Editorial Reviews. From Library Journal. Pfanz (retired National Park Service chief historian Gettysburg--The Second Day (Civil War America) ยท Harry W. Pfanz.
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He also is very short in describing the early stages of the invasion and Stuart's ill-conceived cavalry ride around the Union rear. But his account of day one of the battle itself and of the course of the fighting is full and outstanding. I have found the events of July 1 difficult to follow in reading earlier studies. This is because, I think, the meeting between the two armies was unplanned and unexpected.
Neither Union nor Confederacy expected to fight a major battle at Gettysburg. When the armies stumbled into each other, activities on both sides were improvised. There were a number of different fights at different times and different locations on the field and a lack of coordination. It is important to keep in mind the different units of each army involved and the different times and locations on the field.
Pfanz develops his story slowly and tries to present an integrated, cohesive account. He begins with the meeting between Buford's cavalry in the early morning of July 1, followed by lengthy discussions of the fighting between the Union First Corps and Heth's Division of Hill's Corps to the West and Northwest of the town and of the fighting between the Union 11th Corps and Ewell's Division to the North of the town.
His account is less critical of the activities of the Eleventh Corps than are many other accounts of July 1, Pfanz pays attention to leadership -- or its overall lack during the first day of the fighting -- and focuses on the troops on the ground. The fighting brigades and their leaders get a great deal of attention. There are excellent maps and descriptions on the maps which lead the reader step-by-step through the key encounters on day 1. The book is enlivened by many human interest stories and histories of the participants.
Pfanz draws many insightful parallels, comparisons and contrasts, between the fighting on day 1 and some of the events which followed on days 2 and 3. Students of Gettysburg have long debated whether the Confederacy could have gained a decisive victory if it had followed-up its initial success and attempted to occupy Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill after it had driven the Union army through Gettysburg. Pfanz studies this question carefully and shows the difficulties and uncertainties that General Ewell would have faced if he had decided to mount a further attack.
Pfanz offers a thoughtful, sobering discussion of an important question about the battle. This book is not for the beginning student of the Battle of Gettysburg. It presupposes a certain familiarity with the battle as a whole and with its ebb and flow over the three days. For those readers who have a basic grasp of the battle and a desire to learn about the events of day 1 in detail, Pfanz' study is an indispensable source.
The definitive account of Day 1 The author's detailed knowledge of the battle paired with his use of first-person testimony makes this book the definitive account of the battle. It reads like an thrilling play by play. I really recommend using a good battlefield atlas while reading this to follow all the action. Philip Laino's "Gettysburg Campaign Atlas" is what I used and it really brought the author's words to life.
Jul 14, Brandon Benner rated it really liked it. As with all of Pfanz's works, the narrative is lucid, straightforward, and comprehensive. I felt a little more satisfied with his book on Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill than I was with this one, but if you're looking for a detailed analysis of actions at Gettysburg, you simply cannot go wrong with any of Pfanz's books. May 08, Mike rated it really liked it.
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Excellent Civil War historry!! Apr 20, Joyce Lagow rated it really liked it Shelves: After retiring as Chief Historian of the National Park Service in , he began publishing in what would be a 3-volume series on the Battle of Gettysburg, July , The first book covered the events of the second day; it was followed by a book in on the fighting on Culp s and Cemetery Hills over July 2nd and 3rd.
Although chronologically the first book in the series, Gettysburg: The First Day was the last published, in While the first chapter concerns itself with Ewell s raid into Pennsylvania, it s an excellent setting for the complicated massing of both armies. From this beginning, it is an exhaustive look at the events immediately leading up to the engagement and the fighting that occurred west of Gettysburg and in the town itself after the Union s defeat on McPherson s Ridge and Oak Hill.
Pfanz describes troop movements not only at the division and regimental level but also down to the company level, where possible. The last chapter is a thoughtful look at Ewell s highly criticized decision not to press an attack at Cemetery Hill after the main fighting was over. The Epilogue is mostly a series of mini-essays on the post-Gettysburg careers of the most prominent commanders on both sides. I found this invaluable for keeping track of the often-confusing numbers of names, not only of Corps and division, but of brigade commanders as well, many of whom were critical to the leadership of the fighting.
To make it more convenient to use, I scanned and printed out the Order of Battle, keeping it handy to leaf through as I read the book. Hill, Jubal Early, and Robert Rodes, but lesser luminaries as well: Jenkins, Doubleday, Archer, among many others. They are well written and bring a nice light to their actions on the field. One of Pfanz s aims in writing the book was to examine carefully some of the myths of Gettysburg including that of the cowardice of the Eleventh Corps.
This chapter lays an excellent background for the analysis of the fight north of Gettysburg in which the greatly outnumbered and poorly-positioned Eleventh Corps divisions which finally broke under the weight of Ewell s Corps attack. Pfanz credits Howard early on in the book with the foresight to keep most of von Steinwehr s Division back to hold Cemetery Hill in case of a union retreat. That foresight was well justified at the end of the first day s fighting.
While these give a really nice perspective to the battle, they can tend to get in the way, interrupting the narrative so as to make it harder to pick up the thread of the progress of the fighting. On the credit side, the first two maps of the general area around Gettysburg are excellent in order to place, in the overall picture, the more detailed maps of segments of the different engagements. However, there are too few maps connecting the ones that are included. The maps of the fighting north of Gettysburg are particularly inadequate; for example, given the important role that von Amsberg s division played, it almost doesn t appear on any map of that sector.
Finally, the bars used to designate regiments are only numbered and do not give the state designations, creating a great deal of unnecessary work trying to identify exactly which regiments were doing what where. Without a photographic memory, it is impossible to keep track easily. Without this reference, I would have had a much harder time and have gotten much less out of Pfanz s detailed accounts.
Details are pretty useless unless you can make some sense out of them. But a little extra work on the part of the author and editors could have made the book much more valuable than it is in its present form. Jan 01, William P. All four are a must have for your Civil War library I appreciated the large print. Aug 01, Jim added it. He busts a lot of myths about the battle that have been repeated in various histories of the battle over the years.
Well worth reading if you want to learn more about the Battle of Gettysburg than is covered by most single volume histories. Sep 15, Burt rated it really liked it. The quick, one-line review by Washington Post Book World provided on the front cover of the book says it all, "An exhaustive and intimate description of the tactical events of day one.
Any serious student of the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg should have th The quick, one-line review by Washington Post Book World provided on the front cover of the book says it all, "An exhaustive and intimate description of the tactical events of day one. Any serious student of the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg should have this volume on his or her personal bookshelf along with Pfanz's other two major Gettysburg works on the 2nd day and on Culp's Hill.
Loved this account of the First Day of fighting at Gettysburg.
In this Book
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There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. Like Harry Pfanz' other two books on Gettysburg, this book has its usual detailed descriptions of the battle, going down to the regiment and individual experiences. This is one of the two positives to this book. And, the detailed descriptions are for all units who fought on the first day at Gettysburg and at all times. For example, more than any other book, this book covers the events when the Confederate division under General Rodes attacked the Union First Corps brigades of Baxter and Stone.
It also does the best job that I've read covering the last battles of the day on Seminary Ridge and even the involvement of Gamble's cavalry brigade from Buford's division covering the left flank of the Union army at that time. This is the most detailed description of the first day of Gettysburg that I've ever read. Another positive for this book are the maps. As with his other two books, Pfanz' book has some of the best maps on the battle that I've ever seen only Trudeau's book on Gettysburg is close.
A negative of this book is the lack of keeping an accurate clock for when the events happened. Since the book bounces from the Union left flank First Corps to right flank Eleventh Corps , this can be confusing. The author should have used Trudeau's approach of providing a time clock on his maps for events that occurred on the field. This is the reason that I gave the book a lower rating of four stars. However, for individuals who are interested in reading about the details of the Gettysburg, I recommend this book and Pfanz' other two books on this battle.
This is so well researched!!! But Day 1 remains a mystery to most. And the stories told about it are conflicting and confusing. Harry Pfanz puts it all down on paper. He knows where every unit was and when they were there. Hill just didn't believe the reports that they received from General Johnston Pettigrew of North Carolina. In they went, and for the next 3 days the war hung in the balance. This is a great book, very informative. So informative, in fact, that I might have to read it again.
I hated to put it down!!! This book is an iconic work on the first day's battle of Gettysburg. I highly recommend it. As a side note it is unfortunate that Mr. Pfanz passed away before he could produce a volume on the Third Day's battle. Death on a grand scale Harry Pfanz's superb Gettysburg-The First Day is an insightful examination of the opening day of the titanic struggle between Lee and Meade at Gettysburg.
Lee did not want to bring on a major engagement until his army had consolidated. Meade was maneuvering between Lee and Washington D. Neither anticipated the battle to be at Gettysburg. Harry Pfanz expertly follows the battle at the regiment level through the eyes and ears of the commanders and the basic soldiers of both sides.
Most people think day 2 was the most horrific and day 3 the most gruesomely romantic, but it was the brutal fighting of day 1 that determined the outcome at Gettysburg. Lee did not want a general engagement but when he saw how things evolved he decided to press the enemy. The fighting was horrendous and the losses staggering but by day's end the Confederacy own the field north and west of town.
Lee had driven the enemy back south of Gettysburg but his huge losses on day 1 would cost him on day 3. Additionally, his failure, for whatever reason, to capture Culp's hill would be another missed chance at victory and further help Meade to consolidate on the "High Ground" at Cemetery Ridge. Pfanz did an outstanding job of describing the first day's battle at Gettysburg, His description of events although superb, was a little out of order for ease of understanding how the battle flowed.
A few more maps would have helped. I heartily recommend that the reader use Bradley Gottfried's The Maps of Gettysburg as an additional aid to help with the Order of Battle. I don't know why civil war historians do not include time stamps on their maps. A time stamp on each map would greatly aid in following the flow of battle. Pfanz's little vignettes about both the major and minor participants. The strategically placed photographs also made the battle more personal.
All in all a very well done portrayal of the first, and I believe most important, day of battle at Gettysburg.
Gettysburg--The First Day
I must read for Civil War history buffs. Might be a little over the top for the casual Civil War reader but worth the effort. A superb book in all respects. Pfanz's Gettysburg works, including "The First Day", are absolutely essential studies of the battle. Well researched, with helpful footnotes and generous bibliographies, they are all eminently authoritative and readable. My only criticism of The First Day is that it would benefit from a few more maps to better illustrate the flow of the fights as described in the text.