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Little Round Top at Gettysburg: A Reassessment of July 2, 1863
Little Round Top. Three words that resonate in American military history. It was there, at one of the most visited sites on the Gettysburg battlefield, that Confederates under Maj. Gen. John B. Hood attempted to turn the left flank of the Army of the Potomac. Only the supreme efforts of Col. Strong Vincent’s brigade and a handful of others, including Brig. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren and Cols. Patrick O’Rorke and Joshua Chamberlain, saved the high ground and the Union army from potential disaster. Little Round Top at A Reassessment of July 2, 1863, is the first comprehensive, in-depth study of this complex and bloody clash in two decades.
Most visitors today are familiar with the fighting on Little Round Top through Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1974 novel The Killer Angels, which gained renewed popularity after the 1993 film Gettysburg. Both portrayals take liberties with the historical events, and many accounts by soldiers who fought there, as well as subsequent historians are rife with inconsistencies and, in some cases, rely on incomplete information. Joseph Michael Boslet’s years of studying primary sources—including battle reports, soldiers’ narratives, and regimental histories—confirm some events while challenging others.
Boslet, a Vietnam combat veteran and dedicated Civil War scholar, meticulously reexamines the practical aspects of regimental tactics and their use of 19th-century combat methods. He has walked every yard of Little Round Top’s rocky hillside countless times. His unique perspective, shaped by his own combat experiences, offers unparalled insight.
Accompanied by original maps, photographs, and detailed notes, Little Round Top at Gettysburg offers a practical history that readers can enjoy from an armchair or use on the battlefield to walk the ground fought over by soldiers and envision the battle as they experienced it.
Most visitors today are familiar with the fighting on Little Round Top through Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1974 novel The Killer Angels, which gained renewed popularity after the 1993 film Gettysburg. Both portrayals take liberties with the historical events, and many accounts by soldiers who fought there, as well as subsequent historians are rife with inconsistencies and, in some cases, rely on incomplete information. Joseph Michael Boslet’s years of studying primary sources—including battle reports, soldiers’ narratives, and regimental histories—confirm some events while challenging others.
Boslet, a Vietnam combat veteran and dedicated Civil War scholar, meticulously reexamines the practical aspects of regimental tactics and their use of 19th-century combat methods. He has walked every yard of Little Round Top’s rocky hillside countless times. His unique perspective, shaped by his own combat experiences, offers unparalled insight.
Accompanied by original maps, photographs, and detailed notes, Little Round Top at Gettysburg offers a practical history that readers can enjoy from an armchair or use on the battlefield to walk the ground fought over by soldiers and envision the battle as they experienced it.
- GenresCivil War
304 pages, Hardcover
Published December 15, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 20, 2026
Joseph Michael Boslet’s Little Round Top at Gettysburg: A Reassessment of July 2, 1863 is a thoughtful and substantive contribution to the long-standing debate over one of the most scrutinized actions of the American Civil War. Building on, yet distinct from, classic works such as John B. Bachelder and Charles E. Norton’s The Attack and Defense of Little Round Top and more recent studies like Thomas A. Desjardin’s Stand Firm Ye Boys from Maine, Boslet offers a reassessment grounded in both careful historical analysis and his personal experience as a combat veteran.
Boslet’s central strength lies in his ability to evaluate the historical record through the lens of practical battlefield experience without allowing that perspective to overwhelm the evidence. Unlike some revisionist efforts that seek to overturn established interpretations for their own sake, Boslet’s reassessment is measured. He neither dismisses the traditional narrative outright nor accepts it uncritically. Instead, he situates familiar events within a broader and more coherent tactical framework, refining rather than replacing earlier interpretations. In this regard, his work compares favorably with Norton’s analytical rigor and Desjardin’s narrative clarity, while adding a modern soldier’s appreciation for confusion, command friction, and the limits of battlefield control.
One of the book’s most important contributions is its scope. Rather than concentrating narrowly on the actions of Vincent’s Brigade and the 20th Maine—a focus that has dominated popular and scholarly treatments alike—Boslet examines the fighting for Little Round Top as a whole. This approach addresses a significant gap in the literature. Regimental histories often provide granular detail but lack context, while campaign-level studies necessarily compress events on the Union left. A book-length treatment devoted entirely to Little Round Top on July 2 allows Boslet to integrate Confederate and Union actions across the terrain, highlighting how multiple units, decisions, and movements interacted over time.
By broadening the lens, Boslet brings overdue attention to actions beyond Vincent’s line, including lesser-known units and phases of the engagement that influenced the outcome but rarely receive sustained analysis. This holistic approach reinforces the idea that Little Round Top was not saved by a single dramatic moment or unit, but by a series of interconnected actions shaped by terrain, timing, leadership, and exhaustion. In doing so, Boslet effectively bridges the divide between microhistory and operational history.
As a contribution to Gettysburg scholarship, this work is both meaningful and timely. While Little Round Top has been written about extensively, Boslet demonstrates that careful reassessment can still yield new insights when the focus shifts from legend to process. His study does not seek to diminish acts of courage or leadership, but to place them within a realistic combat environment that better reflects how battles are actually fought.
In sum, Little Round Top at Gettysburg: A Reassessment of July 2, 1863 stands as a valuable addition to the historiography of Gettysburg. It will reward specialists familiar with the debates surrounding Little Round Top, while also providing serious students of the Civil War with a clearer, more comprehensive understanding of one of the war’s most iconic engagements.
Boslet’s central strength lies in his ability to evaluate the historical record through the lens of practical battlefield experience without allowing that perspective to overwhelm the evidence. Unlike some revisionist efforts that seek to overturn established interpretations for their own sake, Boslet’s reassessment is measured. He neither dismisses the traditional narrative outright nor accepts it uncritically. Instead, he situates familiar events within a broader and more coherent tactical framework, refining rather than replacing earlier interpretations. In this regard, his work compares favorably with Norton’s analytical rigor and Desjardin’s narrative clarity, while adding a modern soldier’s appreciation for confusion, command friction, and the limits of battlefield control.
One of the book’s most important contributions is its scope. Rather than concentrating narrowly on the actions of Vincent’s Brigade and the 20th Maine—a focus that has dominated popular and scholarly treatments alike—Boslet examines the fighting for Little Round Top as a whole. This approach addresses a significant gap in the literature. Regimental histories often provide granular detail but lack context, while campaign-level studies necessarily compress events on the Union left. A book-length treatment devoted entirely to Little Round Top on July 2 allows Boslet to integrate Confederate and Union actions across the terrain, highlighting how multiple units, decisions, and movements interacted over time.
By broadening the lens, Boslet brings overdue attention to actions beyond Vincent’s line, including lesser-known units and phases of the engagement that influenced the outcome but rarely receive sustained analysis. This holistic approach reinforces the idea that Little Round Top was not saved by a single dramatic moment or unit, but by a series of interconnected actions shaped by terrain, timing, leadership, and exhaustion. In doing so, Boslet effectively bridges the divide between microhistory and operational history.
As a contribution to Gettysburg scholarship, this work is both meaningful and timely. While Little Round Top has been written about extensively, Boslet demonstrates that careful reassessment can still yield new insights when the focus shifts from legend to process. His study does not seek to diminish acts of courage or leadership, but to place them within a realistic combat environment that better reflects how battles are actually fought.
In sum, Little Round Top at Gettysburg: A Reassessment of July 2, 1863 stands as a valuable addition to the historiography of Gettysburg. It will reward specialists familiar with the debates surrounding Little Round Top, while also providing serious students of the Civil War with a clearer, more comprehensive understanding of one of the war’s most iconic engagements.
May 12, 2026
It was fine but reassessment is too strong a word for my taste. His case that Vincent is underappreciated is strong and I liked his take on the placement of Vincent's brigade. His broad look at the several hours of fighting on July 2 was good, but I didn't find a ton to be new. Also he would introduce a regiment or person, give a brief regimental history or bio, then continue the point he was trying to make. I found that disruptive to the points he was trying to make.
May 13, 2026
As a student of the Gettysburg Campaign, I enjoyed Boslet's book. I found it easy to follow along and I appreciate the fact that he recognized other units from Strong Vincent's brigade and did not single out the 20th Maine as the sole heroes of Little Round Top on July 2, 1863.
March 2, 2026
Get your boy from the library.
May 24, 2026
It is a good review of what happened on Little Round Top but I couldn't find much of a reassessment.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews