Gettysburg as the Generals Remembered It

September 15, 2010
A prolific author on the Civil War, Broadwater here addresses its most discussed battle: Gettysburg. Apparently, a group of Union officers reunited there in 1890 to tour the battlefield, and their reminiscences of the occasion and of the battle itself soon circulated in a popular magazine. Reprinting these articles, Broadwater tenders a brief biography of each ones author and then critiques what he wrote, concentrating on anything controversial. Since the Union won, recrimination was less than that on the Confederate side: it centered on Daniel Sickles disposition of his troops, which his article defended but which another general who survived the battle, John Gibbon, ripped to shreds. Southern generals werent at the 1890 gathering to add their two bits, but they had for years disputed blame for the defeat. Broadwater presents James Longstreets explanation of his actions, a representative attack on them by Fitzhugh Lee, and an analysis of what responsibility can fairly be laid on Longstreet. Readers who have the battle in their minds eye will be Broadwaters best audience for Gettysburgs battle of the memoirs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)