Sweeping away many of the myths that have long surrounded Pickett's Charge, Earl Hess offers the definitive history of the most famous military action of the Civil War. He transforms exhaustive research into a moving narrative account of the assault from both Union and Confederate perspectives, analyzing its planning, execution, aftermath, and legacy.

Presents a history of the decisive battle at Gettysburg based on military and personal accounts.

If, as many have argued, the Civil War is the most crucial moment in our national life and Gettysburg its turning point, then the climax of the climax, the central moment of our history, must be Pickett's Charge. But as Carol Reardon notes, the Civil War saw many other daring assaults and stout defenses. Why, then, is it Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg--and not, for example, Richardson's Charge at Antietam or Humphreys's Assault at Fredericksburg--that looms so large in the popular imagination? As this innovative study reveals, by examining the events of 3 July 1863 through the selective and evocative lens of 'memory' we can learn much about why Pickett's Charge endures so strongly in the American imagination. Over the years, soldiers, journalists, veterans, politicians, orators, artists, poets, and educators, Northerners and Southerners alike, shaped, revised, and even sacrificed the 'history' of the charge to create 'memories' that met ever-shifting needs and deeply felt values. Reardon shows that the story told today of Pickett's Charge is really an amalgam of history and memory. The evolution of that mix, she concludes, tells us much about how we come to understand our nation's past.

Main Selection of the History Book Club The Battle of Gettysburg, the Civil War’s turning point, produced over 57,000 casualties, the largest number from the entire war that was itself America’s bloodiest conflict. On the third day of fierce fighting, Robert E. Lee’s attempt to invade the North came to a head in Pickett’s Charge. The infantry assault, consisting of nine brigades of soldiers in a line that stretched for over a mile, resulted in casualties of over 50 percent for the Confederates and a huge psychological blow to Southern morale. Pickett’s Charge is a detailed analysis of one of the most iconic and defining events in American history. This book presents a much-needed fresh look, including the unvarnished truths and ugly realities, about the unforgettable story. With the luxury of hindsight, historians have long denounced the folly of Lee’s attack, but this work reveals the tactical brilliance of a master plan that went awry. Special emphasis is placed on the common soldiers on both sides, especially the non-Virginia attackers outside of Pickett’s Virginia Division. These fighters’ moments of cowardice, failure, and triumph are explored using their own words from primary and unpublished sources. Without romance and glorification, the complexities and contradictions of the dramatic story of Pickett's Charge have been revealed in full to reveal this most pivotal moment in the nation’s life. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

"This book celebrates Pickett's Charge, Mark Bradford's monumental commission for the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, an epic site-specific work inspired by Paul Dominique Philippoteaux' nineteenth century cyclorama at Gettysburg National Military Park. ... Spanning the entire circumference of the inner-circle galleries on the Museum's third floor, the artist creates an immersive installation that fills the massive space. ... Working with a combination of colored paper and reproductions of the original cyclorama, Bradford collaged and transformed the historic Gettysburg imagery into a series of eight powerful works."--Page vi.

At Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, Confederate soldiers launched one of history's most famous infantry assaults: Pickett's Charge. Using the participants' own words, Richard Rollins deftly reconstructs that momentous event. Separate sections cover planning and preparation; the preliminary artillery barrage; the charges of Pickett's, Pettigrew's, and Trimble's Divisions; and defensive actions up and down the Federal line. From the generals who devised the assault to the lower-level officers and men who bravely walked through shell and shot, Rollins offers a comprehensive, panoramic view of the charge, with more than 150 firsthand accounts—including accounts from Lee, Longstreet, Pickett, Meade, and Hancock—many of them long forgotten and previously unpublished.

A comedy, a tragedy. Threadgill Pickett, veteran of the Civil War, breaks out from an Alabama old folks home and starts a quest northward to kill the last living Union Soldier. This is to avenge his brother, who was needlessly killed by Union soldiers, outside of any conflict. On his journey Threadgill encounters two brothers building a time machine, a trio of Klu Kluxers, a man collecting raccoons that turn out to be rabid, a wannabe country singer, and a truck-driving woman to make men stand in awe. He also encounters a Utopian society of blacks and whites who share family, food, love, and grief.

A historian's investigation of the life and times of Gen. George Gordon Meade to discover why the hero of Gettysburg has failed to achieve the status accorded to other generals of the conflict.

Pickett's Charge was an infantry assault ordered by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Union position on July 3, 1863, the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Arguably an avoidable mistake from which the Southern war effort never fully recovered psychologically, much has been written as to why Lee had to make the charge, about his commander's reluctance to make the charge and about the Confederate soldiers that took part in the charge. In Pickett's Charge: The Untold Story, author Bruce Mowday explores the story of what the heroic Union soldiers, led by General Alexander Webb, had to endure during this assault by Southern forces, a story that deserves recognition and has been overshadowed for more than a century by books and articles on General Robert E. Lee's forces. The book contains images made public for the first time from the J. Howard Wert Gettysburg Collection(TM) and The American Heritage and History Virtual Museum.

During the battle of Gettysburg, as Union troops along Cemetery Ridge rebuffed Pickett's Charge, they were heard to shout, "Give them Fredericksburg!" Their cries reverberated from a clash that, although fought some six months earlier, clearly loomed large in the minds of Civil War soldiers. Fought on December 13, 1862, the battle of Fredericksburg ended in a stunning defeat for the Union. Confederate general Robert E. Lee suffered roughly 5,000 casualties but inflicted more than twice that many losses--nearly 13,000--on his opponent, General Ambrose Burnside. As news of the Union loss traveled north, it spread a wave of public despair that extended all the way to President Lincoln. In the beleaguered Confederacy, the southern victory bolstered flagging hopes, as Lee and his men began to take on an aura of invincibility. George Rable offers a gripping account of the battle of Fredericksburg and places the campaign within its broader political, social, and military context. Blending battlefield and home front history, he not only addresses questions of strategy and tactics but also explores material conditions in camp, the rhythms and disruptions of military life, and the enduring effects of the carnage on survivors--both civilian and military--on both sides.