"Gettysburg is more than a pivotal battlefield for Americans. It has also, in its way, become something of a national Pantheon. For American heroes have trod that ground, both those who fought there, and those who came after to learn and remember. Warriors like Generals James Longstreet and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, share that field with Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower, and Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery. In a stimulating series of essays, Glenn LaFantasie looks at all of them in Gettysburg Heroes, examining not only why they came and what they did, but also the impact this hallowed ground had upon them and all Americans." ?William C. Davis, author of An Honorable Defeat: The Last Days of the Confederate Government and The Union that Shaped the Confederacy
"LaFantasie has written in a lucid, easy-to-understand manner... highly recommended." ?Daily News (Bowling Green, KY), July 13, 2008
"Gettysburg Heroes offers concise and clear stories of soldiers, civilians, generals and presidents.... Bring[ing] us a little closer to the truth about the battle of Gettysburg and how it has become an oracle for this nation." ?Civil War Librarian, April 4, 2008
Glenn W. LaFantasie is Richard Frockt Family Professor of Civil War History at Western Kentucky University. He is author of Twilight at Little Round Top and Gettysburg Requiem: The Life of William C. Oates. He lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
"Glenn LaFantasie is one of the finest writers in the field of Civil War history. His prose is accessible, pleasurable to read, and always insightful and provocative... this book should excite a lot of interest." ?Joan Waugh, editor of The Memory of the Civil War in American Culture
"[T]his is a superb collection of essays by an outstanding scholar reflecting on America's obsession with the battle of Gettysburg and 'perfect heroes.'" ?The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 76, No. 3
"Glenn LaFantasie flat out knows how to write Civil War history!" ?Richard N. Larsen, The MidWest Book Review
"We continually hear that the Gettysburg subject has been exhausted. Glenn LaFantasie proves this wrong. Beautifully written and splendidly researched Gettysburg Heroes is a delight to read." ?D. Scott Hartwig
"Well-researched, Gettysburg Heroes makes a genuine contribution in the field of the Civil War in thought and memory, and specifically the significance of Gettysburg itself." ?Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Spring 2008
Preface
Introduction
1. Lee's Old War Horse
2. Frank A. Haskell: Tragic Hero of the Union
3. Becoming Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
4. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the American Dream
5. Finding William C. Oates
6. An Alabamian's Civil War
7. Hell in Haymarket
8. William C. Oates and the Death of General Farnsworth
9. Mr. Lincoln's Victory at Gettysburg
10. Lincoln and the Gettysburg Awakening
11. Memories of Little Round Top
12. Ike and Monty Take Gettysburg
13. The Many Meanings of Gettysburg
14. Feeling the Past at Gettysburg
Notes
Index