Meet James Gindlesperger

James Gindlesperger is the author or co-author, with his wife Suzanne, of ten books. Several of his books have won national awards, including the prestigious Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award for his book Bullets and Bandages, the topic of his presentation on May 28. Two of his books have achieved best-seller status on Amazon, and another has been featured on the Discovery Channel, with the movie rights optioned by Warner Brothers. He has written for the peer reviewed Gettysburg Magazine, he is a monthly correspondent for Johnstown Magazine, and he writes a monthly blog article for the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Jim has served as a consultant on a joint project between Google, NASA, National Geographic and Carnegie Mellon University to map and digitally photograph Civil War sites using high resolution robotic cameras with 360^o capability. In 2021 he received a citation from the Senate of Pennsylvania for his literary achievements, and in 2025 he received the Ed Cernic Community Support Recognition Award from the Johnstown Veteran Community Initiatives for the articles and books he has written in support of veterans.

Bullets and Bandages draws on state and federal records, newspaper accounts, letters, diaries, and after-battle reports to provide detailed descriptions of the more than 200 field hospitals and aid stations that were established following the Battle of Gettysburg. Filled with historical and full color contemporary photos, this book transports the reader back to 1863 to witness the challenges of all Civil War hospitals:  lack of medical supplies, primitive medical technology, disease, lack of hygiene, disorganization, understaffing, underfunding, and the threat of attack. While it is natural to feel compassion for the wounded and the doctors attempting to save their lives, Bullets and Bandages also addresses the hardships imposed on those whose homes and farms became places of refuge for those seeking lifesaving treatment.

Maps, street addresses and GPS coordinates are provided for each site, making it easy for the reader to physically visit each one, and the human interest stories associated with each location make the tribulations of the time come alive once again.

Bullets and Bandages was awarded the prestigious Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award as the best book about the Battle of Gettysburg to be published in 2020, and it has been on Amazon’s best seller list for military travel guides sine October 2021, reaching as high as number three. Historian and Penn State History professor Jared Frederick has called Bullets and Bandages “the best resource on Civil War era homes in the Gettysburg area that I know of.”