One Continuous Fight: The Retreat From Gettysburg And The Pursuit Of Lee's Army Of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863

摘要

There is absolutely no shortage of book-length treatments of Gettysburg, nor is there ever likely to be one. But few serious efforts have been made to document Robert E. Lee's retreat following the epic three-day battle in July 1863, and the Army of Northern Virginia's subsequent recrossing of the Potomac River 10 days later. One Continuous Fight, by Eric Wittenberg, J.D. Petruzzi and Michael Nugent, claims to rectify that situation and finally give the reader "the full story of the retreat." In telling the "full" story, the authors arrange the text chronologically, starting on July 4 and running through July 14, even though the they rightfully point out that the campaign truly ended closer to the end of July when the opposing armies were once again facing each other across the Rappahannock. (Official reports at the time also treated this as the close of the campaign.) Nevertheless, the authors proceed to treat the last two weeks (July 15 onward) in a short epilogue, which unfortunately is one of the book's shortcomings.