Audiobook9 hours
Lost Triumph: Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg--And Why It Failed
Written by Tom Carhart
Narrated by Michael Prichard
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
A fascinating narrative-and a bold new thesis in the study of the Civil War-that suggests Robert E. Lee had a heretofore undiscovered strategy at Gettysburg that, if successful, could have crushed the Union forces and changed the outcome of the war.
The Battle of Gettysburg is the pivotal moment when the Union forces repelled perhaps America's greatest commander-the brilliant Robert E. Lee, who had already thrashed a long line of Federal opponents-just as he was poised at the back door of Washington, D.C. It is the moment in which the fortunes of Lee, Lincoln, the Confederacy, and the Union hung precariously in the balance.
Conventional wisdom has held to date, almost without exception, that on the third day of the battle, Lee made one profoundly wrong decision. But how do we reconcile Lee the high-risk warrior with Lee the general who launched "Pickett's Charge," employing only a fifth of his total forces, across an open field, up a hill, against the heart of the Union defenses? Most history books have reported that Lee just had one very bad day. But there is much more to the story, which Tom Carhart addresses for the first time.
With meticulous detail and startling clarity, Carhart revisits the historic battles Lee taught at West Point and believed were the essential lessons in the art of war-the victories of Napoleon at Austerlitz, Frederick the Great at Leuthen, and Hannibal at Cannae-and reveals what they can tell us about Lee's real strategy. What Carhart finds will thrill all students of history: Lee's plan for an electrifying rear assault by Jeb Stuart that, combined with the frontal assault, could have broken the Union forces in half. Only in the final hours of the battle was the attack reversed through the daring of an unproven young general-George Armstrong Custer.
Lost Triumph will be one of the most captivating and controversial history books of the season.
The Battle of Gettysburg is the pivotal moment when the Union forces repelled perhaps America's greatest commander-the brilliant Robert E. Lee, who had already thrashed a long line of Federal opponents-just as he was poised at the back door of Washington, D.C. It is the moment in which the fortunes of Lee, Lincoln, the Confederacy, and the Union hung precariously in the balance.
Conventional wisdom has held to date, almost without exception, that on the third day of the battle, Lee made one profoundly wrong decision. But how do we reconcile Lee the high-risk warrior with Lee the general who launched "Pickett's Charge," employing only a fifth of his total forces, across an open field, up a hill, against the heart of the Union defenses? Most history books have reported that Lee just had one very bad day. But there is much more to the story, which Tom Carhart addresses for the first time.
With meticulous detail and startling clarity, Carhart revisits the historic battles Lee taught at West Point and believed were the essential lessons in the art of war-the victories of Napoleon at Austerlitz, Frederick the Great at Leuthen, and Hannibal at Cannae-and reveals what they can tell us about Lee's real strategy. What Carhart finds will thrill all students of history: Lee's plan for an electrifying rear assault by Jeb Stuart that, combined with the frontal assault, could have broken the Union forces in half. Only in the final hours of the battle was the attack reversed through the daring of an unproven young general-George Armstrong Custer.
Lost Triumph will be one of the most captivating and controversial history books of the season.
Author
Tom Carhart
Tom Carhart holds a B.S. from West Point, two Purple Hearts from Vietnam, a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, and a Ph.D. in American and military history from Princeton University. He is the author of military history books including Lost Triumph: Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg--and Why It Failed. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.
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Reviews for Lost Triumph
Rating: 3.7413793103448274 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
29 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Tom Carhart, a military man, has in this book answered a question I always had about the battle at Gettysburg. Why would a brilliant general like Lee order Pickett's charge? It seemed like a suicide mission to me. Carhart's research led him to the theory that the charge was actually half of a good plan. Jeb Stuart's calvary was supposed to approach the Union line from the rear so that the line would be caught between Stuart and Pickett, and the fishhook end of the Union line would collapse. Some of the book was difficult for me to follow because of the logistics and military maneuvers, but I got the gist of it and I think Carhart is probably right. Lee never spoke of the Civil War after it was over and never blamed anyone but himself for failures, so it took every bit of Carhart's research skills to figure it out. This isn't an easy book, but it's fascinating.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5An interesting take on the Battle of Gettysburg and how BG George Custer may have saved the Union Army.