Though a great deal has been written about the battle of Gettysburg, much of it has focused on the events of the second and third days. With this book, the first day's fighting of this pivotal battle finally receives its due. Illustrations.
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Though a great deal has been written about the battle of Gettysburg, much of it has focused on the events of the second and third days. With this book, the first day's fighting of this pivotal battle finally receives its due. Illustrations.
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Harry Pfanz, former Chief Historian of the National Park Service and historian at the Gettysburg National Military Park, has written a three-volume trilogy on the Battle of Gettysburg. This book, the last of the volumes to be written, covers the opening day of the great battle, July 1, 1863. For many people, the fighting on the first day tends to be overshadowed by events such as the struggle for Little Round Top on July 2 and Pickett's Charge on July 3. But the first day was critical to the progress of the Battle of Gettysburg. Without an understanding of day 1, the interested student cannot fully grasp the events which followed on the second and third days and their aftermath.
Pfanz gives a very brief account of the reasons underlying the Confederacy's decision to invade the North following the Battle of Chancellorsville in May, 1863. He also is very short in describing the early stages of the invasion and Stuart's ill-conceived cavalry ride around the Union rear. But his account of day one of the battle itself and of the course of the fighting is full and outstanding.
I have found the events of July 1 difficult to follow in reading earlier studies. This is because, I think, the meeting between the two armies was unplanned and unexpected. Neither Union nor Confederacy expected to fight a major battle at Gettysburg. When the armies stumbled into each other, activities on both sides were improvised. There were a number of different fights at different times and different locations on the field and a lack of coordination. It is important to keep in mind the different units of each army involved and the different times and locations on the field.
Pfanz develops his story slowly and tries to present an integrated, cohesive account. He begins with the meeting between Buford's cavalry in the early morning of July 1, followed by lengthy discussions of the fighting between the Union First Corps and Heth's Division of Hill's Corps to the West and Northwest of the town and of the fighting between the Union 11th Corps and Ewell's Division to the North of the town. His account is less critical of the activities of the Eleventh Corps than are many other accounts of July 1, 1863.
Pfanz pays attention to leadership -- or its overall lack during the first day of the fighting -- and focuses on the troops on the ground. The fighting brigades and their leaders get a great deal of attention. There are excellent maps and descriptions on the maps which lead the reader step-by-step through the key encounters on day 1. The book is enlivened by many human interest stories and histories of the participants. Pfanz draws many insightful parallels, comparisons and contrasts, between the fighting on day 1 and some of the events which followed on days 2 and 3.
Students of Gettysburg have long debated whether the Confederacy could have gained a decisive victory if it had followed-up its initial success and attempted to occupy Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill after it had driven the Union army through Gettysburg. Pfanz studies this question carefully and shows the difficulties and uncertainties that General Ewell would have faced if he had decided to mount a further attack. Pfanz offers a thoughtful, sobering discussion of an important question about the battle.
This book is not for the beginning student of the Battle of Gettysburg. It presupposes a certain familiarity with the battle as a whole and with its ebb and flow over the three days. For those readers who have a basic grasp of the battle and a desire to learn about the events of day 1 in detail, Pfanz' study is an indispensable source.
