{"title":"James A Hessler","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"sickles-at-gettysburg-book-james-a-hessler-9781932714845","title":"Sickles At Gettysburg","description":"Now available in paperback, Sickles at Gettysburg, by licensed battlefield guide James Hessler, is the most deeply researched, full-length biography to appear on this remarkable American icon. And it is long overdue.  No individual who fought at Gettysburg was more controversial than Major General Sickles.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49858567012625,"sku":"CIN1932714847G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53028208050449,"sku":"CIN1932714847VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1932714847.jpg?v=1750997117"},{"product_id":"gettysburg-s-peach-orchard-book-james-a-hessler-9781611216752","title":"Gettysburg's Peach Orchard","description":"More books have been written about the battle of Gettysburg than any other engagement of the Civil War. The historiography of the battle’s second day is usually dominated by the Union’s successful defense of Little Round Top, but the day’s most influential action occurred nearly one mile west along the Emmitsburg Road in and around farmer Joseph Sherfy’s peach orchard. Despite its overriding importance, no full-length study of this pivotal action has been written until now with James Hessler’s and Britt Isenberg’s Gettysburg’s Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the “Commanding Ground” Along the Emmitsburg Road.On July 2, 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee ordered a skeptical Lt. Gen. James Longstreet to assault the Union left flank. The offensive was intended to seize the Peach Orchard and surrounding ground along the Emmitsburg Road for use as an artillery position to support the ongoing attack. However, Union general and former congressman Daniel Sickles, commander of the Union III Corps, misinterpreted his orders and occupied the orchard first.What followed was some of Gettysburg’s bloodiest and most controversial fighting. General Sickles’s questionable advance forced Longstreet’s artillery and infantry to fight for every inch of ground on the way to Cemetery Ridge. The Confederate attack crushed the Peach Orchard salient and other parts of the Union line and threatened the left flank of Maj. Gen. George Meade’s Army of the Potomac. The command decisions made on and around the Sherfy property influenced actions on every part of the battlefield. The occupation of the high ground at the Peach Orchard helped General Lee rationalize ordering the tragic July 3 assault known as “Pickett’s Charge.”This richly detailed study is based upon scores of primary accounts and a deep understanding of the complex terrain. Hessler and Isenberg, both Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guides, combine the military aspects of the fighting with human interest stories in a balanced treatment of the bloody attack and defense of Gettysburg’s Peach Orchard. It is the study Gettysburg students have been waiting to read.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50913809727761,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50913810186513,"sku":"CIN1611216753VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51505989320977,"sku":"NIN9781611216752","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1611216753.jpg?v=1751119997"},{"product_id":"first-day-at-gettysburg-july-1-1863-book-james-a-hessler-9781636244792","title":"The First Day at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863","description":"The summer of 1863 started off disastrously for the Army of the Potomac in the Eastern Theater. In early May, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia defeated and humiliated Major General Joseph Hooker’s army at the Battle of Chancellorsville. While both armies reorganized in the wake of Chancellorsville’s massive losses, Lee then maintained the initiative and launched an invasion of Pennsylvania. Throughout June, Lee’s army advanced deeper into Pennsylvania and Northern efforts to stop his progress were ineffective until Major General George Meade replaced Hooker as commander of the Army of the Potomac. On July 1, 1863, Meade and Lee’s large armies collided outside of the crossroads town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The stakes were never higher for either army as the newly promoted Meade defended Northern soil, while General Lee risked everything by taking the war into enemy territory.  The first day of the Battle of Gettysburg is often overshadowed by fighting on the following days, but July 1 was one of the bloodiest single engagements of the entire Civil War. Many of the decisions leading to and through Gettysburg’s first day remain steeped in controversy. Did Meade intend to fight on the Pipe Creek line in Maryland until subordinates such as Major General John Reynolds forced the engagement at Gettysburg? Did the absence of J. E. B. Stuart’s cavalry really leave Lee “blind” to his opponent’s movements? Was Lee’s desire to avoid a general engagement ignored by his own officers? With neither commanding general on the battlefield for much of the day, crucial decisions remained in the hands of subordinates such as John Buford, John Reynolds, A. P. Hill, Richard Ewell, and Oliver Howard.  This Casemate Illustrated volume sets the stage for the Civil War’s greatest battle and covers the heroism, decisions, and mistakes made on the first day at Gettysburg.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51378921079057,"sku":"NIN9781636244792","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51381397782801,"sku":"GOR014248404","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":52085242757393,"sku":"NGR9781636244792","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1636244793.jpg?v=1751151954"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-au\/collections\/author-books-by-james-a-hessler.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}