Addressing Gettysburg

One great thing about Ken as a guest is that I, as the interviewer, and hardly needed. He can go on and on and I rarely find myself getting bored. I hope you will enjoy learning about the town in this epic three-parter. Ken Rich is owner of Reluctant Witnesses Historic Tours and was one of the historical consultants on Addressing Gettysburg Episode 2 "INVASION! June 1863"

75 years after the Battle of Gettysburg, just under 2000 Civil War veterans, who wore both blue and gray, gathered together on Gettysburg's hallowed fields one last time before passing on into history. This was also the year that 450,000 Americans descended on the place to see President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicate the Eternal Peace Light Memorial on the third day of the reunion. As you will hear, it was quite the undertaking to put on and, in typical American fashion, it was not without its controversies, especially over that Rebel Battle Flag, but perhaps not for the reasons you would assume. Gettysburg National Military Park's Chief of Interpretation and Education Christopher Gwinn joins us to talk about his 2019 Winter Lecture Series lecture entitled "Twilight of the Blue and Gray"

Author Christopher Loperfido sat down with me on July 3, 2018, in the shade of a small grove of trees across Hancock Ave from the monument of the 111th NY and in front of the Brian Farmhouse. We chose this spot because the subject of Christopher's book, Dr James D. Benton, who was the assistant surgeon of the regiment here at Gettysburg. Chris and I discuss Benton and what a wounded soldier might expect to go through when he received treatment. Christopher E. Loperfido, a native of Weedsport, New York, graduated from Oswego State University with a bachelor's degree in history and political science and has a strong passion for American history. He has spent two summers volunteering at the William Seward House in Auburn, New York, and worked for the National Park Service at Gettysburg National Military Park in the summers of 2007 and 2008 as both a park intern and National Park Service Ranger. He is currently employed by the Department of Justice and lives with his wife, son, and pug in Michigan. His hobbies include following his beloved Boston Red Sox, golfing, and spending time with his family. Death, Disease, and Life at War is his first book. You can get your copy of Chris' book and many others at our website www.addressinggettysburg.com/books

Lieutenant General James Longstreet is one of the more controversial figures of the war and, especially, the Battle of Gettysburg. But does the blame for the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg really rest on his shoulders? Author Cory M Pfarr has had enough of Longstreet getting a bad rap, so he set out to set the record straight in his new book "Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment". In this episode, Cory and I break down some of the points of contention about General Longstreet so that you can decide for yourself if he is the traitor his former cohorts made him out to be in the postwar years. Cory M. Pfarr works for the Department of Defense and is an American History author whose main interests span America's Revolutionary to Civil War years. He is the author of "John Quincy Adams's Republicanism: 'A Thousand Obstacles Apparently Stand Before Us'" (Massachusetts Historical Society, 2014) and Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment (McFarland Publishers, 2019). He has also written articles for North & South Magazine and Gettysburg Magazine, and has appeared on the Pennsylvania Cable Network and C-SPAN American History TV. He lives in Pikesville, Maryland with his wife and three kids.

Matt and Bob are joined by Licensed Battlefield Guide and author Tim Smith for this edition of Ask A Guide. We asked our social media followers to submit questions for the guides and they came through, once again. This episode's questions come from: Instagram Users @jneale1777 @JDsw20 The Great Tronetti @Anna_storm @quinn2477 @Centralvirginiahistorian @scott_b_5.11.4 @Makeitclique @dannymusclehed @Darthetzkorn @Kentuckycivlwar @wildtrout_riverjunkie and Facebook user Bill Etzkorn III Thank you all for your submissions and, as always, if any of our listeners would like to schedule a tour with any of the guides we feature, please email [email protected] and I will put you in touch with a guide.

Licensed Battlefield Guide Bob Steenstra is back and, this time, he's joined by fellow LBG Jessie Wheedleton for her debut on Addressing Gettysburg. Together, they ask YOUR questions pertaining to the Battle of Gettysburg in this inaugural episode of Ask A Gettysburg Guide. From time-to-time we will solicit questions from out social media followers that we will ask guides to answer. We'd like to thank the following Facebook and Instagram followers for their questions: Bill Etzkorn III, Lanson Morris, 230_grain, gpaint1977, J.D., Dannymusclehed, Anna_Storm, PvtTaylor Bishop and OfficialPearleShannon. If you submitted a question and it didn't make it, don't worry. We will work it into a future episode. Recommended Reading: For a thorough assessment of known numbers and what they mean : "The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study In Command by Edwin B. Coddington. For an assessment of numbers/locations of people in Pickett's charge: "Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg" by James Hessler and Wayne Motts, "Pickett's Charge" by George R. Stewart. For Gettysburg artillery : "Silent sentinels" by George Newton, "Grape and Cannister" by Naisawald to follow AoP artillery through the war and "The Artillery at Gettysburg" by Bradley M. Gottfried, PhD.

Licensed Battlefield Guide Bob Steenstra sits down with Matt to give an overview of the Gettysburg Campaign. This is done with the newbie in mind, but should be just as interesting to the veteran student of the battle. The narrative episodes of Addressing Gettysburg (like "Antietam to Chancellorsville" and the upcoming "June 1863- INVASION!") go into more detail on everything covered in this upload. Our soon-to-be-launched Patreon page will contain micro-histories with only the best and brightest Licensed Battlefield Guides, Park Rangers and authors. Be sure to become a Patron when it launches. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @addressinggettysburg Recorded at the Destination Gettysburg Studios

This BONUS episode was originally intended to be part of our premium content. But we felt that, due to the subject matter, it would better serve you if we made it available for free. Also, since this was recorded, the scope and style of the premium content has changed. The novel, "The Killer Angels" and the movie based on it, "Gettysburg", are great works of historical fiction. Millions love them and have gained an interest in the Battle of Gettysburg because of them. But where do works of art divert from history? D. Scott Hartwig's book, "A Killer Angels Companion," helps to clear the air between fact and fiction. Scott sat down with us in June of 2018 for what we originally referred to as a "deep dive" to discuss the major characters and plot points of the book and film versus what happened in real life. This is a must-listen for any student of the Battle of Gettysburg. *This episode was recorded in June of 2018 at the GettysBike Tours location at the visitor center of Gettysburg National Military Park. Get the books! A Killer Angels Companion The Killer Angels

Learning about the civil war can be difficult for someone new to the game, especially when it comes to military terminology. While many have casual familiarity with such terms as "regiment", "brigade", "division" and "corps", they often use them interchangeably, seemingly choosing whichever word sounds "cool" to them in the moment, or, to give the novice a little more credit than that, simply confusing them because they are new terms to him or her. But these terms are not interchangeable, as cool as they may sound, and they have very specific meanings. These meanings vary from war to war and between nations, but we're not concerned with those meanings. For our purposes here, the definitions of these terms will focus on the American Civil War-era military usage. This upload is designed to be one of many companion uploads to the main episodes of Addressing Gettysburg. This, is the Gettysburg Glossary. A few things to note before moving on are that, when discussing numbers of soldiers, there are two types of figures given here: the "on paper" figures, meaning what the respective unit sizes should be if recruited and mustered into service at full strength, and the average numbers as they were at Gettysburg. So, when listening to episode 1, Antietam to Chancellorsville, for example, a brigade's stated numerical strength would be somewhere in between the "on paper" numbers and the Gettysburg average. Disease, including infection, was the number one cause of death during the Civil War. These diseases were contracted in various ways. Some were a result of behavior, many more were a result of camp life, and others were the result of medical treatments. Now a word about the Gettysburg average: All one needs to do is read two books on the battle of Gettysburg to find that no one truly agrees on the actual number of men involved. Throughout the fifteen and a half decades since the battle, scholars of the battle have looked at the numbers in an effort to come closer to a more realistic figure of totals. Some historians have the numbers at 95000 Union soldiers against 75000 Confederate soldiers. Some say 80000 to 60000. The minutiae of exactly how many each army had isn't as important as recognizing that most historians seem to agree that there's a difference of about 15000-20000 in favor of the Union. Also, it would be a mistake to assume that the Union victory at Gettysburg was mainly due to its outnumbering the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. If that were the case, the North would have won the war long before April of 1865. So when it comes to the numbers we use in Addressing Gettysburg, they are used more for illustrative purposes than actuarial figures. When our sources are conflicting with each other on these figures, we yield to the numbers used by the National Park Service of each battlefield we discuss, or the American Battlefield Trust. The terms discussed in this upload can be found, along with a multitude of others, on the American Battlefield trust's website. We extrapolate on many of these definitions. And now, the Gettysburg Glossary. Military Units Company: A group of 50 to 100 soldiers led by a captain. 10 companies = 1 regiment. Smaller units within a company are platoons which are made up of squads. Regiment- the building blocks of the army were regiments. On paper, each regiment, was comprised of ten companies of 100 men. Those companies would be recruited in a town or several nearby towns and sent to their respective state capitals to be trained and mustered into service as part of a regiment. Regiments would be numbered in order of appearance, for the most part, for example, the First Pennsylvania Volunteer infantry, the second pennsylvania volunteer infantry, etc. This was also done for cavalry units with the word "cavalry" replacing the word "infantry". So, there would be a first pennsylvania volunteer infantry and a first pennsylvania volunteer cavalry. They were men who answered the call for volunteers at the outbreak of the war and fell under the volunteer service. Regiments who were part of the Federal service, or "regular army", would be numbered as the First United States cavalry or infantry and so on. As the war pressed on, these numbers diminished so that, by Gettysburg, the average size of a Union regiment was around 350 men and a Confederate regiment being slightly larger. This was not a reflection of the populations in the north and south, but, rather, a reflection of the method of integrating raw recruits into the army. Northern recruits were placed into new regiments while southern recruits were mingled into veteran units. A regiment was officially led by a field officer at the rank of colonel. When a colonel was absent due to sickness, wounding, death or being placed in command of the brigade to which the regiment belonged, lower ranking officers such as lieutenant colonels, majors and even captains moved up to command the regiment. Multiple regiments would be organized into b

The Battle of Gettysburg can trace its origins back to September of 1862 when Robert E Lee audaciously lead his Army of Northern Virginia on an invasion of the North. Since taking command in June of 1862, Lee had beaten back Major General George B McClellan's Army of the Potomac and secured the Confederate capital of Richmond during the peninsula campaign. He then moved to Northern Virginia where he thrashed Major General John Pope's Union Army of Virginia in August at the battle of Second Manassas. After this victory, Lee strategically chose to keep his aggressive momentum going rather than settle into a defensive posture around Richmond. So he turned his attention to Northern Territory; specifically, Pennsylvania, probably, Harrisburg. This, Lee knew, would draw the Union Army out of Virginia. By September 16, Harpers Ferry had fallen and Jackson's Corps, save A.P. Hill's Division, which was en route from Harpers Ferry, had been reunited with Longstreet and Lee on the bluffs along the Antietam Creek outside of Sharpsburg, Maryland. Early that misty morning, Confederate guns opened fire from the high ground northwest of town. The bloodiest 12 hour period in American history was underway. When it was all over, 23,000 Americans would be killed, wounded or missing. The battle of Antietam is considered a draw and Lee withdrew his Army back into Virginia. General George McClellan sat on his laurels and failed to pursue and crush Lee's army. Lincoln had had enough. By November, Lincoln fired McClellan. Taking his place was Ambrose E Burnside, a General who is best described as "a modest man with much to be modest about". This description betrays his flamboyant and unique facial hair styling, which may have given birth to the term sideburns. Upon taking command, Burnside planned an aggressive offensive against Richmond, Virginia by way of Fredericksburg. But this boldness was immediately met with troubles crossing the Rappahannock River, mainly because of delayed pontoon bridges. This gave Robert E Lee time to entrench his army on Marye's Heights behind the town of Fredericksburg. On December 13, Burnside ordered the battle begin. Orders from Burnside were to "send a division or more" in an effort to seize the high ground west of Fredericksburg. The approach was fraught with difficulties: fences, gardens, a canal, narrow bridges over the canal and scattered homes, barns and, eventually, the fallen, all promised to break up and slow the Federal advance over the open plain. Longstreet's men were hidden behind a stone wall that ran along a sunken road at the base of the heights, known at that time as the Telegraph Road. Major General Lafayette McLaws had about 2000 men on the front line and an additional 7000 reserves on the crest of and behind Marye's Heights. Batteries pointing in every possible direction had very few target-deficient spots on the Union approaches. As soon as Union troops came out of the city, they came under artillery fire. Next Major General Winfield Scott Hancock's Division's emerged to suffer the same fate as French's. The Irish Brigade, commanded by Brigadier General Thomas Francis Meagher, was first to go up. Before going into battle, Meagher addressed his men, saying, "This may be my last speech to you, but I will be with you when the battle is the fiercest; and, if I fall, I can say I did my duty, and fell fighting in the most glorious of causes." His men gave him three cheers. Meagher remained behind, naming a bum knee as the cause. On the order: "Shoulder arms, right face, forward, double quick, march!" The Irishmen raced toward the enemy. Immediately they came under artillery fire. One well-placed Confederate shell exploded among the 88th NY, taking out 18 men. The Confederate line opened fire with a galling sheet of flame. MULHOLLAND: "Officers and men fell in rapid succession," wrote Lt. Col. St. Clair Mulholland of the 116th Pennsylvania Volunteers. "Lieutenant Garrett Nowlen fell with a ball through the thigh. Major Bardwell fell badly wounded; and a ball whistled through Lieutenant Bob McGuire's lungs. Lieutenant Christian Foltz fell dead, with a ball through the brain. The orderly sergeant of Company H wheeled around, gazed upon Lieutenant Quinlan, and a great stream of blood poured from a hole in his forehead." By day's end, Burnside sent Seven Union divisions against Marye's Heights, one brigade at a time, making a total of fourteen individual charges, each of which failed, costing the United States Army around 7500 casualties. The total Union casualties is the Battle of Fredericksburg were well over 12,000 Confederate losses at Marye's Heights totaled around 1,200 and their total losses in the battle were just over 5000. _______________________________ Major General Joseph Hooker came to command the Army of the Potomac by undermining Ambrose Burnside in any way he could while politicking and forming a band of Hooker-loyalists within the high command of the army. Being fully awa