What They Did There: Profiles from the Battle of Gettysburg by Steve Hedgpeth

What They Did There: Profiles from the Battle of Gettysburg Reviews

• 
  Lynda

  An excellent book is written in vignettes. I wasn't sure if I would like this approach but I did. Some stories are about the more known people who were at Gettysburg. Some of the unknown soldier except for those who knew him. The author finds something unique about them and relays it an interesting way. This is a book you can read in quick snatches since it's in vignette form. Vignettes also allow the author to make each story unique.
  
  Every person in this book was part of the Gettysburg's events during the battle. Some lived in homes that were located on the field.
  
  I labeled shelved as genealogy. My thoughts were if you are studying your family history and have an ancestor who fought at Gettysburg, this is a must-read. The book also will give you as a researcher into the Civil War what it was like for all of those fighting or close to a battle whether it be at Gettysburg or elsewhere.
  
  This book is available to read for free via Amazon Prime reading.
• 
  Mike

  A nice collection of individual accounts of the battle and its aftermath by soldiers, civilians and others affected. Bite sized entries, you can just read a few whenever you have a spare minute. Often tongue in cheek, you meet the famous and obscure participants. Here’s one example:
  
  At 6-10 and a half feet tall and nearly 400 pounds, van Buskirk is credited as being the largest man to serve in the Union army. It’s said that he wore out five mounts on the march to Gettysburg. In 1862, Big Dave, as he was known, was captured, not in the wild, as one might suspect, but at Winchester, Va. He was sent to Libby Prison in Richmond, where Confederate President Jefferson Davis, hearing of the captive giant, came to see for himself. Davis wanted to know if the lieutenant had any brothers as big as he was,” writes Mike Wright in “What They Didn’t Teach You About the Civil War.” “' One, sir, but we ain’t so big compared to our sisters,’ van Buskirk said, grinning. ‘Back home in Indiana, I have six sisters, and when they told me goodbye, as I was standing with my company, they all walked up, leaned down, and kissed me on the top of the head.’”
  
  After van Buskirk returned to his unit from Libby after a prisoner exchange, he was made captain in time for Gettysburg, where the 27th, as part of the XII Corps, fought on and near Culp’s Hill on the right of the Union line and suffered 110 casualties out of 339 men. Van Buskirk, who led a company in a charge across a marshy field, emerged from the battle unscathed.
  
  In fact, this broad side of a barn with feet, the largest target on any battlefield, was never wounded during the war.
  
  4 Stars
• 
  Deb

  I loved the way this book is written! Each day of the battle is in its own chapter. Then the author does little snippets of different people: union, confederate soldiers and officers, nurses, local Gettysburg residents... In writing the story of Gettysburg in this manner, you feel as if you know these people. They aren’t just facts and figures. I lost so many members of my family there, while others were either wounded or taken prisoner. As I read through these individuals tales, it made me feel closer to those brave men, women, and children. If you love the Civil War history, this is a must read.
• 
  Jerry

  Really interesting book on Gettysburg from both the military (both sides) and civilian point of view.
• 
  MJ Cahill

  Ok
• 
  John

  A compilation of personal histories of many major, minor and behind the scenes participants of the Battle of Gettysburg. This book is packed with history and a large list of personall diaries and memoirs for any history buff.
• 
  Margie

  A Quick Summary
  
  A good read of who's who in the Civil War. A nice synopsis of the key players and bystanders. A nice fast paced, easy read.
• 
  Dana Dembrow

  Fun read
  
  In conversational prose, hundreds of short biographies depict some of the more unusual characters connected with the battle of Gettysburg.
• 
  Charla Murphy

  Good easy read.
  
  I enjoyed the short narratives of each person highlighted by the author. WAs interesting, light and informative, just what was intended.