The Most Glorious Fourth: Vicksburg and Gettysburg, July 4, 1863

On July 4, 1863, Duane Schultz writes in this vivid, blood-soaked narrative, the Union celebrated two great victories in battles settled only the day before: one in Pennsylvania, perilously close to the federal capital, the other on the Confederacy's western frontier.

The great victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg should have settled the war, as Southern commander Robert E. Lee feared they would. But, as Schultz writes, Union commander George Meade allowed the rebel army to melt back into Virginia-- and thus enabled the Confederacy to fight on for nearly two more years. Few warriors thought in such big-picture terms, however, as the battles were being fought, and Schultz's fine reconstruction captures the terror, desperation, and confusion of moments now enshrined in American history, from artillery duels on the Mississippi River to the wanton slaughter of Pickett's Charge.

Ably researched and written, The Most Glorious Fourth makes a worthy companion to the work of Bruce Catton, Shelby Foote, and other popular chroniclers of the Civil War. --Gregory McNamee