The Summer of '63 Gettysburg

Favorite Stories and Fresh Perspectives from the Historians at Emerging Civil War

Chris Mackowski, Dan Welch, Chris Mackowski, Dan Welch

• Publisher: Savas Beatie
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781611215717
• eBook ISBN: 9781954547049
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 19th Century History
• Index: History

"An outstanding read for anyone interested in the Civil War and Gettysburg in particular . . . innovative and thoughtful ideas on seemingly well-covered events." — The NYMAS Review
 
The largest land battle on the North American continent has maintained an unshakable grip on the American imagination. Building on momentum from a string of victories that stretched back into the summer of 1862, Robert E. Lee launched his Confederate Army of Northern Virginia on an invasion of the North meant to shake Union resolve and fundamentally shift the dynamic of the war. His counterpart with the Federal Army of the Potomac, George Meade, elevated to command just days before the fighting, found himself defending his home state in a high-stakes battle that could have put Confederates at the very gates of the nation's capital.
 
The public historians writing for the popular Emerging Civil War blog, speaking on its podcast, or delivering talks at the annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge in Virginia always present their work in ways that engage and animate audiences. Their efforts entertain, challenge, and sometimes provoke readers with fresh perspectives and insights born from years of working on battlefields, guiding tours, presenting talks, and writing for the wider Civil War community. The Summer of '63: Gettysburg is a compilation of some of their favorites, anthologized, revised, and updated, together with several original pieces. Each entry includes original and helpful illustrations. Along with its companion volume The Summer of '63: Vicksburg and Tullahoma, this important study contextualizes the major 1863 campaigns in what was arguably the Civil War's turning-point summer.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Maps
• Points of Interest
• Editors’ Note
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword: Kristopher D. White
• Photographing Gettysburg: Chris Heisey
• Nobody Can Truly Understand the Battle of Gettysburg Without a Solid Understanding of the Battle of Chancellorsville: Eric J. Wittenberg
• “A Very Dangerous Experiment on the Eve of Battle”: Meade Takes Command of the Army of the Potomac: Kristopher D. White
• Reynolds Reconsidered: Kristopher D. White
• “Not Glad to See You by a Damned Sight:” The Capture of the Confederacy’s “Little Gamecock”: Phillip S. Greenwalt
• Who was the First Federal Infantry on the Field?: Jonathan Tracey
• The Bloody Railroad Cut: Kristopher D. White
• Man’s Best Comrade: Sallie and the 11th Pennsylvania: Edward S. Alexander
• Layers of History at Oak Ridge: Jonathan Tracey
• “A Central Figure of Transcendingly Absorbing Interest”: The Wilkesons at Gettysburg: Evan Portman
• “Mainly a History of Individuals”: The Federal Retreat Through Gettysburg, July 1, 1863: Dan Welch
• The Curmudgeon, The Eccentric, and the “Norse God”: How Three Men Impacted the Battle of Gettysburg: Kristopher D. White
• Stonewall Jackson at Gettysburg: Chris Mackowski
• Gettysburg: Day Two: Daniel T. Davis, Chris Mackowski, and Kristopher D. White
• Strong Vincent at Gettysburg and in Memory: Terry Rensel
• “Where All So Well Did Their Duty”: George Sears Greene’s Brigade at Gettysburg: Dan Welch
• John Rankin, Bravery, and Gettysburg: Jonathan Tracey
• A Poet’s Perspective: Melville on Pickett’s Charge: Caroline Davis
• Civil War Witch Hunt: George Gordon Meade, the Retreat from Gettysburg, and the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War: Eric Wittenberg
• Words of the Wounded: The Gettysburg Campaign: Paige Gibbons Backus
• David Laird and the Christian Commission at Gettysburg: Jonathan Tracey
• Herman Haupt: Reopening the Rail Lines to Gettysburg: Sarah Kay Bierle
• Gettysburg: The Fighting Man’s Turning Point: Kevin Pawlak
• War Chicken: Meg Groeling
• Unintentional Reconciliation: Memorializing the Cavalry Fight at Gettysburg: Cecily Nelson Zander
• Traveling to Gettysburg: Chester S. Durfee and the 1913 Reunion: Dan Welch
• Gettysburg Memories: Field Trip: Chris Mackowski
• Contributors Notes
• Postscript