Gettysburg: The Meade-Sickles Controversy (Military Controversies) - Hardcover

Sauers, Richard A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1574884883 ISBN 13: 9781574884883

Publisher: Potomac Books, 2003

Synopsis

On July 2, 1863, the second day of fighting at Gettysburg, Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, in a controversial interpretation of his orders, advanced his men beyond the established Union line, exposing his flanks to a potentially devastating Confederate attack. Shortly after being reprimanded by his commander, Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, for endangering the entire Union Army, Sickles was hit by a cannonball. He returned to Washington, D.C., with his leg amputated and his pride badly wounded. A politician and lawyer prior to the war, Sickles was already notorious for being the first person in U.S. history acquitted of murder by pleading temporary insanity. During his recuperation in the nation’s capital, Sickles defended his actions at Gettysburg to anyone who would listen, including President Lincoln, and criticized Meade before the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War. He continued defending himself for years after the war, while Meade remained mostly silent.

Historian Richard A. Sauers destroys many commonly held myths about the controversy by examining the evidence in detail. In this fascinating analysis, he highlights the way combat is always complicated by personality conflicts and human frailties among military leaders. He also demonstrates that distortions, like Sickles’s version of Gettysburg, are frequently accepted as fact by historians and repeated for generations to come. Sauers shows that Sickles’s unjust manipulations harmed Meade’s reputation for years after the war.

About this title

About the Author:

Richard A. Sauers, Ph.D., has written numerous books on the Civil War including Meade: Victor at Gettysburg, Advance the Colors! Pennsylvania Civil War Battleflags, The Civil War Journal of Colonel William J. Bolton, and How to Do Civil War Research

Review:

"This well-researched book is a significant contribution to the historiography of the Battle of Gettysburg." --THE JOURNAL OF MILITARY HISTORY

About this edition

• Publisher: Potomac Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1574884883
• ISBN 13: 9781574884883
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240