Eyewitness to Gettysburg

By James I. Roberston

Author James Robertson, one of America's most respected Civil War scholars and storytellers whose weekly talks about little-known people and events of the Civil War aired for 15 years on National Public Radio, brings history to life here in a collection of unexpected and true stories revealing the events that took place as great events unfolded. He explores such gripping subjects as the post-battle horrors of the wounded, the destruction of Robert E. Lee's aura of invincibility, and the invention of a new way to remove the wounded from the battlefield. In addition, an introductory overview of the Civil War traces the major events of the conflict year by year.

Painstakingly researched and deeply personal, this ebook offers a unique reading experience for the millions of Civil War buffs and all those interested in the previously untold stories behind this great chapter in America's past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: National Geographic
• Release date: May 7, 2013
• ISBN: 9781426210495

Book preview

Cemetery.

CHAPTER ONE

Lincoln Changes

Horses

For the two war-weary armies facing each other in Virginia, it was a lull between storms. After their explosive encounter at Fredericksburg in December, they had settled into winter camps on either side of the Rappahannock River. Men welcomed the respite, but inactivity could be as hard on troops as marching and fighting. The imminent threat of death in battle faded, only to be replaced by the perils of disease, malnutrition, and exposure. That winter was probably the most dreary and miserable we had, recalled Capt. Alexander Haskell of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. The suffering from cold, hunger, and nakedness was intense and widespread. There were thousands on duty in the perpetual snow and mud, without shoes, often no blanket, hardly any overcoats, and many without coats, nothing often but a ragged homespun shirt. Shortages of food and clothing grew worse for Confederates as Federals occupied their territory, tightened the blockade, and took control of the Mississippi. Families sent aid to soldiers in camp, Haskell noted, but much of this was lost by defective transportation, and for the poor fellows from across the Mississippi nothing could come.

Lee himself lived frugally that winter, as Haskell discovered when he visited the general’s headquarters in early 1863. He chanced to come out just as I was taking my leave, Haskell wrote, and as it was the hour for dinner he politely insisted on my sharing the meal. If the young captain expected a feast, he was mistaken. As they entered the tent, he related, there was before us a crude board table with camp stools around it; on it a beautiful glass dish of ‘Virginia Pickles’ sent by some hospitable Virginia lady; the balance of the dinner was a plate of corn bread, or ‘pones,’ and a very small piece of boiled bacon. After saying grace, Lee explained to his guests that his Irish servant Mike had harder work than we have in Quarters, and must be fed. He then cut a thick slice for Mike, Haskell noted, laid it aside, and offered each of his guests and himself a portion that was but a fraction of Mike’s.

This was typical of Lee, whose consideration for men of all ranks helped earn him the lasting devotion of his troops in circumstances that would have demoralized other armies. Soldiers called him Marse Robert and felt he had their best interests at heart even during the hardest campaigns. The boys never cheer him, wrote Cpl. Edmund Patterson, but pull off their hats and worship. For all his personal charm, Lee could not have commanded such loyalty without success in battle. Much as he did as a host by stretching that very small piece of boiled bacon as far as possible, he made the most of limited resources as a commander by repeatedly defeating armies larger and better equipped than his own. He could not hope to perform such feats much longer, however, if his army grew much weaker. Losses to