Gettysburg--The Second Day (Civil War America) Paperback – March 2, 1998

Harry Pfanz is easily one of the most recognized names when it comes to knowledge on the battle of Gettysburg. Pfanz, the former Chief Historian of the National Park Service, has also written two outstanding books on the battle, Gettysburg: The First Day and Gettysburg: Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill. These books are simply mandatory reading for anyone trying to gain an understanding of the importance of the most definitive battle of the American Civil War, and this book offers terrific insight into why July 2nd is ultimately what decided Gettysburg. This work sets the scene perfectly for the second day, giving the reader an enormous amount of information as to why July 2nd represented the best opportunity for the South to achieve ultimate victory at the battle, as well as possibly the war.The second day of the battle of Gettysburg is easily the most impressive and important day of the three-day struggle in south-central Pennsylvania. Places like the Devil’s Den, Peach Orchard, Little Round Top, and the Wheat Field are cemented in the American psyche, and the sheer mention of their name remunerates the reader with scenes of blatant tenacity and bloodcurdling horror. The book meticulously recounts these bloody and their consequences on the battle and country at large, all the while keeping a cohesion and focus that never lets the reader lose their grasp on the enormity of the struggle.This book covers every minute aspect of the action on July 2nd, 1863. Most impressively it showcases how porous the southern leadership from the top down was on July 2nd, while also showcasing the terrible performance of Pendleton’s artillery wing during the engagement. Pfanz offers a scything assessment of every southern leader’s performance during the battle, and it really made me rethink my how different the battle could have been, had July 2nd been a more concerted effort on the part of Lee and his lieutenants.Pfanz’s work is as close to essential on Gettysburg as anything I have ever read before. The book offers immense, and sometimes inundating details about the battle and the men who waged it, but it never lets the reader forget that this battle was more of street brawl than a boxing match. I challenge anyone to read over the sections on the Wheatfield and Little Round Top and not be totally confused as to unit locations and performances. It simply, at times, leaves you needing time to digest all of the research. While this, in itself, may be off-putting to less-than-serious students of the battle, I was fascinated by Pfanz’s research and knowledge, and I gained a much more focused understanding of the second day at Gettysburg.I recommend this work for anyone that is in need of a better understanding of the battle of Gettysburg. This book, along with Pfanz’s other books on the battle, are simply must own for fans and scholars alike. I bought the set for my dad for Father’s Day and liked them so much I got myself a set, too. No serious student of the battle of Gettysburg should be without Pfanz’s essential works on July 1st and 2nd, and I only wish he would have done one on the 3rd of July as well. I guess we will never see that book, but here is to hoping Harry would consider it!

This is by far the most detailed account available of Longstreet's assault and is essential reading for anyone interested in the operational and tactical details of the battle of Gettysburg. Pfanz drills down to the regimental and battery level, even the company level at times, so this is not for people who have never read any other books on the battle. (Go with Sears or Coddington) But for those of us who crave these minute details, this book is a must. It covers every aspect of the fighting on the Union left and puts it all in its proper context. Every area of the fighting is fully covered including less popularly known actions such as Berdan's recon, the confused fighting near the Wheatfield, and the last final assault on Cemetery Ridge that made it farther than Pickett's Charge. Pfanz also demonstrates just how bad a hash was made of the Confederate attack, but that it came close to succeeding despite this. This book will make it very clear that this part of the fighting was about so much more than just Little Round Top. I strongly recommend this book to any Gettysburg enthusiast.

In Gettysburg: The Second Day (1987), Harry W. Pfanz charts the events of the Battle of Gettysburg’s second day, July 2, 1863. July 2 was the Confederacy’s last, best hope for winning a decisive victory on Northern soil. Like the previous day, it started badly for the Union Army of the Potomac, yet ubiquitous action by generals George G. Meade and Winfield Scott Hancock staved off disaster and won what became the most famous Union victory of the American Civil War.This book is far superior to Pfanz’s later works on Gettysburg, but it only focuses on the action on the Union left flank and not on Culp’s Hill or Cemetery Hill. That received its own book-length treatment. The omission was a relief to this reader, since its grueling 624-page length already pushed the limits of my attention span.As a micro history, Gettysburg: The Second Day almost entirely focuses on the tactical, rather than strategic, aspects of the battle. It would be unfair to say the author never engages in higher level thinking about the events, but he devotes the lion’s share of text to describing what happened and not how or why.The maps were helpful because in addition to giving readers a visual representation of the verbosely detailed text, they featured a chronological summary of events. That helped put everything into context.Gettysburg: The Second Day is not a study in command, but it does highlight some key differences between the overall Union and Confederate commanders. General Lee was a passive observer of the day’s events, sending out only one report and receiving a single message.In contrast, writes Pfanz, “General Meade… was actively and directly involved in the events of the late afternoon… Meade was in the saddle observing the course of the battle and issuing orders that would send troops to the dangerous gap and was seeing that they were obeyed.”Longstreet’s flank attack was deceptively successful at first, but in the end its momentum was too little and Union reinforcements too numerous. In hindsight, had the Confederates attacked a few hours earlier, they may have won the day, but the author makes no such judgements. He chooses to focus on what happened, not what might have happened, with remarkable detail and precision.Harry W. Pfanz (1921-2015), of Gaithersburg, Maryland, was a graduate of Ohio State University. He served during World War 2 and was wounded at the Battle of the Bulge. He was the historian at Gettysburg from 1956 to 1966 and chief historian of the National Park Service until 1981. His other books include Gettysburg: The First Day (2001) and Gettysburg: Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill (1993).

I have a few books on Gettysburg. Some visual to see lie of terrain, deployment on it, movement. This is the fine detail and lots of it. I found I had to refer to the visual ref to follow the flow. Well intermixed with potted biography and anecdotes.