Below The Beltway

I don’t say this very often, but in Gettysburg, Newt Gingrich and William Fortschen have created a masterpiece.

The Civil War itself, and the Battle of Gettysburg in particular, have been the subject of countless historical books, novels, and films. The war has also been the subject of more than one “what-if” scenario; imagining how history might have changed if a decision had been made differently, or if a crucial battle had gone to the other side.

In the Timeline-191 series, for example, Harry Turtledove, using Antietam has his point of departure, created a grim vision of a North American continent bitterly divided between nations and condemned to fight not just one, but four wars across much the same territory over the span of 80 years.

In Gettysburg, Gingrich and Fortschen start with what was arguably the last gasp of real victory of the Army of Northern Virginia, the Battle of Gettysburg.

In our world, it was a battle that lasted three days and resulted in a nearly decisive Union victory. In the novel, however, there is only one day of battle, no charges up the Round Tops, and no suicidal Pickett’s Charge. Instead, Robert E. Lee, taking charge of his Army in a way he hadn’t before, moves the battle onto more favorable ground in Maryland and, aided in no small part by the incompetence of General George Meade, fights a decisive battle near Westminster, Maryland.

What makes this book so great is the detail that the authors go into in describing not only the battles fought over three days in July, 1863, but also the characters that witness those battles, from Robert E. Lee, to Longstreet, Henry Hunt, Artillery Commander of the Army of the Potomac, and Herman Haupt, who ran the railroads for the Army of the Potomac.

There are historical allusions galore throughout the book. Joshua Chamberlin, a hero at Little Round Top, makes an appearance, as does James Longstreet, and George Pickett even gets to lead a charge just as glorious, and far more effective, than the one that occurred in reality.

And here’s one piece of advice. If you do read the book, save enough time to read the final five chapters all at once. The climactic battle at Union Mills, Maryland isn’t something that can be digested just a chapter at a time, and it’s the primary example of just how well this book is written.

As the book ends, the Army of the Potomac is decimated and scattering across the Susquehanna River, but the Union is not defeated and Lee turns his sights on Washington for what he hope will be one final blow to end a war that he wished he didn’t have to fight.

But there’s a wind blowing from the West. Just as Lee was winning in Maryland, Vicksburg was falling and a man named Ulysses S. Grant is heading east.