Stars in Their Courses: The Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863

Shelby Foote. Stars in Their Courses. The Gettysburg Campaign. New York. The Modern Library. 1994 Some say that you cannot tell a book by its cover. In the case of Stars in Their Courses. The Gettysburg Campaign (SITC) everything you need to know is revealed on the book jacket. A photo of Shelby Foote dominates the cover and is immediately recognizable as the individual who introduced many of us to the Civil War. His visage evokes the Southern aristocrat and vaguely resembles Robert E. Lee. Who can forget his avuncular presence and mesmerizing stories in the Ken Burns documentary, The Civil War. He reeks of authenticity. If he was not present at the Civil War battles, he recalled the details as if he were. We trust him implicitly. Immediately to the right of the photograph is the book's title. The Stars in Their Course is a biblical reference. According to Judges 5:20, Jael kills Sisera by driving a tent peg through his head, and thereby saving the Jewish people. The Bible informs us that it was fate that doomed Sisera. And it is fate that consumes Foote as he contemplates the meaning of the Civil War. The literary genre, which Foote employs, is known as narrative history. In his interview with Brian Lamb in 2004 on the C-Span Book Notes, Foote quotes Aristotle to explain what constitutes a good narrative. Aristotle counsels that the account must be well written; the characters must be developed so that they leave a shadow and the story must have a plot. Foote succeeds by each criterion in SITC The author developed his writing skills as a novelist rather than as a historian. He reports that he wrote with a dip pen so that he could have a tactile connection with the words. He never used a computer. What he put down on paper was not revised and he did not allow his editors to change even one word of the prose. In his eyes it was perfect as conceived. Foote begins his book with an introduction to the characters along with their leit motifs. He introduces us to Lee, the noble Southern aristocrat, who is careful, yet willing to take risks. . We then learn about Longstreet, the risk aversive colleague. He warned the General that although strategy ought to be offensive, tactics should be defensive. Ignoring Longstreet is done at one's own peril, as Lee was to find out.We learn about Ewell, the successor to Jackson who unlike Jackson required explicit direction. It was the lack of explicit directions that led the General `s failure to take the high ground and thus doomed the Confederacy to failure. Jackson died a little over a month prior to Gettysburg. Nevertheless he haunts the pages of the drama. Foote informs us that the loss of Jackson was so devastating to Lee, that the latter was unable to even mention his name. He used the maps drawn by the deceased Jackson and is seemingly led to Gettysburg by Jackson's invisible hand:Lee laid his hand on the dead Jackson's map, touching the region just east of the mountains that caught on their western flanks the rays of the setting sun. "Hereabouts we shall probably meet the enemy and fight a great battle," he said, "and if God gives us the victory, the war will be over"...One of the place names under his hand, as he spoke was the college town of Gettysburg. The structure of the book and the manner in which the plot unfolds is unusual and often difficult to follow. Unlike most accounts of Gettysburg there is no subdivision based on days. There are 6 numbered chapters, but the chapter divisions seem to have no rationale. We are therefore often left without guideposts as to when events are taking place. Plot digressions add to the confusion. Just when we begin to lose patience with Foote, it becomes clear that the author seems to be remembering events, and it is the vagaries of memory that we are dealing with. As Foote relates in an interview with Brian Lamb, it is in the nature of memory that events tend to fade, until something reminds us and then we remember things in their entirety. It is something in the text that rekindles Foote's memory and he relates these events to us, albeit sometimes out of order. In describing the campaign, the events of the initial two days are confusing with little apparent direction. All changes as the 3rd day dawns and both sides consider battle. Here Foote remembers the events in their entirety. There are no digressions and the action proceeds quickly and effortlessly as the characters and the country rush to their fate. Numerous Northern and Southern officers and generals are killed. The Confederates are soundly defeated and vacate the field. Lee is devastated and takes all the blame. Even though Foote loves the man, he does not absolve Lee of his failing. He remains true to the facts.. Foote is the master of narrative history and for the most part is a joy to read. But narrative histories are a bit troublesome. History is told as a story. However it is a story wherein we know the ending, raising the question as to why bother with the story at all. The story is necessary if we are to understand the ending. In other words, identification of contingencies is necessary to understand what made the ending inevitable. However, Foote seems to be dissatisfied with such an explanation and seeks a more elusive determinant, viz. fate. Foote never defines fate and does not seem to equate it with God's will. It seems to be something in the stars, a concept as old as man himself. If Foote attributes outcome to fate, we must wonder if Lee or Meade had any influence on the outcome. It would be fun to ask this question of the author. Alas, fate has intervened. Shelby Foote died in 2005.

Shelby Foote is the best writer I know of with regard to the American Civil War. He will be missed.

A very important subject covered by a master. Be prepared to spend too much time when reading material by this writer. You will get caught without a way to stop.

Well written, good buy.

Heth upon hearing a rumour that Early's men had over looked a suppy of shoes (many of his men were barefooted) when they passed though Gettysburg the week Sent his lead brigade under Johnston Pettigrew to investigate. Johnston Pettigrew returned on thr 30th of June, mindeful of Lee's warning not to bring on a battle till the whole army was at hand, prudently withdrew when he encountered Federal troopers along a creekbank west of town.Heth still wanted those shoes so he took Pettigrew with him to repeat what he had seen to Hill. Hill responded "The only force at Gettysburg is calvalry, probably a detachment of oberservation. Mead's infantry are still down in Maryland and have not struck their tents." Heth was quick to reply "If there is no objection, I will take my division tommorrow and go to Gettysburg and get those shoes." "None in the world" said Hill.Thus what started out as a movement for shoes ended in prehaps the most important battle of the War!Sheby Foote is a master story teller who turns history in to classical literature. He includes many maps to help understand the grand movement of both armies.Standing in the way of Heth's men to'get those shoes' was John Buford, a tough, Kentucky-born regular with a fondness for hard fighting. Though Hill was correct that at the moment there were only cavalry in Gettysburg, these troops (two brigades) were armed with the new seven shot Spencer carbine. They belong to Reynold's Corps who's infantry were that night camped just six miles from Gettysburg.What would you do to 'get those shoes'?*The title is from John Buford addressing his troops on 30 June 1863. "....You will have to fight like the devil until supports arrive."

l like Shelby Foote’s breadth of knowledge but l find his style to be congested and arcane. lt’s slow reading. l read his sentences two or three times before l grasp the meaning.

As a life long Civil War student I decided I would like to read something by Shelby Foote. Being a Southerner his view was obviously colored by his origins. I was pleasantly surprised with his honest and candor in this book towards the failings of Robert E. Lee. Gettysburg is a grand drama that uncovered most if not all of Lee's shortcomings. The deification of Lee after the end of the Civil War was almost total in the first spate of histories written. No one had the chutzpah to suggest a tarnished image of the great general commanding the Army of Northern Virginia. Well tarnished his image should be. He blundered at Gettysburg and and in his blind rage and ambition to finish the war then and there sent thousands of fine Confederate men to their graves.In this book I believe Foote sets the record straight and acknowledges Lee's failures in this battle. He makes a clear case that his generalship was sub-par at best and downright negligent at worst. Don't blame Ewell, Longstreet, or Jeb Stuart for the debacle of Gettysburg, place the blame where it belongs at the feet of Robert E. Lee. Enjoy reading this well written piece from the hard eye of a Southern historian willing to write truth to power.

Even though book written early 90's, can not go wrong when it is written by the master of Civil War literature, Shelby Foote.

A good read. Strong on detail of battle & personalities involved

Shelby Foote was one of the most prominent and informative writers on theAmerican Civil War. Stars in Their Courses is as breathtaking and thoughtProvoking as you would imagine from such a wonderful author and person.

No comments needed

excellent narrative and descriptions of the Gettysburg military movements and generals

Superb author and historian.