Little Round Top Fact and Fiction with Jeff Shaara: Gettysburg 158 Live! 

Jeff is one of my favorite authors

Thanks for sharing information about my 4th great grandfather Michael J. Bulger, commanding the 47th Alabama!

Great to have the area to yourselves pretty much on the 158th anniversary

As an English man who has had a long interest in the civil war I find the American Battlefield Trust presentations to be exceptionally good . Thank you for your hard work.

I have been fortunate enough to visit the 20th Maine's position on Little Round Top on a few occasions. It is difficult to pick up the atmosphere at busy times, but an early morning or evening visit makes all the difference, allowing your imagination to get to work. I am a Brit with no direct connection to any of the combatants but the human story is so compelling.

Awesome to see the man himself, great stuff guys!

One of my favorite details of this action concerns Hiram Berdan’s sharpshooters of Sickles' 3rd Corps. They were the first organized unit to wear camouflage and wield breechloading rifles in combat. At Gettysburg the unit contested Hood's advance toward the Round Tops as especially deadly skirmishers, with some of them falling back onto then unoccupied Big Round Top. As things heated up they retreated down to the valley between the Round Tops where they encountered the very left portion of Chamberlain's line digging in at the base of the two hills to protect their unit's position at the top of Little Round Top. One wonders what the members of the 5th Corps thought when these green uniformed sharpshooters with their fancy M-1859 Sharps rifles emerged from the brush in front of them and took positions with them behind the rocks they had piled up in front of their postion. And one wonders if the sharpshooters recognized the importance of the position or simply saw an opportunity to put down some enfilade fire on a distracted enemy from a relatively protected position.

Fantastic, I have read all the books starting with the killer angels I got to say I would love to see THE LAST FULL MEASURE made into a film. The KILLER ANGELS started IT though !

I read The Killer Angels in the late 1980's. It's a great and an amazing book. The film Gettysburg really brought it all to life.

Great seeing Jeff! Love his writings.

Great video! Really appreciated getting to hear from Jeff Shaara. He's my favorite author hands down. I really enjoy hearing his take on the Civil War and really enjoy all of his books that I have read including the ones that deal with different wars.

As a young Army officer in the late 80's, the story of the 20th Maine was in the Army's Field Manual on Operations, FM 100-5 Operations. I don't know who wrote and edited that article, but for thoroughness, brevity and precision it is unbeaten. 20th Maine in a page and a half. Brilliantly done, and it changed my way of thinking about writing.

I’m taking my family down there for the first time next week. I’ve been reading about it buddy I was a little kid. Very excited to see it

Wow..What a great guest. Just watched "Gettysburg" (again) last night, as party of my 4th of July Weekend rituals.

The Shaara trilogy got me interested in Civil War history. I will be forever grateful.

He is an awesome author. I am reading Gods and Generals now.

Thanks to Jeff Shaara for his contribution to the storyline of his father’s great prose. Fun to hear about that and his own books.

Amazing Video. Little Round Top is such a fascinating subject. Makes me feel like im there watching. Thanks

Wow! Great pull on Jeff Shaara! The man is almost as legendary as Ranger Matt🤣 Thanks so much for these videos.

The National Historic Battlefield Monument Foundation has a rule today requiring the battlefield remain the same as it was during the battle. Vegetation, landscape, and everything. I think the rule was established because of what was done at Gettysburg, and other Civil War Battlefields. If you go to Vicksburg, they are constantly clearing the forests, and undergrowth to maintain the open landscape caused by the cannon fire during the siege. If they didnt clear it, youd never get the experience of what the battle was like. You'd soon lose sight of everything as the forest took it back. Vicksburg doesnt get enough notoriety.

It's the Steve Irwin of Civil War history! So much enthusiasm!

Jeff is my favorite author. Thanks for featuring him ABT.

I'm reading The Killer Angels while watching and listening to Gettysburg 158.

Those 3 books form just an outstanding trilogy, very highly recommended...

If Garry was British he would be a Sir by now for services to the American Civil war truly the best commentator of all things American Civil war🇬🇧

If you could get Martin sheen or Jeff daniels who I understand is a avid historian. Sam elliot, even hank Williams Jr, they would do this in a hearbeat.

This is such a good day

Great books.

Even the introductory paragraph to this video is very well done. Great job.

Love this! Wish I could be at Gettysburg this summer

I was at Gettysburg as a New Jersey Boy Scout in the mid 1970s. At our campsite my Dad planted some Minnie Balls and suggested we could find them. We couldn’t believe our luck and he waited 20 years to tell us that he’d fooled us lol

As always, Garry is informative. Mr Shaara is certainly engaging. And perhaps more importantly, he is a humble man. Cheers!

I would love to see Garry do one of these with his arms tied to his sides! I can see him being unable to talk at all. Thank you for a great lesson Gary!

This was awesome. Getting this form the author’s son was just amazing if. Killer Angels is a favorite book of mine and I love the movie Gettysburg. I live in New Hampshire and have been to Bowden College several times. Chamberlain has always been my favorite because my mother’s family comes from my so it’s that connection I have to him. Though not related by blood we are related by our New England heritage.

gettysburgh is the best movie of the 90's. just my opinion

Both your self and your dad are awesome authors.I have read all your books.

I’m so tired of the Chamberlain bashing. The guy was at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville. Fought at Gettysburg, Cold Harbor. He was severely wounded at Second Petersburg. Then fought at White Oak then at Five Forks. General Grant chooses him to accept the surrender of the Confederate army. He then, by his own choice orders the Union Army to Stand to Attention. A tremendous show of respect to the surrendering Confederates. Was he a perfect man . Who is? The wound he received at Petersburg eventually killed him. Mr White, you actually said that Chamberlain said “ I saved the union” from a quote by Ellis Spear over 150 years ago. That’s called Hearsay Mr White. I read William Oates’s book. It’s terrible he lost his brother there on July 2nd. But I believe Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

A most fascinating discussion thank you and god bless !

I used to be one of those people criticizing the Killer Angels for failing to recognize the herosim of the other regiments on Little Round Top. But the bare bones, the unvarnished story of the 20th Maine, is an amazing story, that does not in any way diminish the story of the other regiments who defended Little Round Top. I think the decision to charge as their ammunition was exhausted tells the story of men who refused to break or prove unequal to their orders. There are equally compelling stories from all over the Gettysburg battlefield ... you can't practically tell them all. The choice to tell the story of the 20th Maine is as heroic a story as any one you could pick.

I was wondering if you could do a storytelling of the 1st Minnesota volunteer regiment? The very first volunteer regiment mustered into the Union Army! They saved the Union Army at Gettysburg on day 2 by a bayonet charge ordered by General Hancock!

Love seeing Jeff as part of this. Thanks for a great weekend.

at 25:15 chris has a fine flow..natural speaker. While I appreciate the main(Gary) speaker..Chris is THE man to tell the story..his ability to accept and search out the negative things tell alot. Thanx to you Gary I read "some personal coloring" never knew what it states and I love learning something new

Awesome interview. Thanks very much 😊

I enjoy how they lay out the stories with the real history!

Thank you!!! Gonna have to watch the movie, Gettysburg now.

I look forward to meeting Jeff tomorrow morning

It great to have Jeff. Gary you are right about Eagle Claw. Read all of Jeff's books cannot wait until the next.

That was great. Visited with the kids, but now I get to soak up the history.

Thank you for another great video guys!

I have had two different tour guides since been going to gettysburg. I would love to have garry as my guide one day. I always learn something new with each tour guide. I had a guide by the name of Richard Rigney, he was awesome and very animated, nice speaker. He made me cry several times by the things he told me.

OMG! Fan girl happy about your guest! Love his work and it’s great to get some insight into his father’s work as well. Fictionalized accounts do a lot to get people who would otherwise not be interested in history to become interested. The best books have historically accurate facts as the frame and Jeff does a wonderful job with that.

Was there 9 years ago. Happy days. Dug out my video taken from the 20th Maine monument and some dude in a noisy, throaty sounding Harley Davidson is driving by - hill looks steeper as you look down onto the road from the monument.

Gary is going to give me his hat 😁

That was bloody awesome 👏

You guys have the coolest jobs ever!

Nice surprise with Jeff. Nice

I have read killer angels & all Jeff shaara books. Excellent reads. I thoroughly enjoyed them all. I'm a history nerd with a passion for the civil war. Even though they are fiction they are so well researched.

this was awesome

Omg I read three of your. Books loved them.

I've read all his books on the civil war, im actually writing my own alternative history of the west virginia campaign

I am so glad you include some of the personality clashes I think it more and more important to understand the war. Warren is a complex character. His altercation with Sheridan starts with the overland campaign and seems very reasonable but Warren, though not necessarily his fault, alienated top command and Meade did nothing for him when Sheridan removes him. Little mentioned are the Topographical Engineers, both Meade and Warren had been members. Truly the elite of the elite were chosen to finish mapping the United States and other most important work. The unit was terminated in 1865 as their job was complete but many were major assets to both armies. I would be very pleased if you with your dedication and erudition did a piece on them

I'm happy that you guys are talking about 15th Alabama! I never hear people talk about any units from Alabama

Really liked the cov erage of Ken Burn's from the series "Civil War" something I look at when wondering waht to do. Ep 5 my favourite. Seen that more than once, but the view from Little Round Top was all too short, shame you couldn't have the auhthor with it as a backdrop. What a view after seeing it described but not from the location, that was brilliant. I went to see the poppies on display at the Tower of London, commemorating the number of dead in the 1st World war, way over 800,000 ! Spooked me !

Y'all have a cool job.

One of the things I remember when I was younger was starting at the 20th monument and running/charging down until I couldn’t run anymore. I was one of the 120 mutineers and I point myself out to my grandchildren today like this was what I had done. lol. But I will say from the entrance of the 120 till the end of Chamberlains speech took TWO days to film. The complexity of filming I found very interesting. I did it as a birthday present to a close friend and I know he was happy with it.

Chamberlain deserves every bit of the attention he has received thanks to Killer Angels. It’s regrettable that all the heroes who fought there couldn’t receive the same. I don’t believe there should be any effort to downplay Chamberlain just because there are so many deserving of attention (I’m not referring to this video or anyone connected with it by the way). I saw the film in the new visitors center not long after it opened and felt there was a concerted effort to downplay Chamberlain. If so that’s a shame because he was the spark that lit the fire of interest in Gettysburg for me and many others.

Well, when I retire I want to go to Gettysburg. It will be about the time it reopens to the public.

legend

Watched Gods and Generals then Gettysburg back-to-back leading up to the videos on the 1st😉

The late Bruce Catton had the best trilogy !

As a former combat infantryman, EVERY infantryman is Buster Killrain! Cynical, jovial, and constantly saying: why the f#%^ are we doing it this way?!?

I was wondering if you have ever done anything with the battlefield at Lexington, MO. It was an early battle in the Civil War and was important because of the Missouri River nearby. The Missouri is and was a navigable waterway. The breastworks are still there and the two-story house that served as a hospital is still there.

The 16th Maine rear guard action was more important on the first day than what the 20th did .. It was Vincent brigade action won Little Round top not just 20th Maine.

Jeff Shaara, I really love your books. I first read your father's book, The Killer Angels, as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy as it was assigned in our "Literature of War" class, which was an elective taught by professor John Wooten (d. 2004) when Col. John Ripley, USMC, of Dong Ha fame, was head of the English and History Department. I've always been a military history buff, es[ceically the Civil War. It was your father's work---which, amazingly, appeared to be his only work of dozens of books he wrote, in the category of military historical fiction--which helped me understand the Battle of Gettysburg, despite in spite of some of its inaccuracies. One of my other favorites of yours is "To The Last Man", which took me over a year to read during flights across the country, which seemed like the only time I had to read!

U S Grant mentions in his memoirs that in 1864 he recommended Col Chamberlain for an overdue promotion to general. I wonder whether Grant felt that Chamberlain's promotion was being unfairly obstructed by some detractors.

I often wonder why the left flank of the union line ended at little round top and did not extend to big round top. It seems to me that if Meade had enough troops, that it would be strategically advantageous to occupy the high ground of big round top. Nothing I've read or watched ever addresses this. Interesting.

Wish Longstreet would of been a POV character in last full measure he was the best part of the killer angels.

Any information on Portsmouth, Oh cannon battery on Little Round Top??

It's like Bill Nye meets Civil War history.

gods and generals and gettysburg movies were 100% FACTS! nothing in those movies was made up at all.... even the part this weekend when stephan lang told us he rode out on a horse in the movie because he wanted to even though picket didn't do that in the actual battle...he walked...... 100% to the TEE

Yes, The Killer Angels was an excellent and tremendously successful novel, but it was just that: a novel, meaning fiction. The book implies that the entire battle depended on the 20ME, and that simply wasn't so. The 20ME fought heroically, but no more so than many of the other 400 regiments at Gettysburg. The 20ME's casualty % was in fact lower than the other 4 or 5 Maine regiments that fought at Gettysburg.

For God sakes guys beware of ticks. Not just the regular ticks, the tiny deer ticks. Lyme will destroy you. Don't take your luck too far. If you get the bullseye rash, or flu symptoms, or sucker bite looking rash- demand 30 days of doxycycline. I kid you not. If you understood unresolvable suffering, you would pay attention to these words Great work on the stories, these Gettysburg episodes.

How can I get Last Full Measure.I t sums up the war.Good sorry awesome book would like to see the movie

To teach anything requires first and foremost you capture the interest of your audience. Jeff Shaara helped all teachers of history to do that. Of course most "teaching" in colleges today is simply repetitive indoctrination with all critical thought outlawed and ridiculed. Colleges that once were the fountain of debate with different ideas with competing dialogue is gone..perhaps forever.

Would love to see the sequel done realistically and accurate showing the carnage as Saving Private Ryan! No Civil War movie has EVER captured the true carnage of the Civil War accurately! Perhaps a realist depiction of Michael Saara's final book in the 3 part series could do it. Come on Ted Turner !

Just discovered these excellent ABT videos. I like the enthusiasm but wonder if it just to make the "boring" history videos more exciting. Kinda reminds me of Bill Nye-like History guy. I also love the fedora with officer's cord...I have a OD "boonie" with an Infantry officer's embroidered bugle insignia that never fails to get response from people usually in the form of irritation that I would put a Civil War insignia on a modern hat. They REALLY feel the need to point this error out to me. Also, History is DRAMATIC it is only boring because of how it is taught in grade-schools, usually very badly and inaccurately. I think it is rather sad that people need a novel that tells a good story in order to understand history when there are literally thousands of books written on the Battle of Gettysburg.

Why do i immediately have to think of Captain Miller in "Saving Private Ryan" when you say you cannot get further from a soldier than a professor? ;)

I recall in a discussion with someone on who was most responsible for the successful defense of the hill Chamberlain said, "Does it not take all the pickets in a fence to keep the hogs out "? I cant recall whom he was addressing at the time. My apologies for not remembering...Maybe someone can put the cherry on that quote?

FSU, FSU, go Florida State. Would Love to see some love for the Florida Regiments.

31:15 a blind man was allowed to a sourvenir and snack shop at little round top! Blind Davey and his guide dog

Chamberlain finishes as a Major General

26:35 1990 era gary who found a missing massachusetts plaque!

Great to hear Jeff Shaara speak. Good info ..as usual Adelman's hyperactivity and flailing arms drive me nuts

So if There was no actual Kiran Who is the soldier who's photograph we see in the prefix of the movie intros?

Someone correct me if am wrong but didn't Chamberlin say that that was not where the baronet charge took place, at a reunion or a deaddiction? So why does everyone ignore the fact that he made that statemen?

will the third movie ever get made

What kind of work is being done to LRT?

I wonder what weight should be given to PTSD symptoms when researching post-battle animosity and urgent desire of soldiers to have the story told as they remember it, accurately or inaccurately.

Wow spears vs chamberlain,

What??? Sgt kilrain is fiction? But was Michael shares in the story? I love the killer Angel s thanks for the lesson of the book, it was great story a truly great dramatic moment.