Gettysburg : Crisis of Command Book

This, the story of America's greatest battle, examines the strange events that led to the failure in command in both armies during the action. The mindsets of the four major commanders under Lee were to prove fatal to his plans. Likewise, the fiasco of Lincoln and his Secretary of War, Stanton, waiting until the last hour to replace Commanding General Hooker with General Meade would be almost as devastating to the North.

Gettysburg: Crisis of Command paints these failures with such bold outlines that the resulting actions are clear to even the reader unfamiliar with the strategic and tactical elements of armed combat on the grand scale. It makes clear, in stark detail, how very close to triumph or defeat each army found itself at various stages in the three-day struggle. Never before had the South held such an opportunity to deliver a decisive blow to the Union. Never again would the United States come so close to utter defeat. During those three days in July 1863, the future of the nation as we know it today was forged in the flames of Gettysburg.