By Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2003. ISBN 0-312-30935-X) I’m a Bill Forstchen fan. I’ve read and re-read the Lost Regiment series and have even played several wargames with civil war troops fighting orcs. (I don’t usually dabble in “fantasy” games but the Lost Regiment battles are so well written that they inspire me to wargame them.) I’m also a fan of Newt’s. Congressman Gingrich came out to Fort Leavenworth many years ago and spoke to us staff college students. His command of operational art issues was impressive. Most congressmen can’t tell a tank from an APC but Gingrich persuaded me that he knew more about strategy than he needed to. So, when the two of them get together, well, it grabs my attention. Both Bill and Newt have doctorates in history so I trusted that their treatment of this Gettysburg “What if” would not get too out of control. And it didn’t. The basic premise is this: what might have happened if Lee broke off the attack after the first day? What if Lee took Longstreet’s advice and found a piece of defensible terrain and dared the Yankees to attack him? This novel explores this option. It was becoming clear to many, if not all, that the defense was getting the upper hand over the offense, especially on the right piece of ground. Witness the slaughter at Fredericksburg. Forstchen and Gingrich explore this emerging reality of warfare but they also penetrate Lee’s mind. Lee knows that the South can’t match northern industrial production nor the depth of manpower reserves. He needs to end the war soon with a decisive victory. In the past, confederate victories have driven off Yankee armies but have not destroyed them. What if Lee could destroy the Army of the Potomac? Through great force of will, Lee re-thinks his campaign plan and energizes his somewhat reluctant subordinates to carry out a flank march along the lines of Chancellorsville. But Chancellorsville was a shallow envelopment compared to this wide turning movement. Lee puts the Army of Northern Virginia square between Meade and Washington. And Meade feels utterly compelled to attack Lee directly and quickly, with no display of tactical or operational finesse. Forstchen and Gingrich write in an engaging style and have a solid command of the personages and details of battle. Heroes and cowards abound, as does brilliance and stupidity. You can almost feel the soldiers sweat and bleed. As the cliché goes “I could hardly put this book down”. But more importantly, I am inspired to craft a solo civil war game based upon this fictional but plausible scenario. Now I must paint up some more regiments. When will it ever stop? Recommended for the readers of Lone Warrior? Heck yes! If you have any interest in the Gettysburg campaign, this will be entertaining reading. Then I dare you not to re-create one of the fictional battles on the wargame table. Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior # 143 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com