on:
William Hewitt
speaks to the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia about Lee's and Meade's decisions before and during the Battle of Gettysburg.
The presentation was made on September 9, 2014, at the Fort McNair Officers' Club in Washington D.C.
Questions and answers follow presentation.
Summary Of Presentation:
The Battle of Gettysburg conjures up a mythology of events and personalities and is often described as a chance happening. Given this mythology, the commanders of this battle seem to be absent from the action. Nothing could be further from the truth. Using information from his book The Campaign of Gettysburg: Command Decisions, our speaker’s presentation will review the tactics he taught at the Command & General Staff College and apply them to the battle. Mr. Hewitt has used modern analyses to study the intelligence gathering of both armies as they maneuvered. We will look at events leading up to the battle through Mr. Hewitt's expert eyes and the prism of military thought at the time. His talk will cover the events, the importance of time and space, and the options available to the commanders. The discussion will focus on the numerous opportunities each commander had to change history.
Biography:
William D. Hewitt, Lt. Col, U.S. Army (ret.) served in the Army for 31 years, including 6 years in intelligence and 25 years in armor and cavalry. His service includes nearly four years at the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College in the Center for Army Tactics. As an instructor, he taught officers in grades from captain to brigadier general in the art and science of army operations. During his time at the College, he rewrote the primary tactics course for the College, supervised and reviewed all secondary tactics instruction at the College, and conducted several tactics seminars with senior army officers. In that capacity he was required to study the journey of tactics from before the American Revolution through Desert Storm in order to update the curriculum and thereby allow students “to see into the future” and implement visionary solutions to tactical requirements.
Mr. Hewitt now lives near Gettysburg with his wife, Kathy, and has served as a seasonal Park Ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park for the last seven years. He is a regular at the Gettysburg NMP’s Winter Lecture series and has spoken to many Civil War round tables around the country. Mr. Hewitt is an avid woodworker and makes handcrafted keepsakes from famed historic "witness trees" as well as post battle trees from the field at Gettysburg.
In addition to his book, Mr. Hewitt has written 17 articles for journals and military publications including two tactics manuals over the course of his career. His book received the Batchelder-Coddington Literary Award and Book of the Year honors from the Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable.
______________________________________________The Battle of Gettysburg conjures up a mythology of events and personalities and is often described as a chance happening. Given this mythology, the commanders of this battle seem to be absent from the action. Nothing could be further from the truth. Using information from his book The Campaign of Gettysburg: Command Decisions, our speaker’s presentation will review the tactics he taught at the Command & General Staff College and apply them to the battle. Mr. Hewitt has used modern analyses to study the intelligence gathering of both armies as they maneuvered. We will look at events leading up to the battle through Mr. Hewitt's expert eyes and the prism of military thought at the time. His talk will cover the events, the importance of time and space, and the options available to the commanders. The discussion will focus on the numerous opportunities each commander had to change history.
Biography:
William D. Hewitt, Lt. Col, U.S. Army (ret.) served in the Army for 31 years, including 6 years in intelligence and 25 years in armor and cavalry. His service includes nearly four years at the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College in the Center for Army Tactics. As an instructor, he taught officers in grades from captain to brigadier general in the art and science of army operations. During his time at the College, he rewrote the primary tactics course for the College, supervised and reviewed all secondary tactics instruction at the College, and conducted several tactics seminars with senior army officers. In that capacity he was required to study the journey of tactics from before the American Revolution through Desert Storm in order to update the curriculum and thereby allow students “to see into the future” and implement visionary solutions to tactical requirements.
Mr. Hewitt now lives near Gettysburg with his wife, Kathy, and has served as a seasonal Park Ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park for the last seven years. He is a regular at the Gettysburg NMP’s Winter Lecture series and has spoken to many Civil War round tables around the country. Mr. Hewitt is an avid woodworker and makes handcrafted keepsakes from famed historic "witness trees" as well as post battle trees from the field at Gettysburg.
In addition to his book, Mr. Hewitt has written 17 articles for journals and military publications including two tactics manuals over the course of his career. His book received the Batchelder-Coddington Literary Award and Book of the Year honors from the Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable.
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