The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle
Cry of Freedom, James McPherson reads his new book Hallowed
Ground: A Walk at Gettysburg in this remarkable audio
CD. When I visited Gettysburg and the National Cemetery in
2002, I started (as most people do) at the Visitor's Center
and then followed the "three hour tour" around the
park. There's a problem in doing this, and after listening
to McPherson's reading, I learned what it was.
The battlefield driving tour generally flows
chronologically, but not quite, and some of the most interesting
things to be seen and learned at Gettysburg are near or at
the end of the "official" tour route (Culp's Hill,
Spangler's Spring, the Peach Orchard, Trostle Farm, and East
Cavalry Field, etc). Since McPherson isn't limited by any
immediate need to get efficiently around the battlefield,
the telling of his story is totally chronological and allows
him to place the significant elements into the context of
what was happening on the field at the time. Listening to
his account gives a more accurate, complete, and rounded knowledge
of the battle and helps to explain why Gettysburg, a sleepy
little farm and orchard town would become the location for
the climactic battle that was the turning point in the Civil
War.
McPherson begins by describing the physical setting
-- how it has changed since the battle and how the site has
been preserved. He outlines the reasons the Confederates marched
into Pennsylvania and what they hoped to accomplish. He talks
about why the Union Army had been cautious up to that point,
and why Lee may have been a bit too overconfident.
He tells some of the familiar stories, the early
death of General Reynolds, how General Buford's cavalry saw
the danger of the approaching rebel advance brigades and held
them off long enough to get enough of the Union Army into
place to keep from losing the battle immediately. He also
recounts the story of the 20th Maine Volunteer Regiment, Joshua
Lawrence Chamberlain, and many others. But he also tells other
lesser known stories that are just as compelling and heroic
-- those of Union Colonel Patrick O'Rourke and another Union
regiment that held its ground on Culp's Hill to prevent being
outflanked. This was similar to what the 20th Maine did at
the other end of the battle (except for the climactic bayonet
charge that the 20th Maine executed). He tells us who fired
the very first shot at Gettysburg as well as the more familiar
and sad story of the only civilian casualty.
The depth of scholarship in Hallowed Ground:
A Walk at Gettysburg is amazing, and this audio experience
greatly enhances a visit to this historic battlefield.
