Booknotes: The Battle of Gettysburg 1863 (2)

New Arrival:
• The Battle of Gettysburg 1863 (2): The Second Day by Timothy J. Orr (Osprey Pub, 2023).

Continuing where 2022's The Battle of Gettysburg 1863 (1): The First Day left off, Timothy Orr's The Battle of Gettysburg 1863 (2): The Second Day covers, from one end of the field to the other, the iconic battle's terrible middle day. From the description: "July 2, 1863 was the bloodiest and most complicated of the three days of the Battle of Gettysburg. On this day, the clash involved five divisions of Confederate infantry and their accompanying artillery battalions, as well as a cavalry skirmish at nearby Hunterstown. The bulk of the Union army engaged on the second day of fighting, including men from the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 11th and 12th Corps."

Volume 391 of Osprey's Campaign series, the book transitions into the topic at hand by briefly revisiting the end of Gettysburg Day 1. From there, Orr provides opposing orders of battle before getting into the events of the second day. Series elements such as campaign and battle background, leadership, army composition, and preservation discussions were already covered in the Day 1 volume, leaving the vast majority of this book to be devoted to the planning and fighting of Day 2.

More from the description: "Assisted by superb maps and 3D diagrams, this fascinating work describes the tactical play-by-play, the customary “who did what” of the battle. Among the famous actions covered are Hunterstown and Benner's Hill, Little Round Top, Devil's Den, the Rose Wheatfield, the Peach Orchard, and Culp's and Cemetery hills. The critical decisions taken on the second day are examined in detail, and why the commanders committed to them."

Original paintings from artist Steve Noon dramatize key phases of the battle (at Little Round Top, the Peach Orchard, and East Cemetery Hill). The multi-color cartography created for the book is presented at regimental scale. The two map types (one traditional in style and the other a 3D-isometric depiction of units and terrain) complement each other well. Nearly every page of text has one or more photographs attached.

Finally, "Gettysburg was-first and foremost-a soldier's battle, full of raw emotion and high drama, and this work also examines the experience of combat as witnessed by the rank and file, bringing this to life in stunning battlescene artworks and primary accounts from common soldiers."