Decisions at Gettysburg: The Nineteen Critical Decisions That Defined the Campaign by Matt Spruill (review)

Defined as the high-water mark of the Confederacy, the battle of Gettysburg also indisputably stands as the high-water mark of Civil War scholarship. According to a recent literature review, approximately six thousand books, articles, and essays have been written on the three-day battle. Matt Spruill’s Decisions at Gettysburg: The Nineteen Critical Decisions That Defined the Campaign is one of the latest publications on the battle. A retired military officer, Spruill offers an analytical narrative of the defining decisions of the campaign and battle. He defines key decisions as ones that once made and implemented, not only shaped the immediate action but also subsequently changed the course of events through the remainder of the battle. Having established criteria for key decisions, Spruill identifies nineteen critical, defining decisions.

The book consists of two parts: a hundred-page discussion of the nineteen critical decisions and an appendix for a thirteen-stop battlefield tour that guides visitors to the approximate location where the decisions were made or executed. Each stop includes an excerpt from the commanders’ official report. The narrative is logically organized by decisions made before the battle, on July 1, July 2, and on July 3 and afterward. Of the nineteen critical decisions, two were strategic, two organizational, and the remaining fifteen tactical. The tactical decisions were made at multiple levels of command: three were made at the army level, six at corps level, three at division level, and three at brigade level. Although Spruill does not elaborate on this theme, many of the defining decisions of the campaign were made not by Gen. Robert E. Lee or Gen. George G. Meade but their subordinates, thereby bringing junior leadership to the forefront of the war’s bloodiest battle.

Obviously the first key decision in the campaign was Lee deciding to move his Army of Northern Virginia into northern territory. Spruill reiterates the three principal reasons Lee opted to invade the North in the summer of 1863: to influence the northern political situation, to sustain his army on northern resources, and to disrupt the Union army’s campaign plans in Virginia. The second key decision of the campaign, again made by Lee, was his decision to reorganize the Army of Northern Virginia. Following Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s death at Chancellorsville, Lee reorganized his army from two infantry corps into three. This newly structured army now consisted of forty-nine key commanders, including three infantry corps, nine divisions, and thirty-seven brigades. Fourteen of the forty-nine commanders had just been promoted. Stated another way, 29 percent of the men commanding units in Lee’s army were inexperienced in their positions. For instance, the newly created Third Corps was fraught with inexperienced leadership. In addition to Gen. A. P. Hill, freshly promoted to corps commander, two division and five brigade commanders were also new to their positions. Consequently, 47 percent of the key commanders in Hill’s corps were recently promoted. This critical decision undoubtedly influenced the course of the campaign.

During the battle, corps, division, and brigade commanders made important decisions. Brig. Gen. John Buford’s decision to utilize his cavalry to fight a delaying action west of town, thereby protecting the crucial terrain and transportation junction of Gettysburg, influenced the orientation of the respective armies. Maj. Gen. John Reynolds’s decision to reinforce Buford’s cavalry with infantry units from the Union army’s First Corps ensured that a major engagement would be fought at Gettysburg. With a battle in motion, in the final critical decision of July 1, Meade ordered the remainder of the Army of the Potomac to Gettysburg.

Spruill identifies seven pivotal decisions for July 2; Confederate commanders made five of them. These include Lee’s decision to maintain the initiative and assault the Federal flanks, Gen. James Longstreet’s countermarch, and the Confederate offensive. The two key Union decisions included...