GDG- bachelder papers

[Chet Diestel]

   By all means, gobble up a set of "The Bachelder's Papers," it will be 
worth every cent you spend and then some, for his correspondence with 
participants (Union only at first, for obvious reasons) began within a year 
of the battle. At first, the exchanges were mostly between higher ranked 
officers, but after the war ended and the years passed more and more leading 
former ranking Southern officers began exchanging letters with Colonel 
Bachelder regarding his maps of the battle as well as a history of the 
battle he was planning on writing.
   Many of the letters are extremely fascinating, particularly the formal, 
low-level dispute between Hancock and Hunt over command of the artillery on 
July 3 during Pickett's Charge. Also, by the 1870s, more and more of the 
letters are from junior officers and enlisted veterans of the battle from 
both sides began to dominate the collection of correspondence.
   The collection is a glorious lot of primary sources, however, there is 
the rub. The farther from the battle the correspondence was the more 
personal memory became influenced by outside sources --- other veterans or 
written accounts, etc. Indeed, so strong was this theme that when Bachelder 
came to write his history of the battle, he relied almost entirely on the 
Official Reports written relatively shortly after the battle when memories 
were fresh and outside influences were minimal.
   Don't let the above give you second thought about the book, for it 
remains an invaluable source on the battle, made readily available by 
Morningside. The books are well put together, the letters in chronological 
order, divided by partial decade timelines, extensively footnoted with brief 
biography of who the letter writer was and what unit, if not clear in the 
letter, he was with during the battle as well as referring to other letters 
may be in response to. Additionally, all letter writers, units, place names 
are thoroughly indexed, so, for example, you want to follow all 
correspondence regarding a particular officer or unit, the index will direct 
you to each and every letter by that person or in which he or the unit is 
mentioned.
     With regards,
            Chet



Esteemed GDG Member Jack Lawreence Contributes:
Great.

Thaks.

Regards,

  Jack

 Esteemed GDG Member Bob Huddleston Contributes:

  Grab'em. They cost, IIRC, about $125 originally. And they have all of the 
letters Batchelder received over the years. It is fun reading!

  Take care,
           Bob

      Judy and Bob Huddleston
     10643 Sperry Street
      Northglenn, CO 80234-3612
      huddleston.r at comcast.net

    Esteemed GDG Member Jack Lawrence Contributes:
           Morningside has been out of these. I found a set i am considering 
buying.  Is this the entirer set Coddington used or is it only excerpted 
material. is there a better set available?

        Thanks.
           Regrds,
            Jack