The Artillery of Gettysburg
By Bradley M. Gottfried
(September 2008 Civil War News)

Illustrated, maps, appendices, endnotes, bibliography, index, 332 pp., 2008. Cumberland House Publishing Inc., 431 Harding Industrial Dr., Nashville, TN 37211, $24.95 plus shipping.

Reviewer: Michael Russert
Michael Russert, a member of the North Shore Round Table of Long Island and the Company of Military Historians, has a MALS plus 60 hours in American Studies. He is Coordinator of The New York State Veteran Oral History Program.

Review:
Artillery played an important tactical role during the three-day battle of Gettysburg, yet Fairfax Downey’s The Guns at Gettysburg, published 50 years ago, has remained the only study of the part performed by the long arm in that battle. Bradley M. Gottfried’s The Artillery at Gettysburg supercedes Downey’s book as the best account of Union and Confederate artillery engaged specifically at Gettysburg.

Gottfried is no stranger to readers of Civil War literature, especially of that concerned with Gettysburg. His five books contribute significantly to the historiography of the battle. He has frequently contributed articles to the Gettysburg magazine and other Civil War related publications. He is working on map studies of battles of the Eastern Theater of the Civil War.

While Downey dedicated much of his study to the nuances of artillery, Gottfried’s entire text is exclusively devoted to the three days of battle. In portraying the role of artillery batteries, Gottfried displays a command of the most recent secondary literature on the topic along with a blend of published and unpublished sources.

He writes with great ease when describing battle and in explaining how a particular artillery piece was employed on the battlefield. His narrative successfully blends his descriptions with primary accounts.

A series of excellent maps created by the author complements the narrative. However, although there are 18 maps, there is a slight flaw in this study. It is the need for additional maps to indicate the placement of Union and Confederate batteries so well described in the text on July 2 along Sickles’ position. An addition of maps similar to those found in The Maps of Gettysburg would help to clarify gun positions just prior and during Longstreet’s Attack.

While the author’s Brigades of Gettysburg follows a corps/division/brigade format, this companion work is arranged in an easy to follow day-to-day chronology of the battle, concentrating on the tactical deployment and use of artillery batteries of both armies. The detailed narrative of events is accompanied by thoughtful insight into various units and commanders.

Gottfried pointedly develops the reasons why Union artillery, especially under the command of the likes of Hunt, McGilvery, Osborn and Wainwright, with better fuses and superior employment, was able to contribute to the Northern victory at Gettysburg.

The Artillery of Gettysburg is a masterful study of how Butternut and Blue gunners affected the outcome of this battle. Appendices consisting of an order of battle, strengths and losses at the battery level, along with characteristics of Civil War artillery pieces at Gettysburg, supplements the well-written narrative.

This book is a must for those interested in how artillery was tactically deployed and used at Gettysburg and how artillery functioned on the battlefield. Gottfried’s The Artillery of Gettysburg is highly recommended as the best study of artillery and its use at Gettysburg written to date.