Pickett's Charge; A Microhistory of the Final Attack at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863
New York: Fawcett Publications, Inc., 1963. First Premier printing [stated]. Mass market paperback. 320 pages. Maps and Diagrams. Tabular data. Appendices. Bibliography. Notes and References. Index. Corner of one page creased. Some page darkening. This is one of the Premier Civil War Classic series. Introduction by Philip Van Doren Stern. George Rippey Stewart Jr. (May 31, 1895 – August 22, 1980) was an American historian, toponymist, novelist, and a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley. His 1959 book, Pickett's Charge, a detailed history of the final attack at the Battle of Gettysburg, was termed "essential for an understanding of the Battle of Gettysburg". His 1949 post-apocalyptic novel Earth Abides won the first International Fantasy Award in 1951. As an author, Stewart's output was at once diverse, original, and important. Ordeal by Hunger, Pickett's Charge, and other works are examinations of American history, but are unusual for their concern with the interaction of human beings with their physical and social environments. Philip Van Doren Stern (September 10, 1900 – July 31, 1984) was an American writer, editor, and Civil War historian whose story "The Greatest Gift", published in 1943, inspired the classic Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life (1946). He was an historian and author of some 40 works, and was best known for his books on the Civil War[4] that a New York Times obituary called "authoritative" and "widely respected by scholars" Stewart had long been interested in Pickett’s Charge, which historians consider the turning point in the American Civil War. Stewart’s uncle John was a soldier for the union army, who told stories of the Peninsular Campaign to his nephew. During his army service, Stewart was in a bivouac on the battlefield of Gettysburg, where he began researching the site of Pickett’s Charge. Finally, in the late 1950’s he decided to write about the Charge. Pickett’s Charge has long been debated by historians, both in terms of its strategy and its data. If you go to Gettysburg, and follow the path of the charge, you’ll understand the questions about strategy: The Virginians under Pickett lined up and walked up a hill with no cover into intense fire from Union soldiers who had the shelter of a stone fence at the hilltop – a classic example of Napoleonic tactics. But those tactics were developed when ordnance – cannons and muskets – were much less accurate, so soldiers had some chance under such conditions. By the time Pickett sent his men up the hill, 50 years later, highly accurate rifles and cannons meant there would be far more casualties if soldiers kept their straight line battle formation. The battle was later seen as heroic by some, foolish by others. Stewart didn’t want to get into that argument; but he did want to make sure that the statistics and research sources were accurate before he wrote his book. He discovered that much of the data was off – the oft-stated number of troops in the fight, for example, was based on an off-hand remark by Confederate General Longstreet (who opposed the Charge). And the times of events, reported in an era before Standard Time, varied wildly. Once Stewart was certain that he had found the correct data, he began to write. Again, he decided to invent a new form of literature – the micro-history, in which a small detailed section of historical time is the entire subject of a work. Entitled Pickett’s Charge, the micro history begins at 3:00 AM on July 3, 1863. It ends, except for two short chapters which discuss later events and some of the controversies at sunset on the same day. Stewart includes several appendices which discuss flags, artillery, battle orders, the battlefield and so on. One of his comments about the battlefield is telling, spotlighting his role as an author of place, and his belief in the need to study places when writing about them: “The battlefield itself is an important document…” Another comment, in the beginning of the work, stresses his idea of microcosm. Most of his works, although set in one place and concerned with one set of events there, were written with the idea that the place is a microcosm for all places, and its events are microcosms for all human or natural events. Stewart writes “In a sense, even, the charge may stand for all of human life. Some time in the years, if not daily, must not each of us hear the command to rise and go forward, and cross the field, and go up against the guns?”
Civil War students, amateur and professional, consider the book a sine qua non for learning about the War, and especially Gettysburg. It was the only book Stewart would write about an historical war. Condition: Good.
Keywords: Battle of Gettyburg, Pickett's Charge, Army of Northern Virginia, George Meade, James Longstreet, Armistead, Joshua Chamberlain, Cemetery Ridge, Peach Orchard, Round Top, Pettigrew, HIgh-Water Mark
[Book #88529]
Price: $25.00