This fine book goes into detail about what has become known as "Pickett's Charge" without becoming boring.
There is complete coverage of the connonade which preceded the charge and a discussion of the damage which was done.
We learn of the different types of artillary and ammunition used by both sides in the canonade and the placement of
these guns. The author also gives detailed coverage of the placement of troops and how they marched in formation.
Ultimately, under heavy fire, the Confederate formations break up and in the ultimate "charge" it became almost
impossible to map out where each regiment was as they fell apart. Therefore, to a great extent, the Confederate army
on Cemetary Ridge was each man for himself.
Although we know the outcome in advance, the narrative is still thrilling as we read about Confederate troops breaking
through and penetrating the Union defenses. Through the author's masterful story telling, the outcome, for a while,
almost seems to be in doubt. In addition to documenting, almost regiment by regiment, the action which occured, the
author provides many interesting, and often amusing, annecdotal tales of individual experiences. The carnage was
terrible and the Confederate army suffered a horrific loss of officers, including generals.
The author also gets us into the heads of the key players in this event. He gives a lot of coverage to Lee's
steadfastness in ordering the charge and Longstreet's serious misgivings. Written in the elegant, highly readable
style of other Civil War historians of that era (the late 1950s), such as Bruce Catton, this is historical writing
which almost reads like a novel. I highly recommend this classic history of this key event in American history.
George R. Stewart, (1895-1980) taught for more than fifty years at the University of California,
Berkeley. He is the author of Pickett's Charge, Earth Abides, and numerous other books of history,
biography, and fiction.
"Stewart tells this only too familiar story as if it had never been told before,
in spite of ourselves, we sit breathless to the end. A splendid and stirring book."
"The author has written an eminently readable, thoroughly enjoyable, and well-researched book on the third day of the Gettysburg battle, July 3, 1863. An especially rewarding read if one has toured, or plans to visit, the battlefield site. The author's unpretentious, conversational style of writing succeeds in putting the reader on the ground occupied by both the Confederate and Union forces before, during and after Pickett's and Pettigrew's famous assault on Meade's Second Corps. Interspersed with humor and down-to-earth observations concerning battlefield conditions, the author conscientiously describes all aspects of the battle, from massing of the assault columns and pre-assault artillery barrage to the last shots and the flight of the surviving rebels back to the safety of their lines. Having visited Gettysburg several years ago (my chief interest then being Joshua Chamberlain's heroic defense of Little Round Top on the battle's second day), this superb volume makes me want to go again.
" - Joseph Haschka, Glendale, CA USA
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