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Title: Civil War Artillery at Gettysburg: Organization, Equipment, Ammunition, and Tactics by Philip M. Cole ISBN: 0-306-81145-6 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: 16 July, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (4 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Near Miss
Comment: I love artillery, and the Civil War, and I was predisposed to like this book. I wanted to like it. But I failed. There is a lot of good and interesting information in this book, and the author does seem to know his subject (though there are gaps, for example his flawed understanding of the contruction of a wooden wheel). His themes as to the importance and use of artillery are well worth examining. But its all spoiled by the bad writing. It is turgid, the sentences are complex and sometimes obscure - the author sometimes seems to lose track of what he meant to say when he started. It is also occasionally repetitive. The English is at about the level of a good High-School theme paper, but it isn't good enough for a published work. Its a shame, too; if Mr. Cole couldn't buff up his English for publication, he surely could have found someone (like the publisher, Da Capo Press!) to do it for him. That's what editors are for.
So would I recommend this book? Well, I'm not going to give the book to Salvation Army, but I don't know if I'd buy it again either. So perhaps that is a very guarded recommendation, if your level of interest is very high.
James D. Gray
Rating: 5
Summary: Great overview of Civil War artillery deuce
Comment: As an artillery officer who studies Civil War artillery pretty intently, has been published in Field Artillery Journal and America's Civil War Magazine, and who has led several staff rides at Gettysburg, I found Phil Cole's book to be quite helpful. This is a must read for any person who wants to learn what it was like to be a Civil War-era artillerist. Mr. Cole generally uses examples of the Gettysburg Campaign to explain artillery tactics, techniques, and procedures. He also offers some reasonable conclusions about how the battle was fought and persuasively argues the centrality of the long arm in all operations. So buy this book now, get Coco's little book on Gettysburg artillery, the new book on the Stuart Artillery (Galloping Thunder), Van Loan Naisawald's treatise on the artillery in the Army of the Potomac, and the book on Cushing, synthesis them, and get out to the Burg to do some serious terrain analyses! After that, go see your local National Guard recruiter and join the artillery!
Rating: 4
Summary: A good overview of Civil War Artillery
Comment: In some ways the book's title -- "Civil War Artillery at Gettysburg" -- is a little misleading or at least overly self-limiting. Most of the book is devoted to discussing Civil War artillery as a subjectin itself; only in the next-to-last chapter does the focus shift to the battle of Gettysburg, and even then there is a good deal of information about artillery in general rather than Gettysburg specifics. I do not say this as a criticism of Philip Cole's book, because it serves a very useful purpose in providing a good overview of Civil War artillery in general, with much of what it has to say as applicable for Antietam or Chickamauga as to Gettysburg. If you are looking for accessible descriptions of the guns, ammunition, capabilities, and tactics, then this fits the bill. I had recent occasion to try to track down what seemed to be a simple enough fact -- what was the muzzle velocity of a standard 3-inch rifled cannon? -- and I checked every place I could think of, including Ordnance Department manuals, Civil War artillerist's drill manuals, and books on Civil War weapons and equipment. And I came up blank. Nothing had the desired information, until I picked up Philip Cole's book and there it was (1215 feet per second, in case you are wonderding).
So, I would defintely recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn about Civil War artillery. It's not just for those interested in Gettysburg.
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Title: Brigades of Gettysburg: The Union and Confederate Brigades at the Battle of Gettysburg by Bradley M. Gottfried ISBN: 0306811758 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: 24 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $50.00 |
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Title: Grape and Canister: The Story of the Field Artillery of the Army of the Potomac, 1861-1865 by L. Vanloan Naisawald ISBN: 0811707024 Publisher: Stackpole Books Pub. Date: July, 1999 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: Gettysburg's Bloody Wheatfield by Jay Jorgensen ISBN: 1572492538 Publisher: White Mane Publishing Co. Pub. Date: June, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Gettysburg by Stephen W. Sears ISBN: 0395867614 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 24 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: Hallowed Ground : A Walk at Gettysburg by James M. McPherson ISBN: 0609610236 Publisher: Crown Pub. Date: 13 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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