I'm looking for some book or dvd titles pertaining to Lee's retreat from Gettysburg back to Virginia

missourian

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Some book I read about Gettysburg touched lightly on the retreat of the army of Northern Virginia from Gettysburg back to Virginia and what an awful time they had getting there due to weather and so many wounded. Really wanting to read a good account of this. Thanks in advance.
Ken
 
A book by member @Eric Wittenberg called "One Continous Fight " is about the best available.there is another by Kent Masterson Brown which is also excellent,I just can't think of the title right now.I read both books at the same time chapter by chapter and you really feel sorry for the ANV.

One Continuous Fight is on my list of 'must-read' for 2017.
 
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Brown's book is titled Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics, and the Pennsylvania Campaign. As the title implies the subject matter deals more with the logistics of getting Lee's wagon trains back to Virginia than most other books. It is a good book and provides a good background on what it took to keep a 19th Century army in the field.
 
I heartily endorse the recommendation of One Continuous Fight. It's meticulously documented from original sources and also extremely well written. In the very first chapter, on the wagon train of wounded, you'll feel their suffering as though you were there!
 
I'll back One Continuous Fight as well as the Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics, and the Pennsylvania Campaign. Both are great.
Thanks to all for your input. The little ive read on it sounds like it was very awful. Even though Meade was chastised for NOT going after the ANV i wonder if he wouldve been vilified by the public for doing it once details reached the newspapers?
 
Thanks to all for your input. The little ive read on it sounds like it was very awful. Even though Meade was chastised for NOT going after the ANV i wonder if he wouldve been vilified by the public for doing it once details reached the newspapers?

I always take the criticism of McClellan after Antietam and of Meade after Gettysburg with a great big grain of salt.

Monday Morning Quarterbacking is the easiest thing in the world. Both McClellan and Meade knew something perhaps not understood by most of the Armchair Generals: The Army of Northern Virginia in retreat was an extremely dangerous group of men, with a proven ability to inflict terrible damage on the Union forces.
 
Thanks to all for your input. The little ive read on it sounds like it was very awful. Even though Meade was chastised for NOT going after the ANV i wonder if he wouldve been vilified by the public for doing it once details reached the newspapers?

The popular misconception is that Meade did little or nothing to pursue Lee during the retreat from Gettysburg. As One Continuous Fight shows nothing is further from the truth. People forget that the Army of the Potomac was beat up and battered from the fighting at Gettysburg and desperately needed rest or reorganization. That Meade did as well as he did is a bit of a miracle.
 
The popular misconception is that Meade did little or nothing to pursue Lee during the retreat from Gettysburg. As One Continuous Fight shows nothing is further from the truth. People forget that the Army of the Potomac was beat up and battered from the fighting at Gettysburg and desperately needed rest or reorganization. That Meade did as well as he did is a bit of a miracle.
Kilpatrick was a royal pain to Lee for those 10 days.
 
The popular misconception is that Meade did little or nothing to pursue Lee during the retreat from Gettysburg. As One Continuous Fight shows nothing is further from the truth. People forget that the Army of the Potomac was beat up and battered from the fighting at Gettysburg and desperately needed rest or reorganization. That Meade did as well as he did is a bit of a miracle.
Yep, i agree. I understand Lincolns point of view, and maybe thats why he didnt send that scathing letter he had written to Meade, maybe he'd considered the condition of the army and that changed his mind. Its easy to say what should have been when you werent actually there and experienced it. When I think of how units from both sides marched all stinking day in that miserable heat just to get there, with little to no food or water only to go right into battle in some cases, it astounds me how they could do it.
Looking forward to reading these books, thanks all.
 
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A book by member @Eric Wittenberg called "One Continous Fight " is about the best available.there is another by Kent Masterson Brown which is also excellent,I just can't think of the title right now.I read both books at the same time chapter by chapter and you really feel sorry for the ANV.
This book of Eric's is ready for my Christmas /New Year summer reading. Having just finished 2 of his books, I'm looking forward to it!
 
@PeterT, you'll love it! There is plenty of material at the end to justify Meade's actions during the retreat, although some big boos at others, in particular Alfred Pleasanton for not properly organizing his cavalry. (The cavalry fought splendidly but the divisions were not coordinated--Alf was too busy not leading from way in the rear.) Of course organizing any outfit led by Kill-Cavalry might have been beyond the capabilities of the most able general!

I tend to forget that Down Under, where you are, you are approaching summer, while out here in the Pacific NW we are awaiting our first ice storm of the season.

I'm waiting for Eric's forthcoming book on Meade, which I understand greatly amplifies those final chapters of One Continuous Fight.
 
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