Year in Review 2015: #1

Year in Review-Header

We’ve been counting down the most-read blog posts published at Emerging Civil War in 2015. We’ve finally made it all the way to #1!

Those of us who have worked (or still work) at the Fredericksburg-area Civil War battlefields in central Virginia have long understood the connection between the battle of Chancellorsville, which took place in May 1863, and the battle of Gettysburg, which took place in south-central Pennsylvania two months later.

On June 17 and June 19, 2015, Eric Wittenberg offered a two-part primer on that Chancellorsville/Gettysburg connection.

Eric’s latest book, the award-winning The Devil’s to Pay: John Buford at Gettysburg, looks at the convergence of the armies on July 1, 1863. A forthcoming book by Eric on the battle of Brandy Station, Out Flew the Sabers (part of the Emerging Civil War Series), rewinds that clock to mid-June 1863. Eric has, of course, written about Gettysburg and Brandy Station extensively.

Eric charted new ground this year, though, when he was given the opportunity to lead a private tour a Chancellorsville. That chance to study the battle in-depth for the first time allowed him to rewind the clock on his storytelling even further, going back from July 1 to June 9 to May 1. The result of that research led to a two-part series that connected the dots from C-ville to G-burg…cause and effect…triumph to defeat.

The most-read piece at Emerging Civil War for 2015: “Nobody Can Truly Understand The Battle of Gettysburg Without a Solid Understanding of the Battle of Chancellorsville” (part one) and (part two) by Eric Wittenberg



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