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Zusatztext “Vivid. . . . Eloquent. . . . Here is the real story of the epic fight for Little Round Top.” —Stephen W. Sears! author of Gettysburg “Fascinating. . . . An eloquently written narrative. . . . A fine example of military and social history.” — The Civil War News “A gem. . . . LaFantasie’s beautifully written narrative goes beyond the movement of troops to provide an understanding of who the men were who fought there...and how the grim afternoon shaped their lives.” — America’s Civil War “Lively. . . . Readable. . . . There is something weirdly magical about [Little Round Top] and it has lacked a definitive history until now.” — The Journal of Southern History Informationen zum Autor Glenn W. LaFantasie is the Frockt Family Professor of Civil War History and the Director of the Center for the Civil War in the West at Western Kentucky University. He is the author of Gettysburg Requiem: The Life and Lost Causes of Confederate Colonel William C. Oates (OUP, 2006), and he has also written for several magazines and newspapers, including American History, North and South, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, The New York Times Book Review, America's Civil War, Civil War Times Illustrated, and The Providence Journal. He lives with his wife in Bowling Green. Klappentext On July 2nd! 1863! forces from the Confederacy's Army of Northern Virginia and the Union's Army of the Potomac clashed over the steep! rocky hill known as Little Round Top. This battle was one of the most brutal and devastating engagements of the American Civil War! and the North's bloody victory there insured their triumph at Gettysburg! setting the stage for the South's ultimate defeat. Using newly discovered documents and rare firsthand sources! acclaimed historian Glenn LaFantasie sheds new light on the dramatic story of this pivotal battle and tells the story as it truly unfolded! from the perspective of the brave men who fought and died there. chapter 1 Midnight to Morning Under the pale white light of a full moon, Gettysburg looked nothing like its former self. There was a ghoulish quality to the landscape, and eerie shadows fell across the dead and wounded who remained on the trampled fields where the first day’s fighting had raged. The pungent aromas of death and burnt powder filled the air, and startling military noises—the rumble of caisson wheels on the hard surfaces of the roads, the sudden human shouts of commands and heralds, and the death cries and moans of the wounded who littered the meadows and clogged the town’s alleys and streets—sounded through the night like the jolting peals of a firebell. At Lee’s headquarters in an apple orchard across from Mrs. Mary Thompson’s tiny but sturdy stone house on the Chambersburg Pike, the commanding general put together his plans for the following day, having already called in Longstreet to discuss an attack on Meade’s left flank “as early . . . as practicable” on the morrow and sent a courier to Ewell with a message not to attack the Union army’s right until he could hear the sound of Longstreet’s artillery to the south. A short while later Lee went to bed, although it could hardly be said that the details of the impending battle had been worked out to perfection. Longstreet spent a more worrisome night. Late in the afternoon of July 1, as the Confederates drove the Union forces back through the town toward Cemetery Hill, Longstreet had come upon Lee at Seminary Ridge, near the seminary building perched on the crest. Scanning the horizon with his field glasses, Longstreet observed that the Union army was being pushed back toward the high ground, a position that gave the enemy a defensive advantage. To Longstreet’s surprise, Lee said that he intended the following morning to attack Meade’s army on the heights. Longstreet boldly su...
