History for Kids: The Battle of Gettysburg

By: Charles River Editors

Narrated by: Dan Gallagher

Length: 23 mins

Publisher's summary

In Charles River Editors' History for Kids series, your children can learn about history's most important people and events in an easy, entertaining, and educational way. The concise but comprehensive audiobook will keep your kid's attention all the way to the end.

Without question, the most famous battle of the American Civil War took place outside of the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which happened to be a transportation hub, serving as the center of a wheel with several roads leading out to other Pennsylvanian towns. From July 1 to July 3, Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia tried everything in its power to decisively defeat George Meade's Union Army of the Potomac, unleashing ferocious assaults that inflicted nearly 50,000 casualties in all.

Day 1 of the battle would have been one of the 25 biggest battles of the Civil War itself, and it ended with a tactical Confederate victory. But over the next two days, Lee would try and fail to dislodge the Union army with attacks on both of its flanks during the second day and Pickett's Charge on the third and final day. Meade's stout defense held, barely, repulsing each attempted assault, handing the Union a desperately needed victory that ended up being one of the Civil War's turning points.

After the South had lost the war, the importance of Gettysburg as one of the "high tide" marks of the Confederacy became apparent to everyone, making the battle all the more important in the years after it had been fought. While former Confederate generals cast about for scapegoats, with various officers pointing fingers at Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, and James Stuart, historians and avid Civil War fans became obsessed with studying and analyzing all the command decisions and army movements during the entire campaign. Despite the saturation of coverage, Americans refuse to grow tired of visiting the battlefield and reliving the biggest battle fought in North America.

History for Kids: The Battle of Gettysburg comprehensively covers the battle, analyzes the decisions made by the battle's most important leaders, and explains the aftermath of the Union victory and the legacies that were made and tarnished by the battle. Your kids will learn about the Battle of Gettysburg like never before.

©2013 Charles River Editors (P)2017 Charles River Editors

It failed to educate on a kid’s level

As a retired middle school teacher, I was disappointed. There were a lot of names to remember which side they were on. The vocabulary was too high in some places. There were figures of speech kids were not likely to understand. If they hadn’t seen a picture or movie, would they know where the smoke was coming from? This story had potential, but there were too many problems for all kids to benefit from it.