I just finished "Retreat from Gettysburg" subtitled "Lee. Logistics & the Pennsylvania Campaign" by Kent Masterson Brown, published by the University of North Carolina Press. The books's narritive begins at 4:00 PM om July 3rd. 1863 and ends on July 14th., when the last of the Confederate Army crossed back into Virginia (West Virginia)

I found the book very interesting. I learned a lot about a major portion of the Gettysburg Campaign, where my knowledge had been  sadly lacking. The book starts a little slow. The author goes into great detail concerning the makeup of the various Confederate columns heading south from Gettysburg. Frankly, a little more than I wanted to know! From there, the narritive really picks up, with excellent discrïptions of the Federal cavalry's attacks and the Confederate's defense.

Mr. Brown gives General Meade a very fair treatment, pointing out all the problems Meade had to overcome during the pursuit of the ANV. Not the least of which, were his own supply issues.

Mr. Brown comes to an interesting conclusion, that while the Battle of Gettysburg was a loss, the Pennsylvania Campaign may well be considered a Confederate success. He makes the point that the food, draft animals and other supplies, captured and sucessfully transported back to Virginia; kept the ANV in the field until the Fall harvest.

I too have read the book and found it vastly interesting. Criticism I have read about it concerns the numbers of wagons and their contents. However, I consider that type of criticism picayunish. It is a must read!

I have driven the retreat route from the Fairfield Road in Gettysburg to Falling Waters in Maryland (all the various routes). There are spectacular views on Catoctin mountain and more than one battlefield (albeit a 'cavalry skirmish' to most folks). Definitetly worth doing!

TomT

Just ordered it today! Winter seems to be the time when I get most of my reading in, so I'll have "Retreat from Gettysburg" and a history of the Jeff Davis Legion cavalry of the ANV arriving soon.

FWIW, I ordered these from amazon.com and they're taking pre-orders on a book by Eric Wittenberg and J. David Petruzzi that concentrates on the fighting during Lee's retreat from Gettysburg called "One Continuous Fight". Wittenberg has written extensively on CW cavalry matters and his last book (with Petruzzi) was on J.E.B. Stuart's Gettysburg campaign (or, lack of). Very well written and full of good "stuff". This may be a good winter for CW reading.

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MStuart wrote : FWIW, I ordered these from amazon.com and they're taking pre-orders on a book by Eric Wittenberg and J. David Petruzzi that concentrates on the fighting during Lee's retreat from Gettysburg called "One Continuous Fight".

Both Wittenberg and Petruzzi belong to the the  Gettysburg Discussion group (as do I). This is an absolutely fabulous email group if you're into Gettysburg. We also have 3-4 member-led tours of the battlefield that are outstanding. If you're interested, subscrïption info can be found at gdg.org .

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TomTownsend wrote :   We also have 3-4 member-led tours of the battlefield that are outstanding.

That's 3-4 per year...

Thanks, Tom - I appreciate the mention of the book.  It will be available by early May, and Savas (on their website) will be offering a special of both books (One Continuous Fight and Plenty of Blame to Go Around).

J.D. Petruzzi