By J. David Petruzzi The Gettysburg Campaign in Numbers and Losses: Synopses, Orders of Battle, Strengths, Casualties, an

by J. David Petruzzi

The Gettysburg Campaign in Numbers and Losses is a full-color, master work decades in the making. Presented for the first time in print are comprehensive orders of battle for more than three dozen engagements both large and small waged during the five weeks of the Gettysburg Campaign (June 9 - July 14, 1863).Each presentation includes a synopsis of the engagement, photos of the commanders, an original full page map of the fighting, an order of battle with numbers and losses (including killed, wounded, captured, and missing), charts and graphs of relative strengths and losses, a conclusion of how the fighting affected each side and the course of the campaign, and a brief suggested reading list.J. David Petruzzi and Steven Stanley use a staggering array of primary resources to compile the text and craft the original maps, including the Official Records, soldier letters and diaries, period newspapers, regimental histories, reminiscences, muster rolls, and other published and unpublished sources. For the first time students of the campaign can turn page-by-page to read, visualize, and understand blow-by-blow how the unfolding action affected the individual corps, divisions, brigades, and regiments, and by extension influenced decision-making at the highest levels of command.The Gettysburg Campaign in Numbers and Synopses, Orders of Battle, Strengths, Casualties, and Maps, June 9 - July 14, 1863 is a stunning original presentation destined to become a constant companion for anyone interested in this always fascinating slice of Civil War history.

Genres: Gettysburg Campaign, Civil War Eastern Theater, American Civil War

Hardcover

First published October 1, 2011

About the author

J. David Petruzzi is an award-winning Civil War cavalry historian. He is the author of many articles for a wide variety of publications, and has written or co-authored several books.

Reviews

[Joe Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book with excellent maps, great detail, and is essential to anyone who is interested in the Battle of Gettysburg. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

[W Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is exactly what it purports to be. It is a very good effort to develop complete orders of battle for nearly all the battles and skirmishes of the Gettysburg Campaign. These OB’s also include researched numbers for strengths of the units and casualties incurred in the actions. Enough description of the events is included to provide bridges between events and a solid, but not detailed, description of the events. Steven Stanley’s fine maps also provide another good reason to add this book.

[Matthew Bartlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gettysburg Campaign in Numbers and Losses completes what many historians have previously attempted to do. By completing this work, both Petruzzi and Stanley have created the greatest reference for the campaign.
J. David Petruzzi and Steven A. Stanley have worked together before on The Complete Gettysburg Guide and The New Gettysburg Campaign Handbook. Petruzzi has also written other Gettysburg works along with Eric Wittenberg such as Plenty of Blame to God Around: Jeb Stuart’s Controversial Ride to Gettysburg and with Wittenberg and Michael F. Nugent One Continuous Fight: The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Stanley lives in Gettysburg and works as a graphic designer who specializes in maps. His work, which can be seen in this volume, are some of the best maps in the industry.
There have been numerous books about the Gettysburg Campaign and even after one hundred and fifty years, there is still more to write about. This work takes the study to a whole new level separating the smaller skirmishes and battles from the engagement at Gettysburg. By referencing the Official Records, readers will see numbers and losses on the campaign scale. What Petruzzi has done along with the work of Stanley’s maps, is researched what the numbers and losses were during the other engagements during the campaign. Petruzzi’s research on a skirmish such as Seneca Mills, Maryland, shows the great care he has taken during his years of study. The greatest part of this study is the separation of the three days of the fight at Gettysburg. Readers and historians will always see the Battle of Gettysburg as a Union victory but with the aid of the information, we can see that with the three days separated, it is amazing that the Army of the Potomac overcame such losses from the first two days. Along with the percentages for the numbers and losses of the army, there are bar graphs which calculate the information by infantry, cavalry and artillery. While most historians would study the campaign up to the battle, Petruzzi and Stanley also gives us the retreat back to Virginia from the Battle of Monterey Pass to the Skirmish at Falling Waters, Maryland. Besides percentages and maps by the authors, Petruzzi gives the reader an explanation of what happened there. For the example of the Skirmish at Witmer’s Farm, there is a short description of the combat between the militia and a cavalry unit. By doing this, we have a complete understanding of the aggregates and percentages of the Gettysburg Campaign as a whole instead of the numbers according to the battle.
Petruzzi and Stanley have given us a great reference which will be the standard for years to come. What they have also accomplished is the ability to bring people this information without complicating the reference. Any student or scholar will be able to use this work to more fully understand the campaign and gain a more exact feeling to the campaign’s casualties.

Matthew Bartlett - Author The Gettysburg Chronicle

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

With maps and orders of battle galore, this book is for the serious Civil War scholar. Those interested in the war know plenty about the Battle of Gettysburg from July 1-3, 1863, but not much about the entire campaign and the small battles and skirmishes that were included in the month-plus of action surrounding the epic battle. This book is great for that. My sole issue was that there was not a lot of detailed discussion about the actual Battle of Gettysburg. Just a ton of maps and orders of battle and maybe 3-4 pages of talk about the battle itself, but since the book is more about the complete campaign, it is understandable.

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the book has many detailed orders of battle and excellent maps, for the most part it simply lists the exact strength and casualties for every unit in every engagement of the campaign, without adding any analysis for the battles/skirmishes.