Three Days at Gettysburg—Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership

No Civil War Military campaign has inspired as much controversy about leadership as has Gettysburg. Because it was a defining event for both the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia, the debates began almost immediately after the battle, and they continue today. After the war, Confederates engaged in fierce arguments over who was to blame for their defeat, and on the Union side, veterans wrangled about who should receive credit for establishing the splendid defensive position. Three Days at Gettysburg contains essays from noted Civil War historians on leadership during the battle. Often overshadowed by the more famous events o the second and third days, the initial day of the contest offers the most interesting problems of leadership. Based on fresh manuscript sources and careful consideration of existing literature, the essays about the second day of the Gettysburg campaign present new evidence and sometimes controversial interpretations that will prompt re-evaluation of several officers who played crucial roles. Day three at Gettysburg was dominated by wasted opportunities for a Union counterattack and the role of artillery support by both the Union and the South during the climactic assault. The contributors to this volume believe there is room for scholarship that revisits the sources on which earlier accounts have been based and challenges prevailing interpretations of key officers' performances. They have trained their investigative lens on some obvious and some relatively neglected figures, with an eye toward illuminating not only what happened at Gettysburg but also the nature of the command at different levels.

Gary W. Gallagher is professor of history at the University of Virginia. He is a contributing editor of The Kent State University Press publications Antietam: Essays on the 1862 Maryland Campaign (1989); Struggle for the Shenandoah: Essays on the 1864 Valley Campaign (1991); The First Day at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership (1992); and The Second Day at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership (1993).