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George Gordon Meade could hardly believe it: only three days earlier, he had been thrust unexpectedly into command of the Army of the Potomac, which was cautiously stalking its long-time foe, the Army of Northern Virginia, as it launched a bold invasion northward. Meade had hardly wrapped his head around the situation before everything exploded.Outside the small college town of Gettysburg, Confederates had inexplicably turned on the lead elements of Meade's army and attacked. The first day of battle had ended poorly for Federals, but by nightfall, they had found a lodgment on high ground south of town. There, they fortified -- and waited. "Don't give an inch, boys!" one Federal commander told his men.The next day, July 2, 1863, would be one of the Civil War's bloodiest.
About the Author
"It's in me and it gots to get out," legendary guitarist John Lee Hooker said of his music. Chris Mackowski says the same thing about his writing: "It's in me, and it gots to get out."Chris is a writing professor in the School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, NY, and historian-in-residence at Stevenson Ridge, a historic property on the Spotsylvania battlfield. He is also editor in chief of Emerging Civil War (www.emergingcivilwar.com) . The author of more than a dozen books about the Civil War, Chris's writings have appeared in all the major Civil War magazines.Chris has worked as a historian with the National Park Service at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park and still gives tours of the area's four major Civil War battlefields (Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania) . He serves on the board of directors of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, a preservation organization that focuses on saving endangered property associated with the four battlefields.Chris has an M.F.A. from Goddard College and a Ph.D. from Binghamton University.
