The Maps of Gettysburg

[NY Cavalry]

I got the Maps of Gettysburg in the mail. I have several books on Gettysburg. I have a good understanding of the battle, but it would be nice to have.

The first thing I do is turn to the maps covering day one Rodes attack. It has taken me awhile to fully understand the charge that Iverson made against the First Corp. In Coddington's book Iverson's charge isn't described very well, but after reading Sears book I have a pretty good idea why Iverson's brigade was wrecked in that attack. I am on the page with the map of Iverson's attack and it is nothing like I pictured. Sears describes Iversons line as being oblique with the destruction being heaviest on the left of the formation and the right of the line not receiving the full destructive force from the First Corp.

The map is wrong. In the text next to the map the attack is described properly as being oblique, but the map (in a book devoted to maps) is wrong.

How could they get the map so wrong. What am I to think of the rest of the book?

[Hancock the Superb]

I don't trust any books with maps. The text is the key. The maps are used to figure out what units were adjacent to what (say the 4th NC is next to the 24th and etc.)

Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage by Noah Andre Trudeau is one of the best modern analyses on the battle.

[Jim]

There are multiple interpretations of how this attack took place. The Laino atlas shows two different maps with the two major alternates which differ more in how O'Neal came in than Iversons path. The attack of Iverson is shown coming in mostly straight at right angle to the Mummasburg Pike. The right side (12 NC) was less wrecked because they were in a bit of a hollow that provided some shelter. They had to cross over a couple of extra fence lines which may have slowed them down a bit.

-Jim