The American Civil War discussion

Reading about Gettysburg, visiting the park earlier this year, and reading the excellent "Complete Gettysburg Guide" along with seeing various old photos of parts of the park have gotten me curious about Gettysburg. But not the details of the battle (which are easy to find) but the history of the park itself and the preservation efforts. I know there has been a long slow land acquisition process, the design of the park, the fight over the infamous private Tower, work in the last few years to build the new visitor center and resort parts of the park to how they looked at the time of the battlefield, etc.

Are there any books detailing the preservation and development of the battlefield park itself rather than just about the battle or a guide to how the battlefield is now?

The Gettysburg Cyclorama: A Portrayal of the High Tide of the Confederacy
read about Paul Philippoteaux the painter that wanted to get rich quick and paint a famous painting like Washington Across the Delaware. He hung around the Union Army for a year and nothing was happening so he tells them to call him if anything big happens. He gets a call after the battle at Gettysburg and told he missed the big one. He spends the rest of his life developing Gettyburg and paints the famous panorama.

I stumbled across what seems to be the kind of book I was looking for:



It got off to a pretty slow start and I've had to set it aside for more pressing reading, but I plan to finish it.

They've also deforested a lot of the area so it would be more accurate to the period. Ick that tower and Cyclorama!

I never did finish Gettysburg: Memory, Market, and an American Shrine as it was just too agonizingly dry.

I am more hopeful about a new book that came out this summer, On a Great Battlefield: The Making, Management, and Memory of Gettysburg National Military Park, 1933-2012. Hopefully it will be a much more enjoyable read (if I can ever get to it).

I would think Scott Hartwig is going to be in it. Can't believe he retired!

Josh wrote: "I never did finish Gettysburg: Memory, Market, and an American Shrine as it was just too agonizingly dry.

I am more hopeful about a new book that came out this summer, [book:On a Gr..."
A book I would recommend is "When the Smoke Cleared at Gettysburg - The Tragic Aftermath of the Bloodiest Battle of the Civil War" by George Sheldon. The last three chapters talk about the creation of the cemetery and the National Park. I found this to be an informative and well written book.

Yes, "When the Smoke Cleared at Gettysburg" has a lot of good information. It is well researched and written.

"A Strange and Blighted Land - Gettysburg: The Aftermath of Battle" has a lengthy section detailing the preservation/destruction of the battle starting from the days immediately following the fighting.

The information in this book is well-researched, but be forewarned: some parts are extremely graphic and may be offensive to some readers. Also I did not agree with all of the author's opinions.

Yet, laying aside these minor notes, I think the book should be on every serious CW historian's shelf. It really helps to define and understand the sacrifices and brutality of the CW.

Anyone else read it? What did you think?

If you are able to listen to this, definitely worth it. The story of Chamberlain at Little Round Top starts at the 35 min point but the lead up is superb:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4VWc...

Mike wrote: "If you are able to listen to this, definitely worth it. The story of Chamberlain at Little Round Top starts at the 35 min point but the lead up is superb:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4VWc......"

Sounds great, will try and listen to it later today. Thanks for the link, Mike :)

Mike wrote: "If you are able to listen to this, definitely worth it. The story of Chamberlain at Little Round Top starts at the 35 min point but the lead up is superb:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4VWc......"

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain — an exemplar of the long American tradition of the citizen soldier.

and a damn good one at that!