Nine Months to Gettysburg: Stannard's Vermonters and the Repulse of Pickett's Charge

by Howard Coffin

Overview

The story of the brave Vermont brigade that helped win the Civil War.

On the Fourth of July, 1863, reporting on the aftermath of the Civil War’s most crucial battle, the New York Times wrote: “A Vermont brigade held the key position at Gettysburg and did more than any other body of men to gain the triumph which decided the fate of the Union.” The citizen soldiers led by General George J. Stannard helped stabilize the line, and then shattered the right flank of Pickett’s famous charge just when the battle’s outcome hung in the balance.

Over a decade since its original release, Nine Months to Gettysburg is now available in paperback. Coffin draws on scores of soldiers’ letters to relate how and why young recruits from isolated hill farms flocked to the Union colors in response to Lincoln’s call in 1862. And in the nine months leading up to Gettysburg, they recorded, in extraordinary detail, foraging for food, enduring homesickness, monotony, and often fatal diseases. This book movingly captures their myriad anxieties as they are thrust suddenly into the most important infantry maneuver directed against the Confederate assault.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780881509670
Publisher:	Countryman Press, The
Publication date:	09/19/2011
Pages:	338
Sales rank:	345,544
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Howard Coffin, former press secretary to U.S. senator Jim Jeffords, is the author of The Battered Stars, Full Duty, Guns Over the Champlain Valley, and Nine Months to Gettysburg. He lives in Montpelier, Vermont.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Foreword xiii

Preface xvii

Part I Disaster on the Peninsula: Lincoln Calls up the Militia 1

Part II We are Coming, Father Abraham, 300,000 More 45

Part III Stuart and Mosby Ride 95

Part IV Stannard Takes Command 145

Part V Into Battle 175

Part VI Aftermath 247

Main Characters 296

Sources and References 299

Index 304

Editorial Reviews

Coffin (Full Duty: Vermonters in the Civil War, CountryMan, 1994) has written a stirring account of the Vermont 2nd Brigade and its important role at the battle of Gettysburg. Through an exciting narrative of short chapters, the reader experiences a you-are-there sensation as the author offers letters and diaries of the participants. Coffin, a former reporter and board member of the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites, reveals the full range of military life, from the monotony of camp to the overwhelming sensation of battle. He may slightly exaggerate the brigade's accomplishments, but clearly its actions were significant. Though dozens of books of this genre have been published in recent years, the public's appetite seems insatiable. As such, this lavishly illustrated volume is a well-recommended addition to the group.Stephen G. Weisner, Springfield Technical Community Coll., Mass.

Library Journal