Gettysburg July 1

Rating:
Summary: One day in total detail
Review: David G.Martin gives us a detailed look at the first day at Gettysburg. A day usually neglected by most. He has done a good job. He paints the picture without fine brushstrokes. The engagement of July 1 is able to be held in your hand and..(most importantly) it can be followed easily. It is detailed, informative and full of incidents that make up a battle. A battle as important as this needs a good opening. Martin gives me that. Worth the read for the appendix alone. Against all the other books that concentrate on other events at Gettysburg it is good to have one that makes you cross the fields of the first day. He has taken his time analysing and gathering facts and gives good service allowing the reader to see several viewpoints at a time. There is a possibility that a few minor details may be 'here say' but in the smoke of battle who sees the entire picture? David G Martin gives the best picture of the first day at Gettysburg I've read. Glad I have it amongst my collection.

Rating:
Summary: Middle of the road
Review: I was so taken by the Regimental Strenths book I was among the first to buy this book. WHO did the proof reading? WHO did the editing? And why can no one do a decent map, considering the technology? Aside of that is the issue of "military probability" and "informed speculation". They are legtimate as long as that point is made clear. My copy is the only book I own that has as many markings of corrections, completely wrong Generals, and questions marks as this one. A work that strove for greatness, insteads rates the status of "Great Verbal Hulk". The man who brought numbers to history in a substantive way, should have put as much care in the editing. Complexity is an inherant quality, it cannot be made simple, but can be made CLEAR!. CLARITY - the only true hope of a historian. Thus the lousey editing and errors mage what could have been a great work amuddled confusing mess. Next time, Mr Martin edit, edit, edit - think clarity and hire Mr Pfranz's mapmaker. It was a work of love, but love is not enough.

Rating:
Summary: PROOFREAD!
Review: Just to echo the thoughts of the perceptive reviewers above: please God, never let me screw up as much as David Martin has in this book.

Rating:
Summary: Very extensive study
Review: Martin can easily rank up with Harry Pfanz's work. Martin has taken the first day at Gettysburg and offered an absolute, extensive and highly detailed study of the events. Martin rarely misses a regiment's detailed movement that can often be over looked in books that consider only the first day of battle at Gettysburg. It was interesting reading about the 1st Corps movements with General Reynolds and what I liked about Martin's book, was that he was fair and brought myths or otherwise cloudy possibilities to better reasonable conclusion. Events such as where Cavalry was positioned, the death of General Reynolds and even Slocum's slow cautious movements towards Gettysburg where very thorough. Martin also considers the time elements as well. He brings in various witness accounts and has well over 100 pages in references to back up his points.

I highly recommend this book for those seeking a very deep understanding of the events on July 1st at Gettysburg. This book may be too deep for novices or people just starting to read about the battle.

Rating:
Summary: A "Must Read" For Any Civil war Enhusiast
Review: Martin's book is excellent - so full of facts that would take you years to learn about elsewhere. (I emphasize FACTS, because Martin takes great pains to document everything he says. If there are two or three versions of an incident, he presents all of them for the reader to decide based on the best evidence.) I have been studying and visiting Gettysburg for more than 25 years and I found this book an excellent addition to my library. My sole criticism is that the maps (of which there were many) were still too few in number and insufficient in detail. I hope that this deficiency is remedied in the next revision of the book. Buy it - it's a GREAT book!

Rating:
Summary: What might have been
Review: Martin's book, both in its rushed first issue and its 'corrected' 2nd issue, is a study in 'what might have been'. The first issue contained numerous errors, the revised is only slightly better. Too much of Martin's writing is superficial and
plodding. For Day 1 at Gettysburg, Harry Pfanz's new book is much better, though not quite at the level of his previous books. The best basic book on the first day still seems to me to be Warren Hassler CRISIS AT THE CROSSROADS.

Rating:
Summary: A Comprehensive Study of the First Day of Gettysburg
Review: The battle of Gettysburg (July 1 -- 3, 1863) continues to fascinate scholarly and lay readers alike. The battle can be explored from innumerable perspectives and with a greater or lesser degree of depth depending upon the interests of the reader.

David Martin's study, "Gettysburg, July 1" is a thorough, detailed study of the first day of the battle, of the events leading up to it, and of the impact of the first day's fight on the remainder of the contest. The book examines day 1 of Gettysburg on the macro and micro levels. Martin discusses the strategies of the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia after they stumbled into each other on July 1. But in addition to command decisions, Martin gives great attention to the battle on the division and regimental levels. He also painstakingly describes and analyzes many anecdotes, legends, and accounts of individual soldiers. The detail may make it difficult for the reader to separate the important from the secondary, and it makes the account repetitious at times.

Together with his account, Martin offers his own assessment of the course of the battle and of the decisions of the commanders. At times he falls into speculation and into "what-ifs", but he is clear to indicate to the reader when he is doing so. Martin is critical of the Union 11th Corps, of Union Generals Howard and Slocum, of Confederate commander Robert E. Lee and of Confederate Third Corps commander A.P. Hill. He praises the Union First Corps and Generals Meade, Hancock,Reynolds Doubleday, and Buford. His analyses flow well if slowly from his factual presentation. Martin treats his subject with seriousness and respect.

The reader would be well advised to begin this book with appendix 2 which is an outstanding account of the topography of the first day's battlefield and of the road network surrounding Gettysburg. These factors are critical in understanding the events of July 1. I also thought the maps in this book were highly useful in understanding the battle. The maps are of two kinds: a "situation" map showing the position of the troops at a given point in time and an "action" map focusing on an incident of the battle -- for example Confederate General Iverson's ill-conceived attack on Baxter's troops early in the afternoon.

Discussion of July 1 at Gettysburg almost always focuses on the Confederate's apparent failure to follow-up on their success and attack the heights -- Cemetery and Culp's Hills. Martin does a masterful job of showing how the Confederate decision was in fact a sum of many small decisions. I found his analysis helped me a great deal in sorting out and understanding this controversial issue. Martin concludes that General Lee (not General Ewell, comander of the Confederate Second Corps) was responsible for the decision not to advance on the heights and the attack probably would have been unsuccessful if it had been attempted.

As I indicated at the beginning of this review, there are many ways of approaching the Battle of Gettysburg and many levels of detail that may interest different readers. I suggest that this book can best be read by readers who have a good grounding in the Civil War and, more particularly, a good background in the battle of Gettysburg itself. But because of the detail of this book, I suggest the reader also have examined something of the first day's actions before tackling this study. I recommend Warren Hassler's shorter account of day 1 "Crisis at the Crossroads." Harry Pfanz's study of day 1 is also a detailed and lucid account, and shorter than Martin's book.

This is a thorough account of day 1 at Getttysburg that will appeal to readers with a passion to learn everything they can about this important event in our Nation's history.

Rating:
Summary: Middle of the road
Review: The irony of Mr. Ploskunak's title -- "Spelling counts" -- and his review aside, he raises important points regarding Martin's "Gettysburg - July 1." Civil War historians as a whole have an unfortunate penchant for speculation, especially with regard to commanders' motives and intentions. Academicians call this "going beyond the data." Martin does this a bit too often for my taste, but he also handles his narrative reasonably well. If we're concerned about amateurs, as another reviewer is, perhaps we should be specific in describing the errors found in a text. As for proof-reading, maps, and editing, those chores are all too often neglected because they cost money. One might equally ask why online book sellers present favorable reviews first as "spotlighted," with less favorable reviews follwing "below the fold," so to speak. Read Coddington above all, and for the first day, Pfanz.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This book is soooooo good. I read Pfanz Day One and Martin's July 1st back to back, and without a doubt, Martin gets the nod. Pfanz book is wonderful, don't get me wrong, but it reads too matter of factly and there weren't as many of the analytical remarks I was expecting. However, Martin provides many more details, but also a lot of the analytical questions and answers that makes reading about the battles interesting.

Maps are excellent and numerous. As usual, a few more wouldn't have hurt, but I'm happy with the ones they had.

I read the "revised" version so I had no troubles with the editorial mistakes like some others. Just make sure you get the revised copy.

The flow of battle is a little tricky to handle because you have multiple troop movements, engagements, important orders going on at the same exact time. Martin's style is to stick with one "action" all the way through. For instance, the action at Barlow's Knoll leads to Kryz's moving in reenforcements, which leads to Union retreat on the right, which leads to Coster's stand, etc. Then he goes back and handles the entire action of Pender's action which was happening at about the same time. I prefer the style that jumps around from section to section so you can read the actions in a chronological order, but Martin handles his style quite well.

Simiply put, the amount of research, details, and nuggets of info (i.e. stories of valor, etc.) are excellent and well worth the price, and make an excellent addition to your civil war book shelf and most certainly your GB collection. This book is for the more advanced student, so beginners are better off starting with an entire campaign or battle book (like Trudeau or Sears) before tackling the micro study.

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This is one of the better books that I read in a while. It's highly readable and would recommend it to anyone.

As a footnote. There are two reviews that state this book is filled with errors. If you would have just given one example that I could have checked, it would have given your review a little more weight. With so may errors (as you put it) it would have been easy to give just one that could have easily been checked, right???

Great book!