At Gettysburg: Or What a Girl Saw and Heard at the Battle

by Matilda Pierce Alleman

Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso

Genres: Civil War, History, Nonfiction, American History, Classics, War, American Civil War

118 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1889

About the author

Matilda (Tillie) Pierce Alleman (1848-1914) was a young girl of 15 and a resident of Gettysburg during the battle of Gettysburg. Her maiden name was Tillie Pierce. During the first day's fighting, Tillie's father, James Pierce, ran a butcher shop in the town. During the first day of fighting at Gettysburg, the Pierces moved Tillie out of the town to a farm, thinking she would be safer there. It turned out that Tillie ended up right behind the Union lines on the second and third day. The farm where she stayed became a field hospital, and this young girl witnessed much suffering and death. Later in life, Mrs. Alleman wrote an account of what she saw, and it is considered a very accurate and excellent first hand source.

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

At Gettysburg, or, What a Girl Saw and Heard of the Battle (Illustrated) by Matilda Pierce Alleman is a great history lesson through the eyes of a girl at the time. The brutality she saw, the people she meet, the craziness she witnessed first hand is amazing and frightening but told so well that anyone could picture it in their mind's eye. I love books like this, from the source, history from the mouth of those who lived it, rare, scared, and not so bravely.

[Noninuna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 🌟

It's a true story about what Tillie Pierce experienced during the bloodies battle of the American civil war. It was 1863 and she was 15 years old when she saw the Confederate army marched into the town of Gettysburg.

The narration is really simple and easy to follow. However, since the book was written 25 years after the battle and she was 40 by then, I doubt that all of it was as accurate as she first saw & heard of the things. Still, it's an interesting read.

[JE · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a history nerd, you will love this book. It's a firsthand account of the battle at Gettysburg from the perspective of a young civilian girl who was there--written journal style. Fascinating. Horrific. Scandalous. It's a super fast read. Bought it at Gettysburg, read it on the two-hour flight to Denver.

[Victoria (TheMennomilistReads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick read.
Tillie was just a girl of fifteen years old when the battle of Gettysburg took place. She lived there and saw a lot of horrific things. She tells the story of what she witnessed or what her family witnessed during the three day battle at Gettysburg during the Civil War.

Although this story is really well told and is very beautiful, I wish we were able to learn more of Tillie's upbringing and her thoughts during the experience. I don't believe I really FELT what she felt. It had a lot of sad aspects though and I really liked her perspective on things.

I went to the Shriver house in which she lived next door to and evacuated with during that time period. My tour guide told me about her book which led me to its purchase. Tillie even has a detailed map of Gettysburg during that time and a couple other drawings that are really well done!

I think this would be great for kids to read to learn of a real life experience encounter of what war would be like for a teenager during that time, specifically to teen girls who might be curious of it.

[Urian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little did I know when I took a trip to Gettysburg that I would find a book with my family's name on it. After finding that I am indeed related to her, I bought the book and read it and it is a fantastic firsthand account of one of the bloodiest and most terrifying battles in out countries history. It's a great read for any civil war historian.

[Nancy Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

What better way to begin a new year than with a book on Gettysburg! This is a short memoir of Tillie Pierce's experience living through the battle being fought in her town and her own back yard. She definitely brings alive the horror of living through a civil war.

[Harold Cheetham · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book/ well worth reading.

[SusanwithaGoodBook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating first-hand account of the battle at Gettysburg from the point of view of a local girl. I saw this book in the gift shop at the Gettysburg battlefield and knew it was just what I needed.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be quite interesting. Tillie Pierce was a 15 year old resident of Gettysburg when the battle took place.

When the battle started, she was sent to a farm that was south of town, and just east of the two Round Tops. She spent the days of the battle giving water to passing soldiers, and she noted with emphasis that she personally gave a cup of water to General Meade.

When the fighting began on the Round Tops, they fled, and were told to go back to the farm because they were safer with the guns firing over the farm house than to be in the area where the shells were landing. The lady of the farm had sent her husband back through the shelling to retrieve a brand new quilted petticoat that she didn't want ruined. There are many odd, human stories like this in the book.

The book doesn't have a plot, persay, so it goes back and forth between describing scenes of gross horror to scenes such as the family continously baking bread in the kitchen to provide for soldiers. Her narrative gives it a chillingly casual and naive feel like it's taking place in a dream, or something.

I guess you would have to try to focus on something else if you were confronted with that much reality all at one time. It is a fascinating look at how most people probably thought and wrote at that time.

[Carey Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I visited Gettysburg this year and this novel came highly recommended from many. Once I sat down to really read it, I became immersed and finished it in about an hour.

Written 25yrs after the battle, it's a citizens narrative of the events before, during and after the now famous battle of Gettysburg. Not only were the soldiers fighting incredibly brave, but as this novel attests- the citizens were equally as heroic. They defended homes against enemies, treated the wounded, prayed with those in their final moments and worked tirelessly to rebuild after the armies pulled out.

I definitely recommend this novel. It's not a long read, but it's really well written and flows smoothly. I plan on holding onto this book and probably will re-read again in the future.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this charming little book up on a whim when I was in Gettysburg last week because it's invaluable research for my novel, which also deals with the civilian experience at Gettysburg, and I'm so glad I did. Tillie Pierce Alleman is a natural storyteller and her account really brings to life what it was like to live through the battle. Some of the incidents made me laugh out loud and others had me close to tears. This is a must for Civil War buffs.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book after my first visit to Gettysburg, PA. It was a fascinating first-person account of what is arguably the most famous Civil War battle. I can only imagine the horror the townspeople experienced. After reading this, I had to visit Gattysburg again and spent 2 nights at the Tillie Pierce Inn.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased a variation of this book whilst visiting Gettysburg this past summer. Tillie's account of the battle from the civilian perspective is written with incredible detail. I look forward to reading aloud portions of her diary to my students during our study of the battle.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! We toured her home when we visited Gettysburg, so reading her story of what she experienced was fascinating. War is hard on everyone, without a doubt.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know that this is an account from a young girl’s recollections of the her experience during the battle of Gettysburg while in a house near the round tops, but as a whole there is very little value in her experience that is not common knowledge told my many others of the aftermath of the three days. There are a few accounts that she talks about that are interesting to her from an eyewitness to post-war trauma, which creates vivid imagery such as the amputated limbs piled up to fence height. Accounts of returning soldier coming back years later was Interesting and accounts of her father capturing confederate soldiers turning them over to the Union soldiers after the battle was interesting. Her accounts of seeng the battle field the solder eyeglasses was a visual account that is unique. However, overall, the book was barely worth reading as she really gave no account of anything that wasn’t previously known and seemed out of touch with the national post war feelings of southerns although claiming a feelings of unity between northerners and southerners. Definitely a northern perspective on all issues.

[Hans Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

The classic account of a civilian girl's experience in the Battle of Gettysburg, "At Gettysburg, or What a Girl Saw and Heard of the Battle" is a brief, quick read that shows the chaos and fear of the approximately 2,400 citizens of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as the American Civil War came to their doorsteps. Fifteen years old at the time of the battle, Matilda "Tillie" Pierce spent the conflict at the farm of her neighbor's father, Jacob Weikert, on the eastern slopes of the Round Tops - a home that became a field hospital during the conflict. In this brief volume, she recounts meeting several notables whose names are well-known to scholars of Gettysburg, including George Meade, Stephen Weed, and William Colvill. A highly personal narrative of civilian experiences during the famous battle, there is little here of troop movements, brigades, or tactics: it is, instead, a story of precisely what it says in the title: "What a Girl Saw and Heard of the Battle." Invaluable as a resource for studying the civilian costs of war, this slim volume is a gem for any Civil War aficionado.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eyewitness account written by 15 year old Tillie Pierce who lived through the Battle of Gettysburg. She escapes the fighting near her home in Gettysburg with Mrs. Schriver on July 1, 1863. Tillie and Mrs. Schriver both flee the fighting to stay with Mrs. Schriver's father, Jacob Weikert, at his house on the eastern slope of Little Round Top. Needless to say what she encounters the next three days is chilling and grisly. Death and destruction surround her. She writes with passion twenty-five years later as an adult but her recollection is vivid even after this long after the battle.

This is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand what the civilian population of Gettysburg lived through during, and for years after, those three fateful days in July 1863. War is horrible as anyone who has lived through it can tell you. More folks need to learn this so war is not so easily considered a remedy for settling disagreements.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book after touring the Shriver's house in Gettysburg. This is Tillie's first hand account of what it was like to live in Gettysburg at the time of the infamous horrific battle.
She relays the horrors of what she saw, but also recounts her efforts to be helpful. By baking bread and handing out water to the soldiers. In a time of unimaginable destruction and gore she truly is an American hero, for they come in all shapes and sizes, not just those who fight.
When picking up books that are older sometimes the language gets to me with over-formality, but this book read just fine, like a modern day novel. I am not typically one for non-fiction either, but this was a book that I didn't mind making the exception. I finished reading Tillie's account with horrific imagery in my head, but also with a new understanding for those on the home-front during wartimes.

[Laken · Rating 5 out of 5]

“To enter into detail concerning the present appearance of the battle-field is not my desire. It must be seen and studied to be appreciated. Who ever can, should not fail to visit the place.”

It is clearly understandable why Tillie Pierce’s book is considered one of the best citizen accounts of the Battle of Gettysburg, and it is one of the most heartfelt, amazing stories that I have heard concerning the Civl War. During my most recent trip back to Gettysburg, I had the opportunity to visit the Shriver House Museum, where they keep the memory and story of Tillie alive, while also detailing the story of her neighbors, the Shrivers.

This was such an important part of our history, and I am forever grateful that I was able to study history in such a significant place.

[Jeff Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting look at the battle from a young girl’s perspective. Her vivid recollections of the shifting battle are excellent. Her parents send her away so she’ll be safe and out of harm’s way. Every house she goes to becomes the front line. Her travels will have her encountering a host of Union General’s including Meade, and a few confederate soldiers looking for stragglers and hiding Union soldiers.

Her main impression is all the temporary hospitals that are set-up and the piles of limbs of wounded men.

Four Stars

[Lisa Consiglio-Wolff · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we think of Gettysburg and the three day battle of July 1863, our minds always go to the soldiers of the Blue and the Grey. We don't think of the 2,400 hundred residents whose lives were disrupted and in a short period of time gave up their lives to tend the wounded, feed them and strive to survive such a bloody battle of the Civil War.

This memoir is a quick read detailing what Tillie saw and experienced as a civilian!

A must read for those interested in our history.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I understand why this is required reading for Civil War and Gettysburg history nuts! There isn't a ton of detail, but her writing talks not only of the battle, but gives a first hand account of how the civilians were affected both during and after the battle.
The story of her father capturing Confederate soldiers with an unloaded rifle was hilarious.
Definitely a must read!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent Eyewitness Account

Ms Pierce Alleman does an excellent job of telling what she had witnessed as a young teen girl during one of the most ferocious battles of the Civil War. The discriprion of the men she met and assisted. The discriptions of the town and battlefield the way she saw it.

This is an must read for the historian who studies Gettysburg.

[Denise Morgan]

What a girl saw

This is very interesting and as detailed as a little girl would surmise it to be. History never ceases to amaze me and yet we still have not learned from our mistakes. A very good book to read. I enjoyed the little details this young lady wrote about saw thru her eyes.

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a first-hand account written many years after the event. Since there was such a gap in time, it was interesting to see what was most remembered like what happened to her horse and that the men appreciated that her and her sister sang to them but they wished she knew more of the lyrics. I wish there were more pages to read from a girl's experience during Gettysburg.

[Kim Gravitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

At Gettysburg

This book gives a personal account of those days in early July, 1863. Written by a woman who was a girl of fifteen At the time, the narrative provides an excellent description of the experience of the people of Gettysburg. This story is a tale that has parallels for our nation today.

[Philip Palermo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A New Perspective

This is my first Gettysburg book from the perspective of someone who lived there. It was an enjoyable read because there wasn't the usual talk about brigades, regiments, generals, etc. It was about what a civilian witnessed on those days as the "storm" approached and rained down violence and terror on this hamlet for 3 days in July 1863.

[Sher (in H-Town) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a super fast read and a tiny account written many years after the experience. The narrative tells of the experience of a 15 year old girl during and after the three days of civil war battle that took place in Gettysburg.

The account was interesting from a basic non military point of view.

I heard about this book when visiting the Beyond the Battle museum on a recent trip to Gettysburg.

[Ken Hokanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

I visited once before, and will be visiting again soon. Any American who studies history, and is grateful to be a citizen, should study the battle and enjoy their visit.

This perspective of a young lady who lived there and witnessed the battle, will make my next visit more memorable.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read, what really shines about this book is the little interactions between the author, who was 15 at the time of the battle, and the soliders she meets. It brings history to life in a way that a textbook never will.