Tillie Pierce: Teen Eyewitness to the Battle of Gettysburg

by Tanya Anderson

Overview

What was it like to be living in Gettysburg when the war came to town? This is the acclaimed book about Tillie Pierce, a teenager whose eyewitness account of the bloodiest battle on U.S. soil is unlike any other in Civil War annals.

In 1863, 15-year-old Tillie Pierce became an unlikely heroine when she and other women and girls were trapped in a small Pennsylvania town as the mother of all Civil War battles raged around them. Tillie's rough-hewn account of her ordeal, written many years later, comes to life in this book thanks to beautiful photography, maps, and the vivid prose of award-winning author Tanya Anderson.

Showing courage and compassion, Tillie and other Gettysburg citizens helped save the lives of countless wounded Union and Confederate soldiers as they lay in the kitchens and bedrooms of their homes. This book was a Junior Library Guild Selection and Benjamin Franklin Award Gold Medalist.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780966925821
Publisher:	Quindaro Press
Publication date:	06/01/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	11 - 14 Years

About the Author

Tanya Anderson is an award-winning author and editor of books for young readers. She has worked for more than twenty years in various editorial functions for Pages Publishing Group, Guideposts for Teens, SRA/McGraw-Hill, Darby Creek Publishing, and School Street Media, her own business.

Table of Contents

Gettysburg, a Crossroads Town 8

The Shrivers and the Pierces 12

Rumors and Restlessness 20

The Rebels Are Coming! 28

Running to Safety 36

The Round Tops 44

Battle's End 52

After the Storm 60

On Baltimore Street 70

After the War 82

Editorial Reviews

"An insightful perspective on one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War seen through the eyes of a 15-year-old girl.
Tillie Pierce was a normal teenager for her time, but she became an unlikely heroine when the Civil War literally came to her backyard in Gettysburg. Tillie and other women and girls like her found themselves trapped during this critical three-day battle in southern Pennsylvania in July 1863. Compensating for a lack of training with extraordinary courage and compassion, Tillie and other Gettysburg citizens helped save the lives of countless wounded Union and Confederate soldiers. Anderson wisely relies heavily on Tillie's own words in the narrative. Her eyewitness observations are vivid and compelling: 'The approaches were crowded with the wounded, dying and dead. The air was filled with moanings, and groanings. As we passed on toward the house, we were compelled to pick our steps in order that we might not tread on the prostrate bodies.' Archival images, including photographs and prints, add critical visuals, while occasional sidebars flesh out some details. Particularly helpful are the maps that occasionally orient readers.
Tillie's words bring the sights, sounds and smells of a civilian and teenager experiencing war straight to today’s readers in a way a retrospective account cannot." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

An insightful perspective on one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War seen through the eyes of a 15-year-old girl. Tillie Pierce was a normal teenager for her time, but she became an unlikely heroine when the Civil War literally came to her backyard in Gettysburg. Tillie and other women and girls like her found themselves trapped during this critical three-day battle in southern Pennsylvania in July 1863. Compensating for a lack of training with extraordinary courage and compassion, Tillie and other Gettysburg citizens helped save the lives of countless wounded Union and Confederate soldiers. Anderson wisely relies heavily on Tillie's own words in the narrative. Her eyewitness observations are vivid and compelling: "The approaches were crowded with the wounded, dying and dead. The air was filled with moanings, and groanings. As we passed on toward the house, we were compelled to pick our steps in order that we might not tread on the prostrate bodies." Archival images, including photographs and prints, add critical visuals, while occasional sidebars flesh out some details. Particularly helpful are the maps that occasionally orient readers. Tillie's words bring the sights, sounds and smells of a civilian and teenager experiencing war straight to today's readers in a way a retrospective account cannot. (source notes, suggestions for further reading) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews