Gettysburg

NewMexiKen today finished Stephen W. Sears’ history of the Gettysburg campaign. Nice piece of work; thorough yet readable for the most part. Surely the best one-volume study of the battle.

Sears has an altogether appropriate bias for the Union Army. Meade did well, especially considering it was his first few days as head of the Army of the Potomac. Hancock and artillery commander Hunt were particularly invaluable. Lee was careless and probably arrogant; Ewell and, particularly, Hill worthless; cavalry commander Stuart fatally absent until too late.

As an aside, this reader did end up, however, wondering if the term “fog of war” doesn’t apply more to battlefield history than it does to the original confusion of battle. There’s just too many 147th New Yorks and 23rd North Carolinas and General Goodoldboys and Colonel Whosits. Not sure how to untangle this morass other than reading battle histories with a lap full of charts and maps and orders of battle.