The story of the true savior of Little Round Top at Gettysburg—a 26-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer, who paid with his life to defend that hill.Citizen-soldier Strong Vincent was many things: Harvard graduate, lawyer, political speaker, descendent of pilgrims and religious refugees, husband, father, brother. But his greatest contribution to history is as the savior of the Federal left on the second day at Gettysburg, when he and his men held Little Round Top against overwhelming Confederate numbers. Forgotten by history in favor of his subordinate, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Vincent has faded into relative obscurity in the decades since his death.This book restores Vincent to his rightful place among the heroes of the battle of Gettysburg: presenting his life story using new, never-before-published sources and archival material to bring the story of one of the most forgotten officers of the American Civil War back to the attention of readers and historians.
Hans G. Myers is an historian from Erie, Pennsylvania. A graduate of Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania (Class of 2019) and the University of Indianapolis (2021), Myers served as the inaugural Gerald and Marjorie Morgan Graduate Student Assistant in History at the University of Indianapolis. He studies social and military history in the nineteenth-century United States.
Frank Varney earned his undergraduate degree at William Paterson University and his M.A. and Ph.D. at Cornell University. He is a recently retired Distinguished Professor of U.S. and Classical History and has been the recipient of multiple teaching awards. Dr. Varney is available to take student groups to historic sites—especially Civil War battlefields—and is a frequent speaker at Civil War roundtables, historical societies, and other interested groups. He has been the keynote speaker at several veterans’ memorial dedications and has made numerous radio and TV appearances.
Introduction: The Vanishing of VincentThe Strongs and The Vincents: Early Life, Education, and CourtshipJanuary to August 1861: Lieutenant Vincent of "The Erie Regiment"August 1861 to March 1862: The Eighty-Third PennsylvaniaLate March to September 1862: The Swamps of the ChickahominyOctober 1862 to January 1863: Colonel VincentJanuary to April 1863: "I enlisted to fight"May to June 1863: "I wish he were a brigadier-general"July 1, 1863: March to MortalityJuly 2, 1863: The Lion of Round TopJuly 3 to July 7, 1863: The Road to ImmortalityThe Path to Being Forgotten: The Legacy of Strong Vincent