Gary Gallagher on Gettysburg Spring 2013

[cash]

 

[diane]

Thanks for posting this! I've been watching these and they are really worth it.

 

[civilken]

Seeing the whole series is great Gallagher usually is sorry it's professor Gallagher.

 

[MaryDee]

I wish we'd had something like this in business school instead of the horribly boring "business policy" course I was required to take!

 

[cash]

This is good preparation for those coming to Gettysburg in September.

 

[Bee]

This is good preparation for those coming to Gettysburg in September.

I somehow missed this in searches; I will be sure to watch these before the trip.

 

[cash]

I somehow missed this in searches; I will be sure to watch these before the trip.

There are more.

 

[Bee]

There are more.

Bring 'em on! My search skills seem defective

 

[cash]

Bring 'em on! My search skills seem defective

https://studycivilwar.wordpress.com/2013/03/10/leadership-at-the-battle-of-gettysburg/

https://studycivilwar.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/gary-gallagher-and-the-darden-school-of-business/

 

[E_just_E]

This is good preparation for those coming to Gettysburg in September.

Went through 3 of these, and I could not disagree more. Way too big picture and way too focused on people vs. actions to help a Gettysburg newcomer. Too much talk about Army politics.

The size of Gettysburg is way too intimidating for something like this to help. Someone would really need to get their bearings to even start to comprehend what happened where and when. First visit for someone who wants to get it, Gettysburg is like a maze that someone just parachuted in and trying to figuring it out. This is the equivalent of airdropping the Bible as help

Good stuff, but really way way way at a different level. One can probably read Sears in the 8 hrs or so it takes to watch this and have a better understanding of what's up as a Gettysburg Rookie...

 

[Northern Light]

I just watched these last week and I think they are really helpful. I don't always agree with him, but he makes you think, and I enjoy his lecturing style! Especially the chortles!

 

[cash]

Went through 3 of these, and I could not disagree more. Way too big picture and way too focused on people vs. actions to help a Gettysburg newcomer. Too much talk about Army politics.

The size of Gettysburg is way too intimidating for something like this to help. Someone would really need to get their bearings to even start to comprehend what happened where and when. First visit for someone who wants to get it, Gettysburg is like a maze that someone just parachuted in and trying to figuring it out. This is the equivalent of airdropping the Bible as help

Good stuff, but really way way way at a different level. One can probably read Sears in the 8 hrs or so it takes to watch this and have a better understanding of what's up as a Gettysburg Rookie...

You're expecting it to do something that's not its purpose. The purpose is to use Gettysburg as a leadership classroom.

But it's still good for someone coming to Gettysburg to get a quick overview.

 

[E_just_E]

You're expecting it to do something that's not its purpose. The purpose is to use Gettysburg as a leadership classroom.

But it's still good for someone coming to Gettysburg to get a quick overview.

I agree with the first part, totally disagree with the second Even the blasted Shaara movie would be a better overview for someone who does not know much about the battle than this.

Another thing that is more than irritating, is that a. he is condescending about people who "write 400 page books about an hour in the battle" while b. he has never studied the battle in depth and his only scholarship regarding Gettysburg is to edit 2 essay books that others wrote...

Not the best way to find out about what happened where when at Gettysburg. Pretty interesting insights on the characters, but that's about it...

 

[cash]

I agree with the first part, totally disagree with the second Even the blasted Shaara movie would be a better overview for someone who does not know much about the battle than this.

Another thing that is more than irritating, is that a. he is condescending about people who "write 400 page books about an hour in the battle" while b. he has never studied the battle in depth and his only scholarship regarding Gettysburg is to edit 2 essay books that others wrote...

Not the best way to find out about what happened where when at Gettysburg. Pretty interesting insights on the characters, but that's about it...

We'll have to agree to disagree. I happen to think the videos are terrific preparation.

 

[Bee]

I will bee able to offer myself up as test subject on this here topic: I have never set foot on the battlefield, I will have watched all of the videos, and I have had no formal education regarding the CW, (outside of undergrad general history)

I will purchase and study at least one -- suggested? -- battlefield guide before departure.

Interestingly enough, most of my reading has centered around leadership questions: Why Pickett's charge -- what I erroneously thought - against all obvious odds? Why did Mead not pursue a retreating Lee? What was the definition of "practicable" when applied to actual battle conditions?

I am hoping that walking the battlefield will answer as many "whys" as "wheres"

I don't anticipate mental chaos in my approach, but it will be hard to tell the difference if this does occur, because it won't bee too much of a departure from the norm

 

[cash]

I will bee able to offer myself up as test subject on this here topic: I have never set foot on the battlefield, I will have watched all of the videos, and I have had no formal education regarding the CW, (outside of undergrad general history)

I will purchase and study at least one -- suggested? -- battlefield guide before departure.

Interestingly enough, most of my reading has centered around leadership questions: Why Pickett's charge -- what I erroneously thought - against all obvious odds? Why did Mead not pursue a retreating Lee? What was the definition of "practicable" when applied to actual battle conditions?

I am hoping that walking the battlefield will answer as many "whys" as "wheres"

I don't anticipate mental chaos in my approach, but it will be hard to tell the difference if this does occur, because it won't bee too much of a departure from the norm

My favorite book on the battle is Allen C. Guelzo's Gettysburg: The Last Invasion. It's somewhat controversial due to his interpretation of Meade, with which I also disagree. I still think it's a wonderful book. It's beautifully written, and he's grounded his interpretation in the historical record. There are several folks who don't like the book due primarily to what he says about Meade [Prof. Guelzo is not a fan], but I think the rest of the book more than makes up for the Meade interpretation.

Stephen Sears' book is fairly well regarded.

Noah Andre Trudeau's book on the battle concentrates on what the soldiers wrote about it and weaves that writing into a fine narrative.

What has been the bible of the Gettysburg Campaign has been Edwin B. Coddington's The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command. It's drier than trying to eat cardboard, though.

Edward Stackpole's They Met at Gettysburg is old but very readable.

Then there are the multivolume studies.

Harry Pfanz has three books: Gettysburg: The First Day, Gettysburg: The Second Day, and Gettysburg: Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill. All three are excellent.

Gary Gallagher has a series of books that are collections of essays, one on each of the three days and one that's on the entire campaign.

Then there are various microhistories of different days or even different unit, all the way from army to regimental, actions.

 

[MaryDee]

I've read Trudeau and Coddington and will probably get a copy of Sears soon. I've watched the Gallagher Darden videos twice and really liked them, probably because I'm more interested in the leadership decisions than in the minutiae of the battle.

For Coddington, be sure to follow his footnotes (two bookmarks are mandatory!), especially for lots of dirt on Dirty Dan Sickles!

I've also read Eric Wittenberg and colleagues' books on Jeb Stuart and on the retreat from Gettysburg. Also Eric's book on General John Buford. Before the September trip. I plan to read his other two books on cavalry actions at Gettysburg, one of which (East Cavalry Field) he'll be leading us through on tour.

I've seen the movie at least a dozen times, probably too many. While I enjoy picking out the distortions of history, I also enjoy the bangs and smoke and, especially, the scenes with Sam Elliot as Buford! I'm still trying to spot my two friends who went back to Gettysburg to take part in the film. I know where they are supposed to show up in Pickett's Charge, but I haven't recognized either, probably because I got to know them only in the last few years, and the film is about 25 years old!

 

[E_just_E]

I will purchase and study at least one -- suggested? -- battlefield guide before departure.

Cash's recommendations are solid, but there are no battlefield guides in the list. Another knock on Guelzo (and it is probably my personal pet peeve) the way he does his references makes them unusable. Has a single note per paragraph which might refer to 10 different things with 10 different sources, so finding where is what, is ridiculous.

As far as battlefield guides go, I cannot recommend a single one, but I would recommend 2.

By far (leaps and bounds) the best Gettysburg battlefield guide is Mark Adkins': The Gettysburg Companion. Among other things he has pictures of the battlefield today with superimposed the lines and regiments then. There is one thing that makes this a no-go for a guide: It's size. For me a guide is something that you can take with you at the battlefield and consult. This is coffee table book size, about 600 pages and a good 6 pounds. Best guide ever, but I wish they had a digital format that someone can take at the battlefield in a tablet. Price is pretty painful as MSRP, but you can find it about half for that. Cannot even fit the darn thing in a backpack, it is that non-portable.

As far as portable guides go, the best one, in my opinion is Reardon's and Vossler's. Totally portable and has about the right information. It is in a "tour" format, like lots of them are, but this one, you can do without having to actually do the tour, which is my major knock against Petruzzi's, which albeit more detailed, is based on a series of strict tours, and it is hardcover for crying out loud.

 

[cash]

Cash's recommendations are solid, but there are no battlefield guides in the list. Another knock on Guelzo (and it is probably my personal pet peeve) the way he does his references makes them unusable. Has a single note per paragraph which might refer to 10 different things with 10 different sources, so finding where is what, is ridiculous.

As far as battlefield guides go, I cannot recommend a single one, but I would recommend 2.

By far (leaps and bounds) the best Gettysburg battlefield guide is Mark Adkins': The Gettysburg Companion. Among other things he has pictures of the battlefield today with superimposed the lines and regiments then. There is one thing that makes this a no-go for a guide: It's size. For me a guide is something that you can take with you at the battlefield and consult. This is coffee table book size, about 600 pages and a good 6 pounds. Best guide ever, but I wish they had a digital format that someone can take at the battlefield in a tablet. Price is pretty painful as MSRP, but you can find it about half for that. Cannot even fit the darn thing in a backpack, it is that non-portable.

As far as portable guides go, the best one, in my opinion is Reardon's and Vossler's. Totally portable and has about the right information. It is in a "tour" format, like lots of them are, but this one, you can do without having to actually do the tour, which is my major knock against Petruzzi's, which albeit more detailed, is based on a series of strict tours, and it is hardcover for crying out loud.

Added to those are the US Army War College Guide to the Battle of Gettysburg, which is in its second edition and follows the tour route while giving excerpts from the Official Records, and Gettysburg: A Battlefield Guide by Brooks Simpson and Mark Grimsley, which is also pretty good, though in need of a second edition.

There are a few map books, but by far the best map book is Phil Laino's Gettysburg Campaign Atlas.

 

[Bee]

Wow. A lot of great suggestions, here. I believe that it is incumbent upon myself to do the homework that will allow the battlefield to be utilized to its best learning potential. I am familiar with Mark Grimsley as one of the newer experts with whom I am just becoming acquainted with, so I will look in the library for this one. Otherwise, I will choose one overview & one guide for purchase (and on-location-reference.) I do appreciate the suggestions -- thank you.