Book Review: the Maps of Gettysburg: an Atlas of the Gettysburg Campaign, June 3--July 13, 1863 by Bradley M. Gottfried

A well written book about a military campaign always includes some maps to illustrate troop movements, the geography of the battlefield, and deployment of the forces during the battle itself. A book about a complex campaign like Gettysburg that involved tens of thousands of soldiers and where fighting occurred over a large geographical area should have lots of maps to aid the reader in understanding what happened. In The Maps of Gettysburg, author Bradley M. Gottfried uses 144 maps to thoroughly tell the story of troop movements and placements in battle down to the regimental level.

The book is more than just a collection of maps. It is arranged so that with the book open, a map is on the right hand page and the map's accompanying text is on the left hand page. Each page set is the same, text on the left, map on the right, one map per page of text. With this arrangement, the reader doesn't need to flip pages between maps and text, making it very easy to look back and forth between the author's narrative and the map of that page's action. The maps are easy to read, with placement of regiments in battle lines, and clear indications of movements. Roads, farm fields, fences, woodlands, buildings, and streams are all included in the maps, and while there are these details, the maps are not cluttered at all.

The book begins at the outset of the campaign in early June, as the Confederate Army moved out of its camps in Virginia and headed north with the Union Army in pursuit. In general, several maps are used to explain what happened at any location on the battlefield. For example, five maps (and accompanying pages of text) are used to explain the fighting on Little Round Top on July 2nd and seven maps cover Pickett's Charge on July 3rd. The book concludes with the Confederate withdrawal from Pennsylvania back to Virginia.

The accompanying narrative is not skimpy either. Gottfried uses a good mix of primary and secondary sources, with endnotes and a bibliography of sources used.

The Maps of Gettysburg is a fine addition to anyone's Civil War library.