Gettysburg's Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the

Gettysburg's Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the "Commanding Ground" Along the Emmitsburg Road

Gettysburg's Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the

Gettysburg's Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the "Commanding Ground" Along the Emmitsburg Road

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Overview

A “fascinating illumination of little-known accounts and personalities” by two experts on the Battle of Gettysburg (Civil War News).
 
The historiography of Gettysburg’s second day is usually dominated by the Union’s successful defense of Little Round Top—but the day’s most influential action occurred nearly one mile west along the Emmitsburg Road, in farmer Joseph Sherfy’s peach orchard. This is the first full-length study of this pivotal action.
 
On July 2, 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee ordered skeptical subordinate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet to launch a massive assault against the Union left flank. The offensive was intended to seize the Peach Orchard and surrounding ground for use as an artillery position to support the ongoing attack. However, Union Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles, a scheming former congressman from New York, misinterpreted his orders and occupied the orchard first.
 
What followed was some of Gettysburg’s bloodiest and most controversial fighting. General Sickles’s questionable advance forced Longstreet’s artillery and infantry to fight for every inch of ground to Cemetery Ridge. The Confederate attack crushed the Peach Orchard salient and other parts of the Union line, threatening the left flank of Maj. Gen. George Meade’s army. The command decisions made in and around the Sherfy property influenced actions on every part of the battlefield. The occupation of the high ground at the Peach Orchard helped General Lee rationalize ordering the tragic July 3 assault known as Pickett’s Charge.
 
This richly detailed study is based on scores of primary accounts and a deep understanding of the terrain. The authors, both Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guides, combine the military aspects of the fighting with human interest stories, in a balanced treatment of the bloody attack and defense of Gettysburg’s Peach Orchard.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781611214567
Publisher: Savas Beatie
Publication date: 11/12/2020
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 408
Sales rank: 435,368
File size: 27 MB
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About the Author

James A. Hessler is a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg. He is the award-winning author of Sickles at Gettysburg (Savas Beatie, 2009), the recipient of the Bachelder Coddington Award and Gettysburg Civil War Round Table Distinguished Book Award, and co-author of Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg (Savas Beatie, 2015). His media appearances include Travel Channel, NPR, PCN-TV, Breitbart News, Civil War Radio, and Gettysburg Daily. He was a primary content designer for the Civil War Trust’s mobile Gettysburg application and has written several articles for publication. He lives with his wife and family in Gettysburg.Britt C. Isenberg is a full-time Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park since 2014. He has been published in several Civil War periodicals through writing and photography, and is the author of The Boys Fought Like Demons (2016), a regimental history of the 105th Pennsylvania Infantry. His tours at Gettysburg have also been featured on PCN-TV. Originally from Millersburg, PA, he resides with his wife and daughter near Gettysburg.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations xiii

Preface xiv

Introduction: A Fatal Mistake xv

Chapter 1 War Comes to the Sherfy Farm 1

Chapter 2 Commanding Ground 29

Chapter 3 Incomprehensible Movements 63

Chapter 4 Crush the Enemy's Line 93

Chapter 5 Gain the Emmitsburg Road 121

Chapter 6 Let Me Charge 145

Chapter 7 We Are Going to Have a Fight 183

Chapter 8 I Wish I Were Already Dead 219

Chapter 9 The Ground Secured by Longstreet 249

Chapter 10 The Wreck of Battle 274

Chapter 11 Sherfy's Peach Orchard Immortal 298

Appendix: Select Order of Battle 332

Bibliography 345

Index 369

Acknowledgments 380

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