Addressing Gettysburg Matthew Callery

“Stand to It and Give Them Hell” chronicles the Gettysburg fighting from Cemetery Ridge to Little Round Top on July 2, 1863, through the letters, memoirs, diaries, and postwar recollections of the men from both armies who struggled to control that “hallowed ground.”

John Michael Priest, dubbed the “Ernie Pyle” of the Civil War soldier, wrote this book to help readers understand and experience, as closely as possible through the written word, the stress and terror of that fateful day in Pennsylvania. Readers will gain a deeper appreciation of the personal sacrifice made that awful day by privates and generals alike. This invaluable method uses their own words to paint a rich tapestry of their personal courage and cowardice, and their failures and triumphs.

Nearly 60 detailed maps, mostly on the regimental level, illustrate the tremendous troop congestion in the Wheatfield, the Peach Orchard, and Devil’s Den. They accurately establish, by regiment or by company, the extent of the Federal skirmish line from Ziegler’s Grove to the Slyder farm and portray the final Confederate push against the Codori farm and the center of Cemetery Ridge, which three Confederate divisions in what is popularly known as Pickett’s Charge would unsuccessfully attack on the final day of fighting.

This is a book about combat as seen through the eyes of those who waged it. There is no glamour here, and no adventure. Nor are there accusations, confessions, or second-guessing from the comfort of an easy chair. Instead, “Stand to It and Give Them Hell” offers the brutal, heart-wrenching story of a slice of America’s greatest battle as described by those who marched, fought, bled, and died there. This is their story, and it is one you will long remember.

Ryan Keating (California State University—San Bernardino) talks about the Irish in the Civil War

A panel from CWI's 2024 Summer Conference about atrocities in the Civil War. What defined an atrocity? What were the different types of atrocity? Historians Jaime Martinez, Cecily Zander, Ethan Rafuse, Angela Riotto and Aaron Sheehan-Dean explore this difficult topic. 

Sunday, June 9, 2024, 10:45 am. Frances Clarke (The University of Sydney), Rebecca Jo Plant (University of California, San Diego), Jim Broomall (Shepherd University). Moderator: Brian Luskey (West Virginia University) explore the question "Did Civil War Soldiers Hide the Real War?"

Thomas R. Flagel is associate professor of history at Columbia State Community College in Tennessee. The author of several books, Flagel has also worked with multiple historic preservation groups including the Civil War Trust and the National Park Service.
 
Union and Confederate veterans meet at Gettysburg on the 50th anniversary of the battle
This June 29-July 4 reunion drew over 55,000 official attendees plus thousands more who descended upon a town of 4,000 during the scorching summer of 1913, with the promise of little more than a cot and two blankets, military fare, and the presence of countless adversaries from a horrific war. Most were revisiting a time and place in their personal history that involved acute physical and emotional trauma.
Contrary to popular belief, veterans were not motivated to attend by a desire for reconciliation, nor did the Great Reunion produce a general sense of a reunified country. The reconciliation premise, advanced by several major speeches at the anniversary, lived in rhetoric more than fact. Recent scholarship effectively dismantles this "Reconciliation of 1913" mythos, finding instead that sectionalism and lingering hostilities largely prevailed among veterans and civilians.
Flagel examines how individual veterans viewed the reunion, what motivated them to attend, how they acted and reacted once they arrived, and whether these survivors found what they were personally seeking. While politicians and the press characterized the veterans as relics of a national crusade, Flagel focuses on four men who come to the reunion for different and very individual reasons.
Flagel's book adds significantly to Gettysburg literature and to Civil War historiography.
 

Source: Publisher

Cecily N. Zander is a historian of the Civil War era and the American West. At Texas Woman’s University, she offers courses on American history, military history, memory and popular culture. She received her PhD from Penn State in 2021.
Her first book, The Army Under Fire: Antimilitarism in the Civil War Era, will be published by Louisiana State University Press in February 2024. She also serves as chief historian at Emerging Civil War, a popular outlet for accessible writing about the Civil War era.
 
It has been over 150 years since the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, a disastrous time in Minnesota history. The war had a profound impact in shaping Minnesota as we know it today. This site is a resource for learning about the war, its causes, and its far-reaching consequences.  
Join us on YouTube for an interview with Dr. Zander. Click here