The Gettysburg Campaign; A Study in Command

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1968. First Edition (Scribner's "A" on verso). Hardcover. Fair. xviii, 866 pages. illustrations. Maps. Official Rosters. List of Abbreviations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Cover has wear, soiling and fraying. Somewhat shaken. Rear board somewhat weak. Edwin B. Coddington (1905-1967) was the longtime chair of Lafayette College's history department and a noted Civil War historian. Coddington became ill almost immediately after his election as Pennsylvania Historical Association president in October 1966, and Cutler Andrews continued to function as president until Coddington's resignation and replacement in August 1967. Coddington died two months later in October. His most important work, The Battle of Gettysburg: A Study in Command, was published posthumously in 1968. Professor Coddington's is an analysis not only of the battle proper, but of the actions of both Union and Confederate armies for the six months prior to the battle and the factors affecting General Meade's decision not to pursue the retreating Confederate forces. Derived from a Kirkus review: The Gettysburg Campaign of June-July, 1863, has exercised an endless fascination for historians, not only because it was the decisive battle, the turning point of the Civil War, but because the campaign itself was regarded as a "classic" battle of modern times. The campaign has produced scholarly works of such men as Andrew Brown, Robert Beechman, and Glenn Tucker. To the latter category must now be added Dr. Coddington's Gettysburg Campaign. This work surpasses other available works, from the standpoint of thoroughness, exhaustiveness of research, depth of analysis, and because of the concentration on the Campaign as a "study in command," which affords a comprehensive view not only of the battle but of the personalities--Lee, Ewell, Longstreet, Hill, Stuart, and Pickett on the one side, and Meade, Reynolds, Buford, and Hancock on the other. The Gettysburg Campaign may well come to be regarded as the "standard work" on the subject.