The Weather Gods Curse the Gettysburg Campaign

Searing Heat and Torrents of Rain

As the nation’s future hung in the balance, the Weather Gods delivered a wrath of fury on Union and Confederate forces throughout the Gettysburg Campaign. First, record-breaking heat and humidity wore down the warring armies during ungodly forced marches. Next, relentless storms plagued the soldiers with resultant muddy slogs on nearly impassable roads. As the armies met in mortal combat, soul-crushing heat turned the bucolic fields of Gettysburg into a sanguinary and barren expanse. Finally, torrential rains haunted the Confederate retreat and narrow escape across a swollen Potomac River. Authors Jeffrey J. Harding and Jon M. Nese present firsthand accounts, harrowing narratives and groundbreaking meteorological research that reshapes how we view the Civil War’s Gettysburg Campaign.

Jeffrey J. Harding currently works as a licensed battlefield guide at Gettysburg National Military Park, independent historian and leadership consultant. Previously, he served thirty-three years as an intelligence analyst and professional development specialist with the Office of Naval Intelligence. He is the author of the highly acclaimed Gettysburg’s Lost Love Story: The Ill-Fated Romance of General John Reynolds and Kate Hewitt. Jon M. Nese is a teaching professor in the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science at Penn State, where he also oversees the undergraduate program. Prior to joining Penn State, he was chief meteorologist at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and on-air storm analyst at the Weather Channel. He is the coauthor of The Philadelphia Area Weather Book, which was awarded the 2005 Louis J. Battan Author’s Award from the American Meteorological Society.