The Civil War: A Narrative, Volume 5: Gettysburg To Vicksburg

The Civil War: A Narrative #5

by Shelby Foote

1963 Random House hardcover, Shelby Foote (Jordan A Landscape in Narrative). A tremendous, sweeping narrative of the most fascinating conflict in our history.-

Genres: History, Civil War, Nonfiction

351 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1963

About the author

Shelby Dade Foote, Jr. was an American novelist and a noted historian of the American Civil War, writing a massive, three-volume history of the war entitled The Civil War: A Narrative. With geographic and cultural roots in the Mississippi Delta, Foote's life and writing paralleled the radical shift from the agrarian planter system of the Old South to the Civil Rights era of the New South. Foote was relatively unknown to the general public for most of his career until his appearance in Ken Burns's PBS documentary The Civil War in 1990, where he introduced a generation of Americans to a war that he believed was "central to all our lives."

Reviews

[Nick Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best of Foote's narrative thus far, this book manages to provide a more thorough account of the Battle of Gettysburg than almost any other work available. The common consensus, based on The Killer Angels, focuses so heavily on Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's role, because of the 20th Maine's bayonet charge down Little Round Top, that we lose sight of other critical actors. Foote points out that the charge was almost superfluous at the point it was executed, because Col Oates had already been denied reinforcements by Gen Hood, and was preparing to withdraw. If there was a hero involved in the defense of Little Round Top, it was Gen Gouverneur K. Warren, a staff Brigadier who, realizing the key ground was undefended, brought up the nearest force he could find just in time for Hood's assault. Other "unsung" heroes include the 1st Minnesota, which plunged headfirst into the breach in the Union line on the second day, suffering a 95% casualty rate, but buying enough time for additional troops to be brought in for the defense of Cemetery Ridge. Likewise, Gen Buford's cavalry brigade (armed with breach loading rifles) held off a Confederate division on the first day while waiting for Reynolds' corps to arrive in support.

Reading Foote's account, the real hero of Gettysburg is Winfield Scott Hancock. He was the one who, despite being ranked by Howard, organized the defense of Cemetery Hill on the first day, which was the foundation of the entire Union position throughout the battle. He was the one who defended Cemetery Ridge on the second day when Sickles' line was breached. He was the one whose corps repelled Pickett's Charge on the third day, due in large part to his innovation and motivating presence.