Authors: Ralph Peters

Cain at Gettysburg (61 page)

Author's Note

The Killer Angels
will remain the most beloved Gettysburg novel. Michael Shaara's skillful writing, mythic portraits, and romantic view of the battle make it incomparable. Yet, the events of those three days were so dramatic and rich in personalities that a dozen novels might describe them, each with its own focus, and still leave gaps in the line for other authors. And each generation will have its particular needs:
The Killer Angels
âwhich I read with awe on its first publicationâwas perfectly pitched for the mid-1970s, when our military suffered low regard and citizens had to be reminded that towering heroes wore our country's uniform.

Today, we have multiple generations of Americans who have not served in the ranks; who have not been taught history; and who learn about war from politically biased films. A novel about Gettysburg for our time must demonstrate war's horror and appeal, while depicting the complex humanity of those who shoulder rifles or lead armies. Immigrants crowded the battlefield, with enemies to their front and to their rear. Generals did not always speak in the innocent cadences of the Victorian stage (Hancock, for one, could be staggeringly profane). Fateful decisions had to be made without decent maps or reliable intelligence. Inglorious but vital, good staff work saved one side, while inadequate coordination doomed the other. At least 150,000 men had to eat, find water (much of it polluted by the dead), and empty their bowels. Amid ineffable valor, depraved soldiers looted corpses and the wounded. Men died by the hundreds because a command went unheard or ignored, or a flawed command was given. Personal rivalries and negligence worsened the slaughter, and pride too often triumphed over sense. There was more to the battle than picturesque charges and gallant stands.

It demeans the heroes of Gettysburg to depict them as flawless saints. Not one was cut from marble in the womb. Imperfect men fought an imperfect battle and so preserved “a more perfect union” for all.

Heroes are men who overcome themselves.

My own relationship with those fields and groves dates to my 1950's childhood. Propelled by cloudy lore of a Civil War ancestor, my mother and father took my brother and me on annual pilgrimages to Gettysburg (Bruce picked out a gray cap; I chose a blue one). The impending centennial of the war produced a deluge of magazines and pamphlets, as well as a flood of books and even trading cards packaged with bubble gum. The illustrations leapt to life in my imagination as no postmodern digital effects ever have. In seventh grade, I even wrote a history of the Civil Warâto the chagrin of a very busy teacherâand it was almost published by Scribner's. In the end, the work's inadequacies trumped its novelty.

Later, I studied the fields surrounding Gettysburg with a soldier's eye and, in 1985, found myself tasked to produce a leadership class, built around the battle, for the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School.
The Killer Angels
was much in vogue on military reading lists, so I designed a case study from the other side, from the perspective of the exhausted, ferociously brave men of the 15th Alabama, who marched over twenty miles in killing heat only to shatter before the 20th Maine.

As a captain in an era of meager paychecks, I scrimped to buy the complete
Official Records of the War of the Rebellion
(130 volumes) on an installment plan. With that bill paid in full, I bought the collected papers of Ulysses S. Grant. Even as career twists took me from the detritus of war in the Caucasus to panoramic bombardments along the Israel-Lebanon border, I knew, deep down, that the Civil War was my subject.

I wrote a series of Civil War mysteries under the pen name “Owen Parry.” Told from a cranky Welsh immigrant's viewpoint, the novels sought to get at the grit, as well as the glory, and developed a cult following. A volume of Civil War Christmas stories,
Our Simple Gifts,
remains a source of unembarrassed pride to me. But with the approach of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, I saw it was time to grow serious and take on the challenge of reincarnating the battle that has haunted me since childhood.

The result is the book in your hands.

I have read about Gettysburg for over fifty years, only to find there is always more to read. Beyond the original records, veterans' memoirs (some more trustworthy than others), letters, files, and regimental histories, I've profited greatly from the work of dedicated historians. Some of these men and their books influenced me so deeply that they must be acknowledged. The authors may disagree with any number of my interpretations of why or how specific decisions were made or events developed. I can only respond, respectfully, that some things make sense to a soldier that can only baffle those unafflicted by staff time, or who never had to rouse weary soldiers from their cocoons of mud. For all that, I could not have written this book without relying on the exhaustive research of men who've devoted their lives to the study of history.

No matter how long a list of books I offered, some deserving works would be forgotten, so I'll limit my commendations to books that directly influenced
Cain at Gettysburg,
as well as a few fine studies of the battle for general readers.

As I inspected regiment after regiment in search of inspired choices to “carry” the battle, I encountered no finer book than
Covered with Glory: The 26th North Carolina Infantry at the Battle of Gettysburg,
by Rod Gragg. This is splendid historical writing, dazzling research revealed with narrative verve. Gragg's account of the regiment's charge on July 1 is the best narrative depiction of Civil War combat I have found. My own portrayal of the action has been erected on Gragg's solid foundation.

Of equal importance and inspiration were two revelatory works by James S. Pula, who has dedicated himself to teaching us about the role of immigrants in our nation's history. His admirable book
The Sigel Regiment: A History of the 26th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, 1862â1865
helps redress the injustice done to idealistic German immigrants maligned by nativists unwilling to blame their own kind for disasters. This is great work by any standard, and it led me to a second book of Dr. Pula's, the indispensable
For Liberty and Justice: A Biography of Brigadier General Wlodzimierz B. Krzyzanowski, 1824â1887
. For far too long, Krzyzanowski has been only a name on a monument on the drive to Barlow's Knoll. Dr. Pula memorialized a great soldier whose commitment to freedom eclipsed that of many a native-born officer. The book inspired me, and I am deeply in Dr. Pula's debt.

As a side note: I did not feature the 26th North Carolina and 26th Wisconsin in this book for the sake of twinning their numbers to make a symbolic point. It was purely coincidental that these two regiments best fit the tale I hoped to tell.

There are legions of Gettysburg books in stores, libraries, archives, and attics and for sale online. For readers who wish to learn more about the battle, I recommend
Gettysburg
by Stephen W. Sears for an excellent introductory account. On the first day of battle, David G. Martin's
Gettysburg July 1
is comprehensive, while Harry W. Pfanz's
Gettysburg: The First Day
reveals a profound familiarity with the battlefield. Pfanz also authored
Gettysburg: The Second Day,
which stands as the definitive account of the encounters on the Union left, but which should be read together with his
Gettysburg: Culp's Hill & Cemetery Hill
to complete the picture on the Union right. For Pickett's Charge, which has captured the interest of writers from Faulkner to Foote,
Pickett's Charge: The Last Attack at Gettysburg,
by Earl J. Hess, offers the best contemporary scholarship.

For biographies and memoirs, try
Fighting for the Confederacy: The Personal Recollections of General Edward Porter Alexander,
edited by Gary W. Gallagher. If that excites your interest, pick your generalânearly every senior officer who failed to die on the battlefield seems to have fought on with pen and ink.

Among modern accounts,
General James Longstreet: The Confederacy's Most Controversial Soldier,
by Jeffry D. Wert, is a highly readable introduction to Old Pete, while James A. Hessler's
Sickles at Gettysburg
puts the best possible face on an odious man (who was, for all his faults, a Union patriot). Glenn Tucker's
Hancock the Superb
remains a vigorous pleasure, while
Toward Gettysburg,
by Edward J. Nichols, humanizes the valiant, tragic Reynolds. But when it comes to Meade, it's disheartening how little has been written about this great, if difficult, man. After fifty years, the best biography is still
Meade of Gettysburg,
by Freeman Cleaves, although it's also worth reading the stiff-necked Isaac R. Pennypacker's
General Meade
from 1901. Meade deserves better. (I can attest that gifted generals are not always affable.)

Finally, I must pay tribute to Philip Laino, whose
Gettysburg Campaign Atlas
is a wonderful tool for those of us who are entranced by the battle. Mr. Laino has created 421 maps that clarify events remarkably. Infuriatingly, this superb work has not yet been published in the high-quality edition it deserves. Life's as unfair as war.

The Civil War remains with us in countless ways, from the oddity of Confederate flags flown in West Virginiaâa state created because its residents sided with the Unionâto the long, infernal hangover of slavery. The greatest battlefields are national parks, flooded with tourists, and a novel about one battle fought a century and a half ago can still charge into bookstores. It is the war that made us who we are.

It was also our bloodiest war, with over six hundred thousand Americans dead, and our most evocative. The enduring power of its music attests to it. We can listen to “Yankee Doodle,” “Over There,” “Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree,” or “Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die” with recognition and amusement, but they do not stir us.

Play “Dixie.” It summons images of unrivaled courage. Then play “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The heart swells with a sense of justice triumphant.

Courage and justice. They belong together.

FORGE BOOKS BY RALPH PETERS

The War After Armageddon

The Officers' Club

Cain at Gettysburg

About the Author

RALPH PETERS,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The War After Armageddon,
is a retired U.S. Army officer; a controversial strategist and veteran of the intelligence world; a journalist who appears frequently in the broadcast media; and a lifelong traveler with experience in more than seventy countries on six continents. Peters has studied the Battle of Gettysburg since childhood, when his parents took him on annual pilgrimages to that hallowed ground. Combining years of walking those fields and painstaking research with insight into the souls of generals and privates gleaned from his own military career, Ralph Peters tells this great American tale in a masterful style.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

CAIN AT GETTYSBURG

A Forge Book

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Peters, Ralph, 1952â

Cain at Gettysburg / Ralph Peters.Â â 1st ed.

p. cm.

“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”