I snoozed through history in high school. One of many mistakes in my life. As an enlisted Special Forces soldier, I found military history invaluable in my duties and interactions with indigenious peoples. I have since consumed Osprey et all.
I had to read and write a report on The Killer Angels three times. Once for basic Infantry Officer training, Special Forces Officer training, and at Command & General Staff College. One of the highlights of the SFOC was a 3 day TEWT (Tactical Exercise Without Troops) to the Gettysburg battlefield. It was conducted by a legend in the Spec Ops community who just happened to grow up there.
We walked that hallowed ground for several days gaming the battle, playing 'what if'. The feeling I had reminded me much like the first time I walked into Dachau.
Anyway, an Osprey remake of Gettysburg in three volumes (days) would be about right. I would suggest that you create sidebars detailing the major commanders in the volumes as they become significant. Also special feature the role of cavalry, the changing role of artillery, and the emergance of sniping in the battle.
An alternative could be to do a three volume series with the first covering the entire battle, with the other two covering each of the two sides. I think chronological would be better.
Posted by: Clifford Andersen | July 21, 2007 at 04:31 PM
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The last time I was at Gettysburg was on a Boy Scout trip at age 13 (over 17 years ago). Indeed, the dramatic physical features combined with outstanding preservation of the battlefield make it easy to grasp the excellent defensive potential of the Army of the Potomac's "fish hook." Ironically, the first time I went to Gettysburg (I was 6) it was early April, and it was bitterly cold.
I agree that covering the action by separate days would be the way to go. This brings me to something I've been tumbling around in my head for awhile: Would it be possible for Osprey to produce a Campaign title (or titles) on the siege of Petersburg? If so, what sort of organization do you think would be best?
-Chris
Posted by: Chris | July 23, 2007 at 04:14 AM
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Thanks, Clifford. Not sure why you were bounced initially but your comment made it through OK in the end. I’m envious of your in-depth Gettysburg experience: the deeper it took you, the more awe-inspiring the place must have become!
I think we probably will go with the three-day chronological treatment. Now we just have to face up to the small hurdle of getting together a really good proposal and plan for the three volumes. We can’t go adding anything to the literature that isn’t better than 100% spot-on… Noted that sniping is amongst the features you’d like to see highlighted. You’ll enjoy the subject of my next post, I hope!
Thanks also, Chris, for your reminiscences and your view on the organization of a multi-volume Campaign. You’ll be pleased to know we recently commissioned a title on Petersburg for publication in 2009. This will cover the full ten months in one volume. A case could perhaps be made for doing one that focused on the more interesting months of the siege in 1864 alone, but a companion volume completing the story would not have enough meat to it. Thinking of Petersburg reminded me of my first encounter with General Benjamin “Beast” Butler, pictured inside a chamber pot lovingly exhibited in the wonderfully eclectic Confederacy Museum in New Orleans. Butler was infamous for his treatment of the people of that city and not much more popular with Ulysses Grant for his feeble generalship in the early days of the siege, when Petersburg was actually wide open. My wife somehow acquired a similar utensil, in miniature, with Adolf Hitler on the receiving end, but we lost it in a burglary. These can’t be the only figures of history to have been honored in this way!
Posted by: William | July 24, 2007 at 05:32 PM
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I'm not really into the Civil War, so I've only been to Gettysburg once (despite living in Maryland). I went with a friend who is a big Gettysburg buff, and I spent most of the day annoying him by captioning all the statues, "I'll die before I surrender, Tim!"
We did have an adventure looking for the Maryland monument. We knew it portrayed two soldiers, but we had no clue where it was located.
After a few hours spent tramping around the battlefield, we spied a likely-looking statue beyond a cornfield. Excited to finally find the darn thing, we hacked our way through the cornfield, only to find... the New York Fire Zouaves! Of course, the Maryland monument is right next to visitors center, as we found out at the end of the day.
The book-a-day plan sounds like a good idea, and it might make a good gift for my poor friend.
Posted by: Marc Nelson Jr. | July 25, 2007 at 05:32 PM
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Excellent news that Osprey plans a proper 3 volume treatment of Gettysburg. As long as titles are being suggested, how about the following:
Wildreness 1864, Market Garden 1944 (this could be another multi volume candidate), and Tannenberg 1914.
I too, have fond memories of a childhood visit to the Gettysburg battlefield (the trip also visited Yorktown, Brandywine, and Monongahela, among others), however the most memorable event was during a visit to the Antietam battlefield. Driving to the site, my parents encountered a sudden and absolutely ferocious summer thunderstorm. We walked the still wet fields while dark and rumbling clouds hung in the sky. Suddenly while walking along Bloody Lane I was struck by the most eerie feeling of loss. It sounds cliché, but it truly seemed like that area was haunted by the spirits of the fallen soldiers. I make no "paranormal" judgments, but it certainly made for a very memorable visit.
Posted by: Jay | July 25, 2007 at 07:54 PM
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Thanks for sharing your experiences, Marc, and Jay also for your suggestions for new titles; these are always welcome. Both Wilderness and Tannenberg (1914, done 1410!) are on our longer-term Campaign wishlist. Regarding Market Garden, we would need to think quite hard about the impact on our old but still serviceable single-volume treatment (CAM 24 Arnhem 1944) because this would probably not survive as a complementary overview alongside a more detailed multi-volume treatment in the way that CAM 1 Normandy 1944 works alongside the four more recent D-Day volumes. But what would be the best way to slice Market Garden, if we were to consider this? A two-volume solution would seem right to me, airborne and ground, Operation Market and Operation Garden, but maybe I'm being unimaginative! On this tack, Waterloo is another battle that merits multi-volume treatment. What thoughts on how we should slice this one?
Posted by: william | July 31, 2007 at 11:56 AM
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Hi William,
Might I suggest, instead of a 3 volume set, add a 4th volume, half dealing with the events in the days just ahead of and during Gettysburg: The confederate units that almost made Harrisburg, the march by several corps to get Gettysburg in time to reinforce, and the second half dealing with the aftermath: the withdrawal of the confederates, the skirmishes after and the arrival of the USSC. I know that's normally out of the Campaign mandate, but they are fascinating in their own right, and very much a part of the Gettysburg picture.
Posted by: Jen Hall | September 01, 2007 at 09:41 AM
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