Tag Archives: Confederate States of America

Book Review: Gettysburg – The Last Invasion

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Gettysburg – The Last Invasion

by Allen C. Guelzo

With his book: Gettysburg – The Last Invasion, esteemed Civil War historian Allen C. Guelzo has written a complete explanation of what happened at the Battle of Gettysburg in a thorough, thought-provoking, and entertaining way. By including many quotes, he brings personality and life to those who fought at Gettysburg and he richly tells an accurate and factual story of the battle with his own words.

This is a book that deserves a place on the top shelf of your Civil War library. If you read this book at home while sitting in your most comfortable easy chair, then you will feel like you’ve been at Gettysburg during the battle, it will be made real for you. If you tour Gettysburg and refer to passages in Guelzo’s book as you look upon and walk the various park trails, hills, ridges, roads, fields, and landmarks where the fighting took place, then you will know who did what, where, when, and how, during the battle. This is a study of the Battle of Gettysburg told in an enjoyable, engaging, and informative way.

Allen C. Guelzo is highly qualified to write about the Battle of Gettysburg. He is the Henry R. Luce Professor of the Civil War Era and Director of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College. Guelzo has done all the necessary footwork and bookwork to pen a comprehensive book about Gettysburg. His scholarly achievements are immense, and as Gettysburg College is adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park, he has done the fieldwork. This book is expertly researched, but easy reading and hard to put down.

Guelzo is the right person, with the right credentials, with the right knowledge, at the best place, and at the right time, to write such a fine book about the Battle of Gettysburg. Guelzo will tell you what happened at Gettysburg… and perhaps with some controversy too, he will explain how the battle might have turned out very differently if some particular events had not happened as they did. The timing is perfect with the publication of this book during the Sesquicentennial Anniversary year of the Battle of Gettysburg, but Gettysburg – The Last Invasion will be a must-read for all-time for anyone who wants to learn about Gettysburg.

I believe this book is an instant Civil War classic, and awards and praise will come for Allen C. Guelzo and his Gettysburg – The Last Invasion.

About the Author: Allen C. Guelzo

  • Guelzo is the Henry R. Luce Professor of the Civil War Era and Director of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College.
  • He is the author of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America and Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President, both winners of the Lincoln Prize.
  • Guelzo’s essays, reviews, and articles have appeared in publications ranging from The American Historical Review and The Wilson Quarterly to newspapers such as The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Wall Street Journal.

Allen Guelzo on July 3, 1863

Accolades For Gettysburg – The Last Invasion

“An extraordinary work of thorough scholarship combined with a lifetime of judgement about historic events. If you need a clear, direct introduction to the greatest battle on American soil this is a wonderful book. If you have read fifty books on Gettysburg but are looking for new insights and facts that illuminate things you had never considered this is the book. Everyone interested in the decisive moment in Freedom’s struggle should read Guelzo’s simply extraordinary book.“
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House and coauthor of Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War.

“Despite all that has been written about the Battle of Gettysburg, Allen C. Guelzo provides new information and insights in this stirring account. Unafraid to challenge conventional wisdom, he praises General O. O. Howard, maintains that General George G. Meade did indeed contemplate retreat on July 2 but was persuaded otherwise by subordinates, and criticizes Meade for missed opportunities in the pursuit after the battle. Readers will find much to think about in this book.“
James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom.

Book Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780307594082
  • Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
  • Publication date: 5/14/2013
  • Pages: 656
  • Book dimensions: 6.00″ wide x 9.30″ high x 1.50″ deep

 

My book 501 Civil War Quotes and Notes features quotes made before, during, and after the Civil War. Each quote has an informative note to explain the circumstances and background of the quote. Learn Civil War history from the spoken words and writings of the military commanders, political leaders, the Billy Yanks and Johnny Rebs who fought in the battles, the abolitionists who strove for the freedom of the slaves, the descriptions of battles, and the citizens who suffered at home. Their voices tell us the who, what, where, when, and why of the Civil War. Available as a Kindle device e-book or as a paperback. Get 501 Civil War Quotes and Notes now!

 

1861 by Walt Whitman

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1861 – Secession Completes and the Bloodshed Begins

The poem 1861 by Walt Whitman.

South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20, 1860. In 1861, the Confederate States of America would gain its full roster of states. Here is a list of the seceding states and their dates of secession from the Union:

  • South Carolina – December 20, 1860
  • Mississippi – January 9, 1861
  • Florida – January 10, 1861
  • Alabama – January 11, 1861
  • Georgia – January 19, 1861
  • Louisiana – January 26, 1861
  • Texas – February 1, 1861
  • Virginia – April 17, 1861
  • Arkansas – May 6, 1861
  • North Carolina – May 20, 1861
  • Tennessee – June 8, 1861

The Confederate States of America now exists. The blood of the Civil War starts flowing on April 12, 1861 as the Confederates fire on Fort Sumter. The Civil War begins.

Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman

For me, Whitman’s 1861 poem shows he knew the year of 1861 brought about a sea change. Before then, it was all about attempts at compromise, politicians debating and arguing, rattling of swords, and talk, talk, talk.

Now the year 1861 brings about bloodshed and death with the gathering of men; “clothed in blue” and of “well-gristled body, and sunburnt face and hands,” with “a knife in the belt at your side,” and “bearing weapons.” Whitman says there should be “No dainty rhymes or sentimental love verses” for this “terrible year,” of 1861. War and all of its evil, has arrived for North and South.

It is for the reader to analyze and interpret Walt Whitman’s poem titled 1861, as he or she sees fit.

1861 – Walt Whitman

ARM’D year! year of the struggle!
No dainty rhymes or sentimental love verses for you, terrible year!
Not you as some pale poetling, seated at a desk, lisping cadenzas
piano;
But as a strong man, erect, clothed in blue clothes, advancing,
carrying a rifle on your shoulder,
With well-gristled body and sunburnt face and hands–with a knife in
the belt at your side,
As I heard you shouting loud–your sonorous voice ringing across the
continent;
Your masculine voice, O year, as rising amid the great cities,
Amid the men of Manhattan I saw you, as one of the workmen, the
dwellers in Manhattan;
Or with large steps crossing the prairies out of Illinois and
Indiana,
Rapidly crossing the West with springy gait, and descending the
Alleghanies;
Or down from the great lakes, or in Pennsylvania, or on deck along
the Ohio river;
Or southward along the Tennessee or Cumberland rivers, or at
Chattanooga on the mountain top,
Saw I your gait and saw I your sinewy limbs, clothed in blue, bearing
weapons, robust year;
Heard your determin’d voice, launch’d forth again and again;
Year that suddenly sang by the mouths of the round-lipp’d cannon,
I repeat you, hurrying, crashing, sad, distracted year.

A commentary about Walt Whitman by EnglishGuyinTexas.

EnglishGuyInTexas

 

Another post with information about Walt Whitman…