Gettysburg—The First Day (review)

Gettysburg—The First Day. By Harry W. Pfanz. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001. Pp. 496. $34.95.)

Harry W. Pfanz's Gettysburg—The First Day is the third in his definitive series of volumes on the historic battle, following Gettysburg—The Second Day (1987) and Gettysburg—Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill (1993). Like the previous volumes, The First Day draws upon the author's extensive and minute knowledge of the Gettysburg battlefield, acquired during his tenure as historian at the Gettysburg National Military Park and augmented by frequent visits since that time. And like Pfanz's previous books, this one reflects exhaustive research in primary and secondary sources. One has the impression that conclusions reached by the author are sound.

Among the primary virtues of Pfanz's three Gettysburg books is their satisfying perspective. The author gives readers the large picture as experienced by the army and corps commanders, explaining their decisions on the basis of the information they possessed at the time. Robert E. Lee's decision to invade the North, for example, is clearly and compactly explained. (Some readers, however, will miss a critical analysis of the general's thinking.) Throughout the book, however, it is the corps and division commanders who receive most attention, as The First Day is primarily a tactical study, and the high commands of the two armies exercised little direct involvement with what happened on the battlefield July 1. Maj. Gen. Oliver. O. Howard occupies a central place in this narrative. Of his two counterparts, Lt. Gen. Ambrose P. Hill and Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, the latter receives far more attention, as Hill's activities received little report by himself or others. Howard is viewed favorably, though his tendency to claim more credit than he deserved is duly noted. Ewell appears as a solid, fully competent commander. His decision not to attack Cemetery Hill seems justified, though Pfanz's discussion carries an unmistakable note of wistfulness. Lee's involvement in the evening's decision is not analyzed; however, earlier in the book we glimpse Ewell's exasperation at the vague nature of the army commander's orders. (It should be noted that Pfanz treats Ewell's decision thoroughly in Gettysburg—Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill.)

Pfanz moves us easily from the corps commander's view to the brigade and regimental commander's view, and down to the individual soldier's experience. Gettysburg—The First Day shares with Pfanz's other two books the inclusion of striking and memorable vignettes and anecdotes about individuals. These range from the harrowing and gruesome to the uncanny-such as the story concerning Lt. Col. David R. E. Winn of Georgia, whose portrait back in Americus fell on a chair post, puncturing the face, on the same day he was shot in the face at Gettysburg (256). The experiences of the young Amelia Harmon and her aunt in their house near Willoughby Run convey to us a sense of what it might have been like on the battlefield. From their cellar, the two women heard "a swishing noise like that of scythes mowing hay"; then they heard "the thudding of many feet and saw dark shadows and the passing knees of soldiers in gray" as the mile-wide Confederate line of battle swept by (279).

The heroic stand of the Federal First Corps units is covered thoroughly but without glamorization, and the Eleventh Corps receives fair and largely vindicating treatment. Pfanz notes that the First Corps of the Army of the Potomac inflicted 5,900 casualties on Hill and Ewell, while the Eleventh Corps inflicted only about 600. However, Pfanz argues that the Eleventh faced extenuating circumstances: "Because of their poor position and inadequate numbers to defend it, the Eleventh Corps commanders faced an impossible situation. Probably few, if any, commanders could have done much better under similar circumstances" (351).

Gettysburg—The First Day is not perfect. Its repetitions seem avoidable. Early chapters are somewhat choppy...