Book Review: “The Bullets Flew Like Hail”: Cutler’s Brigade at Gettysburg from McPherson’s Ridge to Culp’s Hill

“The Bullets Flew Like Hail”: Cutler’s Brigade at Gettysburg from McPherson’s Ridge to Culp’s Hill. By James L. McLean, Jr. Eldorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, 2023. Hardcover, 288 pp. $32.95.

Reviewed by Tim Talbott

Encompassing almost a half century’s worth of research, and building and improving upon two previous editions, James L. McLean Jr.’s “The Bullets Flew Like Hail”: Cutler’s Brigade at Gettysburg from McPherson’s Ridge to Culp’s Hill offers Civil War enthusiasts an excellent treatment examining this unit’s combat experience during the first three days of July 1863.

Fighting in the I Corps’ Second Brigade of the First Division, and consisting of the 76th, 95th, and 147th New York Infantry regiments, along with the 14th New York State Militia (also known as the 14th Brooklyn or the 84th New York Infantry), the 56th Pennsylvania, and finally the 7th Indiana, Brig. Gen. Lysander Cutler’s brigade witnessed some of the fiercest fighting during the battle of Gettysburg. And while their actions have received coverage in numerous previous studies about the battle, the battle’s first day, and the First Corps, no exhaustive treatment has appeared about the brigade other than McLean’s previous editions.

McLean’s narrative is high drama. It follows the unit’s fighting and movements from their entry into the battle—largely in piecemeal fashion—on July 1 and often fighting divided, to their ultimate withdraw that evening and eventual movement to Culp’s Hill on July 2, where they assisted the XII Corps and saw fighting that day and into the morning of July 3. Engaged all three days of the battle—a claim that only a handful of Union brigades could assert—and suffering in access of 1,000 casualties (one of only five Union and Confederate brigades that endured such loss), Cutler’s brigade’s service and sacrifice at Gettysburg deserves and receives the scholarly treatment that McLean furnishes readers.

Spanning ten chapters, and wisely including the prefaces for all three editions, “The Bullets Flew Like Hail” offers important context for the brigade and its movement to Gettysburg in the early chapters. Chapters four through nine cover the unit’s heavy first day fighting. Of particular significance are Chapters 6 and 7, which examine “The Stand of the 147^th New York,” and Col. Edward “Fowler’s Demi-Brigade and the Fight at the Middle Railroad Cut.” These two chapters of McLean’s narrative are riveting.

Chapter 10 examines the unit’s combat at Culp’s Hill on July 2 and 3. A poignant epilogue catalogs “The Cost of Valor” spent by the brigade at Gettysburg, and includes a chart breaking down regimental losses for the unit. Additionally, a fine postscript, titled “The Aftermath,” briefly but effectively details Cutler’s brigade following Gettysburg and the I Corps’ dissolution in the spring of 1864. What was Cutler’s brigade transferred to the V Corps and Brig. Gen. James Rice received command of the unit, while Cutler moved on to command the Iron Brigade. Colonel J. William Hoffman took over the brigade after Rice was killed at Spotsylvania. Some of the brigade’s regiments remained within the unit while others left until the end of war, enduring the fighting around Petersburg and the pursuit of the Army of Northern Virginia to Appomattox.

Finally, but importantly, McLean offers readers nine bonus appendices covering intriguing topics such as: “Resupplying Ammunition,” “Prisoners of War,” “Hospital Duty,” and “Staff Officers,” along with four primary source accounts, and a profile of a 14th Brooklyn soldier.

Richly augmenting the book are over 25 informative maps and numerous images of individuals mentioned throughout the study, as well as photographs of many of the battlefield scenes described by McLean.

Impeccably researched, and written in an engaging style, “The Bullets Flew Like Hail” is a “third time’s the charm” masterpiece that any Battle of Gettysburg enthusiast or tactical study student should consider adding to their library.