Product Description

More academic and photographic accounts on the battle of Gettysburg exist than for all other battles of the Civil War combined-and for good reason. The three-days of maneuver, attack, and counterattack consisted of literally scores of encounters, from corps-size actions to small unit engagements. Despite all its coverage, Gettysburg remains one of the most complex and difficult to understand battles of the war.The Maps of Gettysburg:An Atlas of the Gettysburg Campaign, June 3 - July 13, 1963, by Bradley Gottfried offers a unique approach to the study of this multifaceted engagement.

The Maps of Gettysburg plows new ground in the study of the campaign by breaking down the entire campaign in 140 detailed original maps. These cartographic originals bore down to the regimental level, and offer Civil Warriors a unique and fascinating approach to studying the always climactic battle of the war.

The Maps of Gettysburg offers thirty "action-sections" comprising the entire campaign. These include the march to and from the battlefield, and virtually every significant event in between. Gottfried's original maps (from two to as many as twenty) enrich each "action-section." Keyed to each piece of cartography is detailed text that includes hundreds of soldiers' quotes that make the Gettysburg story come alive. This presentation allows readers to easily and quickly find a map and text on virtually any portion of the campaign, from the cavalry drama at Brandy Station on June 9, to the last Confederate withdrawal of troops across the Potomac River on July 15, 1863. Serious students of the battle will appreciate the extensive and authoritative endnotes. They will also want to bring the book along on their trips to the battlefield.

Perfect for the easy chair or for stomping the hallowed ground of Gettysburg, The Maps of Gettysburg promises to be a seminal work that belongs on the bookshelf of every serious and casual student of the battle.

Bio: Bradley M. Gottfried holds a Ph.D. in Zoology from Miami University. He has worked in higher education for more than three decades as a faculty member and administrator. He is currently President of the College of Southern Maryland. An avid Civil War historian, Dr. Gottfried is the author of five books: The Battle of Gettysburg: A Guided Tour (1998); Stopping Pickett: The History of the Philadelphia Brigade (1999); Brigades of Gettysburg (2002); Roads to Gettysburg (2002); and Kearny's Own: The History of the First New Jersey Brigade (2005). He is currently working with Theodore P. Savas on a Gettysburg Campaign Encyclopedia.

REVIEWS

"No academic library can afford not to include "Maps of Gettysburg" as part of their American CivilWar Reference collections."8/2007 Midwest Book Review, J.Cox

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #277096 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

Review
"No academic library can afford not to include "Maps of Gettysburg" as part of their American Civil War Reference collections." --8/2007 Midwest Book Review, J.Cox

About the Author
Bradley M. Gottfried , PH.D.,is the President of the College of Southern Maryland. An avid Civil War historian, Dr. Gottfried is the author of five books, including Brigades of Gettysburg: The Union and Confederate Brigades at the Battle of Gettysburg (2002). He is working with co-editor Theodore P. Savas on a Gettysburg encyclopedia.

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Customer Reviews

Another Gettysburg Book? YES!
This book works on several levels; first as an atlas of the Gettysburg campaign, second as a history of the campaign and last as a reference work. That it excels at each level is a testament to the author's knowledge and skill. Any book on Gettysburg by Bradley Gottfried is subject to high expectations. His "Roads to Gettysburg" and "Brigades of Gettysburg" are essential works on the campaign and battle. This book exceeds our expectations and raises the bar for his next work. The author's style of writing requires a minimal number of words to quickly convey essential information, making for a very informative narration that does not require pages of text. This produces an informative but easy to read text of the essential action for each map just as it did for each brigade in his last book.

This is a book of maps, over 140 of them; covering the advance, battle and retreat. Facing pages have a map on the right page and text on the left one. This simple idea puts everything together, ending flipping pages trying to understand the action. The second requirement is short time intervals and detailed maps. Again, the author manages this difficult idea. The maps are divided into 28 sets presented in chronological order taking us from Virginia to Gettysburg and back to Virginia. Each map set presents a specific action and contains from three to 21 maps and text covering this phase of the event. The scale is from 12 miles for campaign maps to 220 yards to the inch for the detailed regimental maps. The lower scale maps have contour lines indicate woods, cornfields, orchards and grain fields with worm, post & rail or stone fences. Roads, railroads and buildings are included. This makes for a busy map and takes some study before easily reading the tactical maps. Since this is Gettysburg, most readers know where these items are located and can find the symbols on one of the maps. Stone fences gave me the most problems but checking the map set for Pickett's Charge solved the problem.

The largest map set is the advance of the armies to Gettysburg starting on June 3rd and ending on July 2nd. The maps for the first six days of the campaign are in two-day increments. From June 12th to July 2nd, the maps are daily. Included as part of the approach are map sets for the battle of Second Winchester and Stephenson's Depot. Eleven map sets and one evening July 1- 2 map, cover the fighting on July First. July Second is covered by ten map sets and one evening July 2 - 3 map. July Third has four map sets. The detail is impressive, using July Third for an example the map sets: are Culp's Hill remains in Union Hands, five maps, The Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble Charge, seven maps, The East Cavalry Field, four maps and The South Cavalry Field 3 maps.

While the Battle for the Bliss Farm, a personal favorite, is not included as a map set, the July Third maps of the Pickett's Charge show the area at a scale of 400 yards to the inch. The other omission is a map set for Stuart's battles, which I feel should be included in the book. Neither of these "omissions" are critical and a good case can be made they are unnecessary.

Reading the text and viewing the maps can be a sequential process giving the reader a detailed account of the campaign and the battle. A second approach is using the book as a reference for a specific action. The text and maps provide a good detailed study that allows the reader to follow the action on the map. Lastly, this atlas can be used with any Gettysburg book and to answer specific questions about the battle.

Gettysburg is like someone we went to grade school with and have known all our lives. We fit comfortably and enjoy a companionship of shared experiences and memories. We can always find out more about our friend and always enjoy hearing from them. This book is a wonderful visit with our old friend.

The NEW field guide for Gettysburg
By way of disclosure, I will first state that I was one of the editors for this book.

Having said that, I was extremely impressed with this work in progress before ever signing on to help edit the manuscript and maps. The book is wonderfully set up so that the reader can take it right out onto the field - on each left side page, there is detailed explanatory text for each action, with the corresponding map on the right side page. No flipping around to find maps. Never before has there been one, concise book that contains maps of the entire Gettysburg Campaign from beginning to end - so if you ever plan to visit the field, you need this book and will enjoy it over and over. And anyone interested in the battle and campaign must have this book. It is, in effect, the NEW field guide for the battle and campaign, one not likely to be surpassed in our lifetimes.

As a long-time student of the campaign, I can attest to the accuracy of both maps and text. I especially spent a lot of time with both Brad and the publisher making sure that the portions dealing with the cavalry were accurate (I have one book and many articles published on Gettysburg/Civil War cavalry operations). Everyone involved with this book went the extra mile to make sure that no errors crept in that we couldn't catch.

And as for the maps - I'm astonished at the amount of time and effort Brad put into them. As a novice cartographer, he did an admirable job. The level of detail is commendable, and the battlefield walker will easily understand them. On the field, instead of lugging dozens of books and map sets around with you, all you'll need is this book. Then, if you have a particular detailed interest in one part of the field, you can go to works and maps that have finer detail. The maps in this book will get you easily oriented, all the while explaining the actions. Divided chronologically by each section of the field, the reader/walker will easily follow each hour's events without having to flip back and forth - it's all right in front of you.

With all the books coming out on Gettysburg and that continue to appear, I've never been as excited to see one in print as this one (except for my own!) and I know it belongs on the shelf of every battle/campaign student and in the hands of every battlfield stomper. When you own this book, you'll have the Number One tool you need to explore the Hallowed Ground of Gettysburg.

Buy this book - yesterday!!

Field Guide, Companion Atlas, Campaign History
Bradley Gottfried's "The Maps of Gettysburg" is an unmatched resource for studying the Battle of Gettysburg and the campaign surrounding the battle. The maps are superb: easy to understand and comprehensive. A veritable mountain of books about Gettysburg have been published over the years, both general histories (such as those by Coddington and Sears) and specialist studies that focus in upon narrower aspects (like the books of Harry Pfanz). Gottfried's work will serve well as a supplement to those older books, clarifying their works with detailed, clear maps to show the action in progress. And it will serve well as a battlefield guidebook; I look forward to my next trip to Gettysburg when Gottfried's maps will enhance my understanding on the ground of just who was where. And for those less familiar with the battle, "The Maps of Gettysburg" provides a solid narrative history of events to accompany the maps. All in all, "The Maps of Gettysburg" easily climbs to the top of that mountain of Gettysburg books, and it can lay claim to a spot on the bookshelves of almost any Civil War enthusiast.