The Three Days: A Novel of the Battle of Gettysburg

by Don Robertson

The author's first novel [about the battle of Gettysburg]. 222 pages.

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Robertson was born in Cleveland, Ohio and attended East High School. He briefly attended Harvard and Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) before working as a reporter and columnist.

Robertson won the Cleveland Arts Prize in 1966. The Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature presented him with its Mark Twain Award in 1991. The Press Club of Cleveland's Hall of Fame inducted Robertson in 1992, and he received the Society of Professional Journalist's Life Achievement Award in 1995.

Robertson died on his birthday in 1999, aged 70. He's buried in Logan, Ohio.

Reviews

[Ronald Weston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've wanted to read The Three Days for many years but never seemed to get around to it. I bought a paperback copy in the early sixties because I was interested in Civil War novels. Later, I was intrigued by Stephen King's high regard for Robertson's work. I misplaced the paperback and, always with the intention of reading it, bought another paperback, and later, a hardcover edition. Finally, I decided it was time to delve into Robertson's oeuvre. I am glad I did.

The Three Days, published in 1959, was Robertson's first novel; it was followed by By Antietam Creek (1960) and The River and the Wilderness (1962), comprising his Civil War trilogy. The Three Days covers the prelude to and the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-July 3, 1863), via the interaction of five main characters in the depiction of the movement of the two coins referenced in the novel's epigraph. The character interaction and lineal development of the novel is interspersed with interludes which give historic context.

The focal characters of the novel are Lt. Alf J. Castetter, a cavalry officer of the Army of the Potomac (Union); PVT Rufus Patterson, an infantryman of the Army of Northern Virginia (Confederate); PVT Whitfield ("Wheatfield") Johnson, a cavalryman attached to Castetter's unit; CPL Lew Mabry, an infantryman in Patterson's unit; and Leora Baxter, a sixteen-year-old resident at the western edge of the Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg.

I loved the structure and style of this novel. Each of the characters are well drawn and Robertson's use of interior monologue allows the reader to quickly get a real sense of the characters, each of whom are very introspective. The reader knows who to root for and who to despise. The characters embody pride, honor, fear, heroics, cowardice, innocence and cruelty. And in a novel of war there is pathos.

The interludes, sometime long and sometime short, give background and descriptive information on military commanders, their strategy, and troop movements. The interludes, at times, offer assessment of military leadership, both analytical and critical, but always informative and entertaining. Sometime the interludes almost become a character within the narrative: past events are depicted parenthetically and battle descriptions become action sequences related in a near-relentless, floodgate stream of consciousness manner over multiple pages with only semi-colons separating elements.

I really enjoyed reading The Three Days. I was thoroughly engrossed and read it quickly. In passing the novel mentions past battles between the two armies, specifically Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. The next two novels in his trilogy covers those battles.

I have 15 out 18 of Don Robertson's novels. Now that I have finally experienced his style, I have definitely added them to my monumental reading tower.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Of no redeeming literary or historical value. I abandoned it on page 114 after one too many historical inaccuracies.

[Rick Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pre-dates Shaara with historical fiction. Reads very poetically!