Ron Kirkwood on “Too Much for Human Endurance: The George Spangler Farm Hospitals and the Battle of Gettysburg”
The George Spangler story is the rare Gettysburg tale that has never been told in entirety until now. Amazingly, after thousands of books and many generations gone by, there was still uncharted territory about the Battle of Gettysburg until “Too Much for Human Endurance: The George Spangler Farm Hospitals and the Battle of Gettysburg” by Ron Kirkwood. Ron’s book and presentation discusses Spangler’s experiences and perspectives including;
- The XI Corps Army of the Potomac hospital on George and Elizabeth Spangler’s farm, which treated up to 2,000 patients.
- The First Division, II Corps hospital at Granite Schoolhouse on the Spanglers’ land. They had two hospitals on their property totaling probably 3,000 men.
- The Army of the Potomac Artillery Reserve, which was based at Spangler and included 106 cannons and 2,300 men.
- How the Army of the Potomac used the location and size of the farm militarily to help win the battle.
- The Spanglers and their neighbors before the battle, during the battle and what happened to them after the battle.
- Stories of the heroism and suffering of the patients, surgeons, nurses, Spanglers and Spangler neighbors.
Ron Kirkwood is the author of “Too Much for Human Endurance: The George Spangler Farm Hospitals and the Battle of Gettysburg,” which was published in May 2019. Ron is retired after a 40-year career as an editor and writer in newspapers and magazines including USA TODAY, the Baltimore Sun, the Harrisburg Patriot-News and York Daily Record. Ron edited national magazines for USA TODAY Sports, he was the editor in charge of National Football League coverage for USA TODAY Sports Weekly, and he managed the copy desk in Harrisburg when the newspaper won the Pulitzer Prize in 2012. Ron is a native of Michigan and a graduate of Central Michigan University, where he has returned as guest speaker to journalism classes as part of the school’s Hearst Visiting Professionals series. Ron lives in York, Pennsylvania, and has been a Gettysburg Foundation guide at The George Spangler Farm Field Hospital Site since it opened in 2013.