"Lee is Trapped, and Must be Taken": Eleven Fateful Days after Gettysburg, July 4-14, 1863

by Thomas J. Ryan, Richard R. Schaus, Ted Alexander (Foreword by)

Overview

This award-winning Civil War history examines Robert E. Lee’s retreat from Gettysburg and the vital importance of Civil War military intelligence.
 
While countless books have examined the Battle of Gettysburg, the Confederate Army’s retreat to the Potomac River remains largely untold. This comprehensive study tells the full story, including how Maj. Gen. George G. Meade organized and motivated his Army of the Potomac to pursue Gen. Robert E. Lee’s retreating Army of Northern Virginia. 
 
The long and bloody battle exhausted both armies, and both faced difficult tasks ahead. Lee had to conduct an orderly withdrawal from the field. Meade had to assess whether his army had sufficient strength to pursue a still-dangerous enemy. Central to the respective commanders’ decisions was the intelligence they received about one another’s movements, intentions, and capability. The eleven-day period after Gettysburg was a battle of wits to determine which commander better understood the information he received. Prepare for some surprising revelations.
 
The authors utilized a host of primary sources to craft this study, including letters, memoirs, diaries, official reports, newspapers, and telegrams. The immediacy of this material shines through in a fast-paced narrative that sheds significant new light on one of the Civil War’s most consequential episodes. 
 
Winner, Edwin C. Bearss Scholarly Research Award
 
Winner, 2019, Hugh G. Earnhart Civil War Scholarship Award, Mahoning Valley Civil War Round Table

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611214604
Publisher:	Savas Beatie
Publication date:	11/12/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	28,735
File size:	28 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Thomas J. Ryan earned a BA from the University of Maryland and an MA from American University. He retired after thirty-eight years in intelligence-related capacities for the US Army and the Department of Defense. His book Spies, Scouts, and Secrets in the Gettysburg Campaign won the Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award and the Gettysburg Civil War Round Table Distinguished Book Award.Richard R. Schaus, Sergeant Major, US Army (Ret), served on active duty for more than thirty years in a variety of army and joint military intelligence assignments both at home and abroad. Rick is a lifelong student of the Civil War and American military history in general, and the Gettysburg Campaign in particular.David Stifel trained at the Yale School of Drama and has worked for such noted film directors as Steven Spielberg and Danny Boyle.

Table of Contents

Prologue Edwin C. Bearss vii

Foreword Ted Alexander ix

Preface xiii

Introduction xvi

Chapter 1 July 4, 1863: The Union Army's Task is Not Yet Accomplished 1

Chapter 2 July 5, 1863: Lee in Full Retreat 35

Chapter 3 July 6, 1863: The Rebel Army is Vulnerable 60

Chapter 4 July 7, 1863: Lincoln Seeks the Destruction of Lee's Army 81

Chapter 5 July 8, 1863: Anticipating the Final Battle 102

Chapter 6 July 9, 1863: Meade Argues Information is Lacking 122

Chapter 7 July 10, 1863: The Rebel Army is Considered Demoralized 143

Chapter 8 July 11, 1863: The Meade-Lee Chess Match Continues 163

Chapter 9 July 12, 1863: The Price of Meade's Circumspect Leadership 190

Chapter 10 July 13, 1863: The Final Hours of Decision 213

Chapter 11 July 14, 1863: The Magnitude of the Misfortune of Lee's Escape 241

Chapter 12 Aftermath 271

Chapter 13 Assessments 292

Appendix 1 Meade and the BMI: An Uneasy Relationship 302

Appendix 2 Bureau of Military Information Reports 304

Appendix 3 President Lincoln's Unsent Letter to General Meade 308

Bibliography 310

Index 327

Acknowledgments follow the index

Editorial Reviews

"Ryan and Schaus's book also has a unique emphasis, in this case the role of military intelligence."

Civil War Books and Authors

"A scholarly, in-depth study...Expertly researched, featuring black-and-white maps, a thorough bibliography, and an index, 'Lee is Trapped and Must be Taken' is a welcome addition to public and college library Civil War shelves."

Midwest Book Review