The Weather Gods Curse the Gettysburg Campaign | Jon M. Nese and Jeffrey J. Harding

"The Weather Gods Curse the Gettysburg Campaign" with Jon M. Nese and Jeffrey J. Harding
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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.

Jon M. Nese is Teaching Professor and Associate Head for Undergraduate Programs in the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science at Penn State. He also oversees the Weather and Climate Communications Group in the department, which is responsible for Weather World, the department’s long-running television show. In 2015, he won a Mid-Atlantic Emmy for the educational features he writes and produces for the show. Prior to joining Penn State, Dr. Nese was chief meteorologist at the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia and an on-air storm analyst at The Weather Channel. He has previously co-authored two books: The Philadelphia Area Weather Book, which was awarded the 2005 Louis J. Battan Author’s Award from the American Meteorological Society; and a college-level introductory textbook A World of Weather: Fundamentals of Meteorology, now in its sixth edition.

Jeffrey J. Harding currently works as a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park, and is an independent historian and a leadership consultant. Previously, he served 33 years as an intelligence analyst and professional development specialist with the Office of Naval Intelligence. A recipient of the Department of the Navy’s Meritorious Civilian Service Medal, Jeffrey was also inducted into the Nimitz Operational Intelligence Center Hall of Fame. He is the author of the highly acclaimed Gettysburg’s Lost Love Story: The Ill-Fated Romance of General John Reynolds and Kate Hewitt, and numerous major publications have chronicled his historical sleuthing efforts. He has spoken at many notable events, including a ceremony honoring the sixty-eighth anniversary of the end of World War II held on the Battleship Missouri Memorial, Gettysburg College’s Civil War Institute and the Gettysburg Foundation’s Sacred Trust. He has also appeared on numerous television broadcasts and media podcasts.

Join us to commemorate the 163rd anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Details to be released in the spring of 2026: https://www.gettysburgfoundation.org/...

#History #CivilWar #SacredTrust #Gettysburg #NationalParks #AmericanHistory