few studies have assessed geology's effect on casulaties, and he hopes to change that when he presents his paper — "No Place To Run, No Place To Hide" — at next year's biennial International Conference on Military Geology and Geography, in Vienna.

Text Source: Chronicle of Higher Education, November 21 2008.

Image Source: Figure 33. Domestic structure in the Antietam Village Historic District (WA-II-031, WA-II-032, WA-II-033), Washington County (Courtesy of the Maryland Historical Trust)