Addressing Gettysburg Book Club
Little Round Top at Gettysburg: A Reassessment of July 2, 1863
By Joseph Michael Boslet. El Dorado Hills: Savas Beatie, 2026. Hardcover, 247 pp. $34.95
Joseph Michael Boslet’s Little Round Top at Gettysburg: A Reassessment of July 2, 1863 is not another introductory Gettysburg narrative designed for casual Civil War readers. Instead, it is a deeply analytical, terrain-centered reassessment aimed squarely at seasoned Gettysburg enthusiasts, the dedicated “Gettynerds” who already know the traditional story and are ready to challenge long-held assumptions about Little Round Top and the fighting on July 2, 1863.
Boslet approaches the subject not merely as a historian, but as a soldier. A Vietnam combat veteran, he brings to the study a perspective that separates this work from many standard campaign histories. Throughout the book, Boslet consistently reads the battlefield as a combat soldier would, through terrain, line-of-sight, exhaustion, confusion, fields of fire, and the physical realities of movement under pressure. This perspective becomes the book’s greatest strength. Rather than treating Little Round Top as a stage for legend and postwar romanticism, Boslet evaluates what soldiers on both sides could realistically see, do, and understand in the chaos of combat.
That focus on battlefield landscape is where the book excels. Boslet repeatedly demonstrates how the rocky slopes, wooded approaches, elevation changes, and broken ground shaped tactical decisions and individual actions. Readers familiar with the traditional Chamberlain-centered narrative will find Boslet less interested in mythology and more concerned with reconstructing the actual experience of combat on the hill. The result is a work that feels grounded in military practicality rather than heroic memory.
Boslet’s reassessment also broadens the story beyond the familiar focus on Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine. He gives substantial attention to the other regiments and commanders involved in the struggle, particularly the men of Strong Vincent’s brigade, and carefully reexamines accepted interpretations of timing, troop placement, and command decisions. In doing so, he challenges readers to reconsider not only what happened on Little Round Top, but also how Civil War memory itself has been constructed over generations.
At times, however, the very strengths of the book may limit its accessibility. This is not a volume for someone reading about Gettysburg for the first time. Boslet assumes a significant level of prior knowledge about the battle, the units involved, and the geography of the field. Readers unfamiliar with the broader Gettysburg campaign may find themselves overwhelmed by the dense tactical discussions and detailed analysis of troop movements. This is a book written for readers who already walk the field with maps in hand and debate regimental positioning at monuments, not for newcomers seeking a general overview of the battle.
The lack of photographs and visual aids is also frustrating at times, particularly given the author’s heavy emphasis on terrain interpretation. Boslet’s analysis frequently depends on understanding subtle features of the landscape, and additional modern battlefield photographs or detailed topographical imagery would have strengthened the reader’s ability to follow his arguments. While the maps included are useful, there are moments when the narrative cries out for more visual support, especially for readers attempting to mentally reconstruct the rocky and uneven terrain of Little Round Top.
Even so, the book remains an important and worthwhile contribution to Gettysburg scholarship. Boslet’s soldier’s-eye interpretation offers a refreshing corrective to overly simplified narratives and demonstrates how deeply terrain and combat experience shaped the battle. He neither completely tears down the legend of Little Round Top nor blindly accepts it. Instead, he asks readers to reconsider the engagement with a more critical and realistic lens.
Ultimately, Little Round Top at Gettysburg deserves a place on the bookshelf of serious Civil War readers and Gettysburg students. It may not replace the classic narratives, but it successfully complicates them in productive ways. For those willing to engage deeply with the battlefield and rethink familiar stories, Boslet provides a thoughtful, challenging, and rewarding reassessment of one of the Civil War’s most iconic fights.
Strong Men of the Regiment Sobbed Like Children: John Reynolds’ First Corps at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863.
by John Michael Priest. Savas Beattie, 2025. ISBN: 978-1-61121-750-6
In his latest work, historian and battlefield guide John Michael Priest brings his trademark “history from the trenches” approach to the Union Army of the Potomac’s I Corps on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. As he does in his earlier book, Stand to It and Give Them Hell (2014), Priest examines the fighting through the eyes of the common soldiers—what they saw, what they heard, and how they felt in the midst of unimaginable chaos.
This book offers an up-close view of the battlefield; not from the perspective of generals and grand tactics, but from the men and officers in the thick of the fight. Readers are not given a distant overview of strategy; instead, they are placed directly in the action. Priest delivers a visceral portrayal of trying to maneuver around wounded and dead men and horses, abandoned equipment, scattered supplies, and surrendering soldiers. The personal view of carnage, confusion, and courage brings the battlefield to life in a way few books attempt.
Heavily footnoted and filled with meticulous detail, the narrative captures the clutter of battle…the smoke, the noise, the supply wagons, the dead and dying, the prisoners and the overwhelmed field hospitals. Priest introduces readers to the personalities of the men who fought, reminding us that while many students of Gettysburg know the monuments and the outcome, it is the experiences of individual soldiers that truly illuminate the meaning of the struggle. These human-interest stories draw the reader in and deepen the understanding of what the First Corps endured under General John Reynolds.
Readers will come away with a deeper appreciation of the ground-level experience—one that vividly illustrates the chaos that enveloped the I Corps and supporting units on July 1, 1863. They will also gain a renewed respect for the resilience of both Union and Confederate soldiers, and the humanity of all those in Gettysburg who were swept into the vortex of war.
This book is not for the neophyte. A solid foundation of Civil War knowledge is essential to fully appreciate the depth of detail Priest provides. One minor critique is the limited attention paid to the XI Corps; additional context, especially regarding their retreat on the first day, would have helped frame the broader collapse of the Union line and complemented the story of the I Corps.
Still, Strong Men of the Regiment Sobbed Like Children delivers exactly what serious students of Gettysburg seek—not just the battle, but the men who fought it. You may already know how the day ended—now read the stories of those who lived it.
~The Addressing Gettysburg Bookclub
The Invincible Twelfth: The 12th South Carolina Infantry of the Gregg McGowan Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia
By Benjamin L. Cwayna. Savas Beatie, 2025. ISBN: 978-1-61121-736-0
With new regimental histories appearing every year, it can be difficult to identify those that truly elevate the field. Benjamin L. Cwayna’s The Invincible Twelfth is unmistakably one of them. Clearly written, thoroughly documented, and grounded in meticulous research, this study offers an impressive model of modern military history that blends accuracy, narrative drive, and analytical purpose.
The 12th South Carolina Infantry has long deserved a full, serious examination. Despite its remarkable combat record within the Gregg McGowan Brigade, the regiment has often received little more than brief mention compared to more widely known units such as the Texas Brigade. The scarcity of surviving letters and memoirs has contributed to that neglect. A significant number of the regiment’s officers and many enlisted men were killed during the war, leaving researchers with limited firsthand testimony. Cwayna confronts this challenge with determination, utilizing every available diary, letter, memoir, speech, and official report. His careful citations and systematic reconstruction of events give the book both authority and depth.
Rather than allowing the story to become a simple march through battles, Cwayna shapes the regiment’s service into a cohesive narrative that explains why the 12th earned a reputation for discipline, aggressiveness, and relentless fighting spirit. From its unremarkable early months in coastal defense to its emergence as one of the Army of Northern Virginia’s most dependable regiments, the book presents a clear account of how the unit developed its identity. Its performance in major battles such as Gaines Mill, Second Manassas, Antietam, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania is woven smoothly into the broader analysis. The staggering human cost of that service is never far from view. Of the nearly 1,400 men who passed through the regiment’s ranks, only about 150 remained to surrender at Appomattox.
Cwayna’s writing is crisp and accessible, which allows the complexity of the evidence to serve the narrative rather than overwhelm it. The volume’s presentation further strengthens the work. Hal Jespersen’s well-designed maps guide the reader effectively, and the selected photographs introduce faces to the names that define the regiment’s story allowing the reader to become personally invested in their story.
The Invincible Twelfth succeeds as both a deeply researched study and a highly readable account of one of the Confederacy’s hardest fighting units. It fills a longstanding gap in the historiography and demonstrates how a regimental history can balance scholarship and narrative clarity. This book deserves a place on the shelf of anyone interested in the Army of Northern Virginia or the military history of the Civil War.
-The Addressing Gettysburg Bookclub