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American Civil War & Reconstruction: Gettysburg

This guide includes a collection of resources on the American Civil War.

Internet Resources

Lincoln@Gettysburg

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln proved himself a master of a new frontier--not on the battlefields of the Civil War, but in his "high-tech" command center, the War Department Telegraph Office. The telegraph was the "Internet" of the nineteenth century, and it gave Lincoln powers of command, communications, and control never before exercised by a commander-in-chief. He used this new technology to connect the country to him--receiving nearly live dispatches via telegraph from his generals in the field and sending out his plans for the nation faster and with more clarity than ever before.

Source: Kanopy

Perspectives

Gettysburg

Winner of the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award: A novel of Paris in the 1930s from the eyes of the Vietnamese cook employed by Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, by the author of The Sweetest Fruits. Viewing his famous mesdames and their entourage from the kitchen of their rue de Fleurus home, Binh observes their domestic entanglements while seeking his own place in the world. In a mesmerizing tale of yearning and betrayal, Monique Truong explores Paris from the salons of its artists to the dark nightlife of its outsiders and exiles. She takes us back to Binh's youthful servitude in Saigon under colonial rule, to his life as a galley hand at sea, to his brief, fateful encounters in Paris with Paul Robeson and the young Ho Chi Minh. "An irresistible, scrupulously engineered confection that weaves together history, art, and human nature...a veritable feast." ??--?? Los Angeles Times "A debut novel of pungent sensuousness and intricate, inspired imagination...a marvelous tale." ??--?? Elle "Addictive...Deliciously written...Both eloquent and original."??--??Entertainment Weekly

Gettysburg

From the acclaimed Civil War historian, a brilliant new history--the most intimate and richly readable account we have had--of the climactic three-day battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863), which draws the reader into the heat, smoke, and grime of Gettysburg alongside the ordinary soldier, and depicts the combination of personalities and circumstances that produced the greatest battle of the Civil War, and one of the greatest in human history. Of the half-dozen full-length histories of the battle of Gettysburg written over the last century, none dives down so closely to the experience of the individual soldier, or looks so closely at the sway of politics over military decisions, or places the battle so firmly in the context of nineteenth-century military practice. Allen C. Guelzo shows us the face, the sights, and the sounds of nineteenth-century combat: the lay of the land, the fences and the stone walls, the gunpowder clouds that hampered movement and vision; the armies that caroused, foraged, kidnapped, sang, and were so filthy they could be smelled before they could be seen; the head-swimming difficulties of marshaling massive numbers of poorly trained soldiers, plus thousands of animals and wagons, with no better means of communication than those of Caesar and Alexander. What emerges is an untold story, from the trapped and terrified civilians in Gettysburg's cellars to the insolent attitude of artillerymen, from the taste of gunpowder cartridges torn with the teeth to the sounds of marching columns, their tin cups clanking like an anvil chorus. Guelzo depicts the battle with unprecedented clarity, evoking a world where disoriented soldiers and officers wheel nearly blindly through woods and fields toward their clash, even as poetry and hymns spring to their minds with ease in the midst of carnage. Rebel soldiers look to march on Philadelphia and even New York, while the Union struggles to repel what will be the final invasion of the North. One hundred and fifty years later, the cornerstone battle of the Civil War comes vividly to life as a national epic, inspiring both horror and admiration.

Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America (Simon & Schuster Lincoln Library)

"The power of words has rarely been given a more compelling demonstration than in the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln was asked to memorialize the gruesome battle. Instead he gave the whole nation "a new birth of freedom"--by tracing its first birth to the Declaration of Independence (which called all men equal) rather than to the Constitution (which tolerated slavery). In the space of a mere 272 words, Lincoln brought to bear the rhetoric of the Greek Revival, the categories of Transcendentalism, and the imagery of the "rural cemetery" movement. His entire life and previous training, his deep political experience, went into this, his revolutionary masterpiece." "As Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel has been restored to its bold colors and forgotten details, Garry Wills restores the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln at Gettysburg combines the same extraordinary quality of observation that defines Wills's previous best-selling portraits of modern presidents, such as Reagan's America and Nixon Agonistes, with the iconoclastic scholarship of his studies of our founding documents, such as Inventing America. By examining both the Address and Lincoln in their historical moment and cultural frame, Wills breathes new life into words we thought we knew and reveals much about a President so mythologized but often misunderstood. Wills shows how Lincoln came to change the world, to effect an intellectual revolution, how his words had to and did complete the work of the guns." "The Civil War is, to most Americans, what Lincoln wanted it to mean. Now Garry Wills explains how Lincoln wove a spell that has not, yet, been broken."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The History Buff's Guide to Gettysburg

Prior to the battle of Gettysburg on July 1-3, 1863, the costliest battle of the Civil War had been Antietam, in September 1862, in which more than 23,000 were killed or wounded in eleven hours. At Gettysburg, approximately 33,000 were killed or wounded and another 10,000 missing in action. The History Buff's Guide(tm) to Gettysburgcovers the action of those days and the surrounding area by means of detailed top-ten lists, ranking the best, worst, first, and most significant elements of the largest and deadliest battle of the Civil War. Chapters include: Coming to the Crossroads: Why the battle was fought, the people involved, key events leading up to the battle, and the role of the environment. The Battle: Why Confederate forces prevailed on the first day and Union forces on the second, why Pickett's charge failed,the bloodiest fields of fire, and the actions of civilians during the battle. The Last Full Measure: The regiments with the worst losses, the highest-ranking officers wounded or killed, the most common causes of death. The Wake of the Battle: Military and civilian reactions, civilian activities after the battle, and lasting effects. In Retrospect: The best and worst performing commanders, myths and misconceptions, and enduring controversies. Pursuing Gettsyburg: Points of interest on the battlefield and in town, the best monuments, Lincoln sites in the area, sites that have been lost to development, and the best books on Gettysburg. From the days leading up to the historic battle and the aftermath in which the townsfolk were left to rebuild their lives and town (and the later establishment of the national battlefield park), The History Buff's Guide(tm) to Gettysburgis a fresh, new approach to the subject.

The Stand of the U. S. Army at Gettysburg

"This is not just 'another Gettysburg book,' but a different Gettysburg book. Most of the prior Gettysburg books have been accounts of Confederate command failures that led to Confederate defeat. This is the story of the Federal defense leading to Federal victory. The book contains new material and new insights. It rivals Coddington as an essential Gettysburg book, and it maps the battle like Bigelow mapped The Campaign at Chancellorsville." --Alan T. Nolan, author of Lee Considered and The Iron Brigade This major reinterpretation of the key battle of the American Civil War tells the story of the Gettysburg campaign as it unfolded from early June through mid-July 1863, and its climax with the Federal victory at Gettysburg. The book strives to describe the campaign with utmost clarity. In pursuit of this goal, it restricts itself to the campaign's major events and participants. Yet many components of even a boiled-down account of the campaign are complex. Accordingly, The Stand features more than 160 maps and numerous diagrams that allow the reader to understand what happened at every important stage of the campaign, with special emphasis on the three-day battle of July 1-3. The book also pays tribute to the vast literature on Gettysburg, with careful consideration of the many analyses of the campaign, paying particular attention to recent works. The appearance of new interpretations, including those offered here, suggests that only now, nearly 150 years after the event, are we approaching a complete and accurate view of what happened during those crucial days at Gettysburg.

Vicksburg to Gettysburg: 1862-1863

In the summer of 1863, the Civil War reached a climax on two fronts. Study the brilliant generalship of Grant in isolating and defeating the Confederate force defending the Mississippi River fortress of Vicksburg, cutting the South in two. Then dissect Gen. George Meade's tactics that halted Lee's daring invasion of the North in a three-day battle in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Source: Kanopy