Although many hundreds of books have been published on the battle, few have focused on the artillery. Silent Sentinels fills this flaring gap in the literature. This well-written and illustrated study was designed for both the casual battlefield visitor and the serious scholar. The former will use Silent Sentinels to tour the battlefield, browse existing guns, ponder the many photographs, and learn more about artillery in general; the latter will find the extensive primary sources, diagrams, appendices of numbers and losses, and informative discussion of organization and tactics an indispensable reference resource. Silent Sentinels discusses in detail every gun-type used at Gettysburg, the equipment needed to operate the guns, their organization, and the tactics employed by both Union and Confederate artillery men. In addition to a history of the artillery and how it was used, the author includes chapters on the park’s collection of 436 guns, the pieces on display at the field today, how to identify the different types of cannon, and how to identify the date and place of manufacture. Silent Sentinels concludes with a driving tour of the battlefield, specially designed with the artillery in mind. This lovely historical guide, complete with detailed endnotes and bibliography, will be a welcomed addition to the growing Gettysburg titles.

    Breathed's resume of combat mirrors that of General Lee's legendary Army of Northern Virginia. Major Breathed was involved in eighty-six battles, engagements and skirmishes. When the Civil War began, James Breathed was a 21-year-old physician at the beginning of his medical career. A Virginian by birth, and raised on a plantation in Maryland, he cast his lot with the Confederacy in April 1861. By chance, he shared a seat on a train with James Ewell Brown (JEB) Stuart, who encouraged Breathed to join the 1st Virginia Cavalry, a regiment commanded by Stuart. Breathed was then transferred to the newly formed Stuart Horse Artillery. For the doctor-turned-warrior, it was a perfect assignment. Unencumbered by formal military training, Breathed developed his own unique style of command. Relentless in his efforts to defeat the enemy, he exhibited conspicuous gallantry and accomplishments on so many fields that his actions separated him from the pack of other battery commanders—inside and outside the cavalry arm. Breathed's handling of horse artillery and accurate fire became recognizable to his enemies. Alexander C. M. Pennington, the leader of a celebrated Union battery of the horse artillery, looked forward to and dreaded his many encounters with Breathed. In the minds of the Confederate veterans who knew him best, Breathed was no less of a legend than artillerist John Pelham. After the war doctor Breathed returned to continue his practice of medicine in Hancock, Maryland. He died February 14, 1870. This study is based upon previously unknown or overlooked family primary documents and archival sources, a keen appreciation of the terrain over which Breathed's guns rolled and fought, and a broad foundation of knowledge of the American Civil War in the Eastern Theater. Fighting With JEB Stuart adds something dramatically new to the literature of the Civil War.