Two Armies: The Campaign and Battle of Gettysburg

With this publication, the second book of The Campaign and Battle of Gettysburg, Kevin A. Campbell completes his discussion of the command structure and men who filled the ranks of the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia at the onset of the campaign. This work also concludes the first volume of his multi-volume effort to cover the entire campaign from its roots to its conclusion. In this manuscript Campbell documents in detail the opening moves of the campaign which saw Robert E. Lee shift his army from the Rappahannock River line to the small Virginia town of Culpeper Court House. As Lee’s legions departed, Major General Joseph Hooker instructed elements of his command, and his intelligence gathering operation, the BMI, to scout for the enemy and determine their intentions. These probes toward the gathering enemy provided little solid or consistent information. Nervous politicians in Washington and Federal military commanders tried their best to anticipate the shifty Lee’s next move. But the South’s most revered champion had proven to be an elusive foe. He was positioning his army to make his final push toward Northern land and a victory for the upstart Rebels. Lee’s gaze was now firmly fixed on the Shenandoah Valley, the pathway to the heart of the North, central Pennsylvania. General Hooker’s task to arrest this movement and bring Lee to battle and crush the enemy would begin among the open land and forested hills east of Culpeper. Read more