Well argued revisionist history about the Battle of Gettysburg.
Written: Dec 08 '03 (Updated May 13 '04)
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Pros: Extremely well argued. Much useful information about ACW combat and command.
Cons: Expects considerable knowledge about the Battle of Gettysburg. Not sure if this is real "con".
The Bottom Line: Read this book to learn much about Confederate goals during the Battle of Gettysburg. You don't have to agree with the author's revisionist history to learn from it.
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| szz's Full Review: Troy D. Harman - Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg |
If you do not know the name of the commanding officer of the 20th Maine on 1 July 1863 this book may not be meant for you.
However, if you KNOW that the fight for Little Round Top on 2 July was one of the critical events of the battle of Gettysburg and that Pickett's Charge on 3 July aimed to pierce the Union line at a specific clump of woods on Cemetery Ridge, then this book will be of great interest. Because it is the well argued opinion of the author of Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg that these "affirmed events", and many others about the battle, are not true. That General Lee's real strategy - that of the books title - for the Battle of Gettysburg was based on principals that were consistent with his training at West Point and the writings of Baron Jomini's, the influential student of Napoleon's campaigns.
The author, Troy Harman, a National Park Service Ranger at Gettysburg and sometimes instructor at the Gettysburg campus of Harrisburg Area Community College, argues that throughout the battle Lee's goal was to capture Cemetery Hill. By the second day of the battle this feature formed a "salient" in the Union lines that could, in theory, be attacked with converging Confederate forces. And therefor was a good target according to Jomini. Harman presents much written material to support his case. The words on paper are backed up by study of the Gettysburg battlefield terrain with the goal of showing it words and pictures the way it appeared from various vantage points in Summer, 1863.
Without ignoring fighting on the Confederate left, Harmon's attention is focused on Longstreet's First Corp on the right wing of Lee's army on 2 and 3 July. With careful attention to the exact wording of Lee's written orders and after action reports, reports of other (surviving) officers of the Confederate Army, memoirs of Generals and lieutenants, and the friction of battle, Harmon argues that the Confederate offensives on both days were intended to inflict "oblique order" attacks on the Union left, rolling it up until surviving Union forces were pinned between Longstreet's Corp and soldiers of Ewell's Corp attacking from the north and northeast.
But what about the fight for Little Round Top on 2 July? Without slighting courage on either side, Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg argues that that feature was never a Confederate goal. The attack on it was delivered by units from Hood's division who got lost while paying more attention to their flanks and rear than to the alignments and goals they were given. The author also argues that even if Little Round Top had been captured it would have been of little tactical value to the Confederates on 3 July.
The fact that the fight for Little Round Top happened at all hints at something not stated in the book that I remember, but I think is implied: The Confederate attacks on both 2 and 3 July demanded too much coordination between units and too much maneuvering by single units to be successful in the face of strong opposition. (So, yes, Yankee soldiers had something to do with the Southern defeat.)
I note that I have written little about Pickett's Charge on 3 July. And haven't explained exactly what is meant by "affirmed events" in the second paragraph above. Well, affirmed events are what happens to "ephemeral events" over time. A topic of some interest to the Mr. Harmon and to me. Read the book if you want to know more about the third day at Gettysburg. Or about "ephemeral" and "affirmed" events.
Steven Zoraster
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
szz
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Member: Steven Zoraster
Location: Austin
Reviews written: 23
Trusted by: 2 members
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