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    Tillie Pierce: Teen Eyewitness to the Battle of Gettysburg
    Tillie Pierce: Teen Eyewitness to the Battle of Gettysburg
    Tillie Pierce: Teen Eyewitness to the Battle of Gettysburg
    Ebook134 pages1 hour

    Tillie Pierce: Teen Eyewitness to the Battle of Gettysburg

    By Tanya Anderson

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Imagine being fifteen years old, facing the bloodiest battle ever to take place on U.S. soil: the Battle of Gettysburg. In July 1863, this is exactly what happened to Tillie Pierce, a normal teenager who became an unlikely heroine of the Civil War (1861-1865). Tillie and other women and girls like her found themselves trapped during this critical three-day battle in southern Pennsylvania. Without training, but with enormous courage and compassion, Tillie and other Gettysburg citizens helped save the lives of countless wounded Union and Confederate soldiers.

    In gripping prose, Tillie Pierce: Teen Eyewitness to the of Battle Gettysburg takes readers behind the scenes. And through Tillie’s own words, the story of one of the Civil War’s most famous battles comes alive.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLerner Publishing
    Release dateJan 1, 2017
    ISBN9781512453034
    Author

    Tanya Anderson

    Tanya Anderson is an award-winning editor of books for young readers. Her particular passion is to create engaging nonfiction books for reluctant readers, those who are capable readers but who have become uninterested in reading. Anderson discovered this need when she taught high school history and English. She continues in her role as a teacher and guide through the books she edits and writes. Anderson graduated from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, after a dozen years in the education field, she followed her dream of joining the children's book publishing world. She has worked for more than twenty years in various editorial functions for Pages Publishing Group/Willowisp Press, Guideposts for Teens, SRA/McGraw-Hill, Darby Creek Publishing, and now has her own book packaging company, School Street Media. Besides working with some of the most wonderful authors and illustrators in the business, Anderson has also had more than thirty books published in the children's and educational book markets.

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    Reviews for Tillie Pierce

    4.5/5

    19 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This slim volume tells the tale of three arsenals that exploded during the height of the Civil War, causing multiple deaths and great concern among the area residents who thought the enemy was on their doorstep. Coming from the Pittsburgh area I was surprised to see that was the first, and most damaging explosion. The author includes interesting sidebars and a lengthy bibliography. There are three times the amount of citations for Pittsburgh as either of the other two cities even though the text of the book seems to be evenly divided. What I don't understand is the bibliographic section on women and child labor. Those books discuss topics that occurred well after the civil war and although interesting, seem out of place in this book.
    • 5/5
      Tillie Pierce grew from a young girl into a woman in just a few days time by experiencing the horrors of war. This book tracks Tillie's experience from the time her town of Gettysburg was invaded by the Confederates thru the time they were repulsed by the Union Army. Its the story of her life being caught up right in the middle of the blood and gore. She witnessed death all around her and provided aid to the wounded and dying. It is incredible to think that she fled the main part of the city thinking she would be safe but landed in the middle of some of the bloodiest fighting anyway. The book is not just another overview of the war but is a collection of the personal stories and incidents of Tillie's experience as recorded in her journal. The experience of the book is capped by an invitation to use Google Earth to trace Tillie's footsteps through the conflict....what a unique experience presented by author Tanya Anderson. This was a great read.
    • 5/5
      Tillie Pierce: Teen Eyewitness to the Battle of Gettysburg is an excellent read. It should appeal to a junior high audience of students who are asked to read nonfiction in their English classes or who are studying the Civil War in their U.S. History classes. Before reading the book, I thought that the book would appeal primarily to a female audience. After reading it, I know I will recommend it to the boys as well. I honestly enjoyed it as an adult reader. Reading history textbooks can sometimes make history seem distant and a bit overwhelming with so many facts. Tillie Pierce humanizes the Battle of Gettysburg and makes it feel much more authentic to the reader.I will be donating my copy to the school library but will be ordering a hardbound copy to stand up to the wear-and-tear of frequently read books. I see that Quindaro Press is releasing another book called Gunpowder Girls: The True Stories of Three Civil War Tragedies which is also authored by Tanya Anderson. I will have no trouble ordering this new release sight-unseen because I am so impressed by the writing and photographs in Tillie's story. I hope the author and publisher create a whole series of these books.
    • 5/5
      This book provided an interesting look at one civilian's experience during the Battle of Gettysburg. The boxes of historical information, the period photographs, and the map the author included really complemented Tillie's own words. I'm older than the target audience, but I would especially recommend this book for younger readers who could learn about history through the eyes of someone their own age.*Note* I received a copy of this book from Library Thing Early Reviewers for my honest opinion.
    • 5/5
      This is an interesting book on Tillie Pierce's perspective on the Battle of Gettysburg. The supporting pictures provide more detail to the story, helping the reader to dive into her perspective. I enjoy visiting Gettysburg and this story is a great addition to the history of the battle.
    • 4/5
      An interesting and informative book about an eyewitness to the battle of Gettysburg. In simplifying the narrative, though, the author appears to project a bias, though it might have been unintentional.

    Book preview

    Tillie Pierce - Tanya Anderson

    To Eric Anderson, Dave Anderson, Dale Anderson, and Dave Speas—the pillars and patriots of my life

    —TA

    Acknowledgments: With thanks to the Gettysburg Military Park/National Park Service, the Adams County (Pennsylvania) Historical Society, and the history-loving people of Gettysburg, especially Nancie Gudmestad (owner of the Shriver House Museum) and Gerry and Beth Hoffman (owners of the Jacob Weikert farm) for their help in making Tillie’s story real to me.

    Title page image: Wounded soldiers and medical staff pose for a photo at a field hospital in Gettysburg after the battle in July 1863.

    Copyright © 2013 by Tanya Anderson

    All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

    Twenty-First Century Books

    A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

    241 First Avenue North

    Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

    For reading levels and more information, look up this title at www.lernerbooks.com.

    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

    Anderson, Tanya.

    Tillie Pierce: teen eyewitness to the battle of Gettysburg / by Tanya Anderson.

    p. cm.

    Includes bibliographical references and index.

    ISBN 978–1–4677–0692–6 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper)

    ISBN 978–1–4677–1057–2 (eBook)

    1. Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863—Juvenile literature. 2. Alleman, Tillie Pierce—Juvenile literature. I. Title.

    E475.53.A55 2013

    973.7’349—dc23 2012018072

    Manufactured in the United States of America

    2 – PC – 6/1/14

    9781512453027 mobi

    9781512453010 ePub

    9781512453034 ePub

    Contents

    Author’s Note

    Introduction: Gettysburg, a Crossroads Town

    Chapter 1 : The Shrivers and the Pierces

    Chapter 2: Rumors and Restlessness

    Chapter 3: The Rebels ARE Coming!

    Chapter 4: Running to Safety

    Chapter 5: The Round Tops

    Chapter 6: Battle’s End

    Chapter 7: After the Storm

    Chapter 8: On Baltimore Street

    Epilogue: After the War

    Taking Tillie’s Path

    Source Notes

    Selected Bibliography

    Index

    Author’s Note

    War affects everyone—young and old, rich and poor, warrior and pacifist and, in the case of the Civil War (1861–1865), slave and free.

    Children and teens also carry the burdens of war, some as victims, some as child soldiers, some as gentle healers in their own communities.

    In writing this book, I wanted to give a real voice—a teenage voice—to one of the most written-about wars in history. Matilda (Tillie) Pierce lived through the bloodiest Civil War battle. It took place in July 1863 around her hometown of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Tillie was fifteen years old at the time. She later wrote about her experiences in the 1889 book At Gettysburg: Or, What a Girl Saw and Heard of the Battle, A True Narrative. She is not the only eyewitness who wrote about the battle, but her story is one of the most compelling. I want people Tillie’s age to learn about her and about the event that stayed with her the rest of her life.

    This is not a book about the military details of the Battle of Gettysburg. Plenty of other books describe the battle’s strategies and its leaders, the winners and the losers. This book is about Tillie—before, during, and after the three days of battle in July 1863. I have included geographic, cultural, and historical information to help readers understand her place and time.

    Few students have ever heard of Tillie Pierce. She was an ordinary teenager of her day who endured extraordinary difficulties. I want to share her story, using her actual words, so young people today can relate to one of the most important events in U.S. history. I want readers to see Tillie’s courage, stamina, and compassion, so they can search for and discover the same qualities within themselves.

    Introduction

    Gettysburg, a Crossroads Town

    Long before white settlers moved into southern Pennsylvania, Native Americans had worn an east-west trail there.

    The path later turned into a well-traveled dirt road when French and English trappers ventured into the wildlife-rich Allegheny Mountains. Over time, another road developed. This one ran north and south, connecting Shippensburg (Pennsylvania) and Baltimore (Maryland). The place where these two roads crossed would one day be called Gettysburg.

    In the 1730s and the 1740s, settlers who wanted nothing of city life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and other large towns moved to York County in south-central Pennsylvania. They were hardworking, independent families who managed to turn the rock-filled, rolling hills into working farms. One of those areas was known as the Marsh Creek settlement.

    James Gettys founded Gettystown in the 1780s. In 1800 the town’s name was changed to Gettysburg.

    Samuel Gettys, an immigrant from northern Ireland, was a settler there. He bought 381 acres (154 hectares) of the Marsh Creek settlement as a farmstead around 1740. In 1761 he built the Gettys Inn and Tavern near the crossroads of the town’s two main roads. Gettys knew that weary travelers would be glad to pay for a place to sleep, eat, and drink. During the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), American troops found refreshment and rest at his inn.

    In 1783 Samuel’s son James bought 116 acres (47 hectares) from his father. James laid out a town on that parcel and named it Gettystown in honor of his father. He established a central square, known as the Diamond. Several streets splayed out from the Diamond like the spokes of a wheel. He divided the area along these streets into 120 individual lots. The streets were named to show where people were traveling to or from: Baltimore Street, York Pike, Harrisburg Road, Chambersburg Pike, Taneytown Road, and Hagerstown Road. People passed through Gettystown on their way to bigger and more exciting cities.

    In 1800 the town’s name was changed to Gettysburg, and it became the county seat. In a few years, two colleges were established northwest of town. Lutheran Theological Seminary opened in 1826, and Pennsylvania (now Gettysburg) College followed in 1832.

    This 1863

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