Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), fought in and around the town of
Following his success at Chancellorsville in May 1863, Lee led his army through the
The two armies began to collide at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, as Lee urgently concentrated his forces there. Low ridges to the northwest of town were defended initially by a Union cavalry division, which was soon reinforced with two
On the second day of battle, most of both armies had assembled. The Union line was laid out in a defensive formation resembling a fishhook. Lee launched a heavy assault on the Union left flank, and fierce fighting raged at
On the third day of battle, July 3, fighting resumed on Culp's Hill, and cavalry battles raged to the east and south, but the main event was a dramatic infantry assault by 12,500 Confederates against the center of the Union line on
Background and movement to battle
thumb|350px|Gettysburg Campaign (through July 3); cavalry movements shown with dashed lines.Shortly after the Army of Northern Virginia won a decisive victory over the Army of the Potomac at the
Thus, on June 3, Lee's army began to shift northward from
The Union Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, consisted of seven infantry corps, a cavalry corps, and an Artillery Reserve, for a combined strength of about 94,000 men.Busey and Martin, p. 125. "Engaged strength" at the battle was 93,921.] However, President Lincoln replaced Hooker with Maj. Gen. The first major action of the campaign took place on June 9 between the opposing cavalry forces at Brandy Station, near By mid-June, the Army of Northern Virginia was poised to cross the Potomac River and enter Lee gave strict orders to his army to minimize any negative impacts on the civilian population. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=YmsFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=titlepage#PRA1-PA323,M1 Lee's orders from Chambersburg, June 27, 1863] ] Food, horses, and other supplies were generally not seized outright, although quartermasters reimbursing northern farmers and merchants using Confederate money were not well received. Various towns, most notably On June 26, elements of Maj. Gen. Meanwhile, in a controversial move, Lee allowed J.E.B. Stuart to take a portion of the army's cavalry and ride around the east flank of the Union army. Lee's orders gave Stuart much latitude, and both generals share the blame for the long absence of Stuart's cavalry, as well as for the failure to assign a more active role to the cavalry left with the army. Stuart and his three best brigades were absent from the army during the crucial phase of the approach to Gettysburg and the first two days of battle. By June 29, Lee's army was strung out in an arc from Chambersburg (28 miles (45 km) northwest of Gettysburg) to Carlisle (30 miles (48 km) north of Gettysburg) to near Harrisburg and Wrightsville on the In a dispute over the use of the forces defending the Harpers Ferry garrison, Hooker offered his resignation, and On June 29, when Lee learned that the Army of the Potomac had crossed its namesake river, he ordered a concentration of his forces around Cashtown, located at the eastern base of South Mountain and eight miles (13 km) west of Gettysburg. [Coddington, pp. 181, 189.] On June 30, while part of Hill's Corps was in Cashtown, one of Hill's brigades, North Carolinians under Brig. Gen. When Pettigrew's troops approached Gettysburg on June 30, they noticed Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. First day of battle General Buford realized the importance of the high ground directly to the south of Gettysburg, knowing that if the Confederates could gain control of the heights, Meade's army would have difficulty dislodging them. He decided to utilize three ridges west of Gettysburg: Herr Ridge, McPherson Ridge, and Seminary Ridge (proceeding west to east toward the town). These were appropriate terrain for a delaying action by his small division against superior Confederate infantry forces, meant to buy time awaiting the arrival of Union infantrymen who could occupy the strong defensive positions south of town at Heth's division advanced with two brigades forward, commanded by Brig. Gens. North of the pike, Davis gained a temporary success against Brig. Gen. Early in the fighting, while General Reynolds was directing troop and artillery placements just to the east of the woods, he fell from his horse, killed by a bullet, which struck him behind the right ear. [Coddington, p. 269. Other sources, such as Sears, p. 170, quote Reynolds's orderly, Charles Veil, that a "Minnie [sic] ball struck him in the back of the neck."] Maj. Gen. As Pettigrew's North Carolina Brigade came on line, they flanked the 19th Indiana and drove the Iron Brigade back. The 26th North Carolina (the largest regiment in the army with 839 men) lost heavily, leaving the first day's fight with around 212 men. By the end of the three-day battle, they had about 152 men standing, the highest casualty percentage for one battle of any regiment, North or South. [Busey and Martin, pp. 298, 501.] Slowly the Iron Brigade was pushed out of the woods toward Seminary Ridge. Hill added Maj. Gen. As the fighting to the west proceeded, two divisions of Ewell's Second Corps, marching west toward Cashtown in accordance with Lee's order for the army to concentrate in that vicinity, turned south on the Carlisle and Harrisburg Roads toward Gettysburg, while the Union XI Corps (Maj. Gen. However, the Federals did not have enough troops; Cutler, who was deployed north of the Chambersburg Pike, had his right flank in the air. The leftmost division of the XI Corps was unable to deploy in time to strengthen the line, so Doubleday was forced to throw in reserve brigades to salvage his line. [Pfanz, "First Day", p. 158.] Around 2:00 p.m., the Second Corps divisions of Maj. Gens. As Federal positions collapsed both north and west of town, Gen. Howard ordered a retreat to the high ground south of town at Cemetery Hill, where he had left the division of Brig. Gen. Gen. Lee understood the defensive potential to the Union if they held this high ground. He sent orders to Ewell that Cemetery Hill be taken "if practicable." Ewell chose not to attempt the assault; this decision is considered by historians to be a great missed opportunity. [Pfanz, "First Day", p. 344. Eicher, p. 517. Sears, p. 228. Trudeau, p. 253. Both Sears and Trudeau record "if possible."] The first day at Gettysburg, more significant than simply a prelude to the bloody second and third days, ranks as the 23rd biggest battle of the war by number of troops engaged. About one quarter of Meade's army (22,000 men) and one third of Lee's army (27,000) were engaged. [Martin, p. 9, citing Thomas L. Livermore's "Numbers & Losses in the Civil War in America" (Houghton Mifflin, 1900).] Second day of battle Plans and movement to battle Throughout the evening of July 1 and morning of July 2, most of the remaining infantry of both armies arrived on the field, including the Union II, III, V, VI, and XII Corps. Longstreet's third division, commanded by The Union line ran from Culp's Hill southeast of the town, northwest to Cemetery Hill just south of town, then south for nearly two miles (3 km) along Cemetery Ridge, terminating just north of Little Round Top. Most of the XII Corps was on Culp's Hill; the remnants of I and XI Corps defended Cemetery Hill; II Corps covered most of the northern half of Cemetery Ridge; and III Corps was ordered to take up a position to its flank. The shape of the Union line is popularly described as a "fishhook" formation. The Confederate line paralleled the Union line about a mile (1,600 m) to the west on Seminary Ridge, ran east through the town, then curved southeast to a point opposite Culp's Hill. Thus, the Federal army had interior lines, while the Confederate line was nearly five miles (8 km) in length. [Clark, p. 74. Eicher, p 521.] Lee's battle plan for July 2 called for Longstreet's First Corps to position itself stealthily to attack the Union left flank, facing northeast astraddle the Emmitsburg Road, and to roll up the Federal line. The attack sequence was to begin with Maj. Gens. Lee's plan, however, was based on faulty intelligence, exacerbated by Stuart's continued absence from the battlefield. Instead of moving beyond the Federals' left and attacking their flank, Longstreet's left division, under McLaws, would face Maj. Gen. Longstreet's attack was to be made as early as practicable; however, Longstreet got permission from Lee to await the arrival of one of his brigades, and while marching to the assigned position, his men came within sight of a Union signal station on Little Round Top. Countermarching to avoid detection wasted much time, and Hood's and McLaws's divisions did not launch their attacks until just after 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively. [Pfanz, "Second Day", pp. 119-23.] Attacks on the Union left flank As Longstreet's divisions slammed into the Union III Corps, Meade was forced to send 20,000 reinforcements [Harman, p. 59.] in the form of the entire V Corps, Brig. Gen. As fighting raged in the Wheatfield and Devil's Den, Col. Attacks on the Union right flank About 7:00 p.m., the Second Corps' attack by Johnson's division on Culp's Hill got off to a late start. Most of the hill's defenders, the Union XII Corps, had been sent to the left to defend against Longstreet's attacks, and the only portion of the corps remaining on the hill was a brigade of New Yorkers under Brig. Gen. Just at dark, two of Jubal Early's brigades attacked the Union XI Corps positions on East Cemetery Hill where Col. Jeb Stuart and his three cavalry brigades arrived in Gettysburg around noon but had no role in the second day's battle. Brig. Gen. Wade Hampton's brigade fought a minor engagement with Third day of battle General Lee wished to renew the attack on Friday, July 3, using the same basic plan as the previous day: Longstreet would attack the Federal left, while Ewell attacked Culp's Hill. [Harman, p. 63.] However, before Longstreet was ready, Union XII Corps troops started a dawn artillery bombardment against the Confederates on Culp's Hill in an effort to regain a portion of their lost works. The Confederates attacked, and the second fight for Culp's Hill ended around 11 a.m., after some seven hours of bitter combat. [Pfanz, "Culp's Hill", pp. 284-352. Eicher, pp. 540-41. Coddington, pp. 465-75.] Lee was forced to change his plans. Longstreet would command Pickett's Virginia division of his own First Corps, plus six brigades from Hill's Corps, in an attack on the Federal II Corps position at the right center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. Prior to the attack, all the artillery the Confederacy could bring to bear on the Federal positions would bombard and weaken the enemy's line. [Eicher, p. 542. Coddington, pp. 485-86.] Around 1 p.m., from 150 to 170 Confederate guns [See discussion of varying gun estimates in There were two significant cavalry engagements on July 3. Stuart was sent to guard the Confederate left flank and was to be prepared to exploit any success the infantry might achieve on Cemetery Hill by flanking the Federal right and hitting their trains and lines of communications. Three miles (5 km) east of Gettysburg, in what is now called "East Cavalry Field" (not shown on the accompanying map, but between the York and Hanover Roads), Stuart's forces collided with Federal cavalry: Brig. Gen. Aftermath The Confederate retreat The armies stared at one another across the bloody fields on July 4, the same day that the Vicksburg garrison surrendered to Maj. Gen. On July 5, in a driving rain, the bulk of the Army of Northern Virginia left Gettysburg on the Hagerstown Road; the Battle of Gettysburg was over, and the Confederates headed back to Virginia. Meade's army followed, although the pursuit was half-spirited. The recently rain-swollen Potomac trapped Lee's army on the north bank of the river for a time, but when the Federals finally caught up, the Confederates had forded the river. The rear-guard action at Falling Waters on July 14 ended the Gettysburg Campaign and added some more names to the long casualty lists, including General Pettigrew, who was mortally wounded. [Clark, pp. 147-57. Longacre, pp. 268-69.] In a brief letter to Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck written on July 7, Lincoln remarked on the two major Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. He continued: Halleck then relayed the contents of Lincoln's letter to Meade in a telegram. However, despite repeated pleas from Lincoln and Halleck, which continued over the next week, Meade did not pursue Lee's army aggressively enough to destroy it before it crossed back over the Potomac River to safety in the South. [Coddington, pp. 535-74.] Reaction to the news of the Union victory The news of the Union victory electrified the North. A headline in " Impact on the Confederacy The Confederates had lost politically as well as militarily. During the final hours of the battle, Confederate Vice President Some economic historians have pointed to the fact that after the loss at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the market for Confederate Casualties The two armies had suffered between 46,000 and 51,000 casualties. Union casualties were 23,055 (3,155 killed, 14,531 wounded, 5,369 captured or missing). [Busey and Martin, p. 125.] Confederate casualties are more difficult to estimate. Many authors cite about 28,000 overall casualties, but Busey and Martin's definitive 2005 work, "Regimental Strengths and Losses", documents 23,231 (4,708 killed, 12,693 wounded, 5,830 captured or missing). [Busey and Martin, p. 260.] The casualties for both sides during the entire campaign were 57,225. [Sears, p. 513.] There was one documented civilian death during the battle: Nearly 8,000 had been killed outright; these bodies, lying in the hot summer sun, needed to be buried quickly. Over 3,000 horse carcasses [Sears, p. 511.] were burned in a series of piles south of town; townsfolk became violently ill from the stench. The ravages of war would still be evident in Gettysburg more than four months later when, on November 19, the Today, the Historical assessment Assessment of Lee's leadership style Throughout the campaign, General Lee seemed to have entertained the belief that his men were invincible; most of Lee's experiences with the army had convinced him of this, including the great victory at Chancellorsville in early May and the rout of the Union troops at Gettysburg on July 1. [Trudeau, p. 530.] Although high morale plays an important role in military victory when other factors are equal, Lee could not refuse his army's desire to fight. To the detrimental effects of their collective blind faith was added the fact that the Army of Northern Virginia had many new and inexperienced commanders (Neither Hill nor Ewell, for instance, though capable division commanders, had commanded a corps before). It had recently lost Stonewall Jackson, one of its most competent offensive generals. Also, Lee's method of giving generalized orders and leaving it up to his lieutenants to work out the details contributed to his defeat. Although this method may have worked with Jackson, it proved inadequate when dealing with corps commanders unused to Lee's style of command. Lee faced dramatic differences in going from defender to invader—long supply lines, a hostile local population, and an imperative to force the enemy from its position. Lastly, after July 1, the Confederates were simply not able to coordinate their attacks. Lee faced a new and very dangerous opponent in George Meade, and the Army of the Potomac stood to the task and fought well on its home territory. [Tucker, pp. 389-94.] References * Busey, John W., and Martin, David G., "Regimental Strengths and Losses at Gettysburg", 4th Ed., Longstreet House, 2005, ISBN 0-944413-67-6. Notes Further reading * Fremantle, Arthur J. L., "The Fremantle Diary: A Journal of the Confederacy" (Walter Lord, ed.), Burford Books, 1954, (reprinted 2002), ISBN 1-58080-085-8. External links * [http://www.nps.gov/gett/home.htm Gettysburg National Military Park (National Park Service)] Template group
* Clark, Champ, and the Editors of Time-Life Books, "Gettysburg: The Confederate High Tide", Time-Life Books, 1985, ISBN 0-8094-4758-4.
* Coddington, Edwin B., "The Gettysburg Campaign; a study in command", Scribner's, 1968, ISBN 0-684-84569-5.
* Eicher, David J., "The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War", Simon & Schuster, 2001, ISBN 0-684-84944-5.
* Esposito, Vincent J., [http://www.dean.usma.edu/history/web03/atlases/american_civil_war/index.htm "West Point Atlas of American Wars"] , Frederick A. Praeger, 1959.
* Foote, Shelby, "The Civil War, A Narrative: Fredericksburg to Meridian", Random House, 1958, ISBN 0-394-49517-9.
* Harman, Troy D., "Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg", Stackpole Books, 2003, ISBN 0-8117-0054-2.
* Longacre, Edward G., "The Cavalry at Gettysburg", University of Nebraska Press, 1986, ISBN 0-8032-7941-8.
* Martin, David G., "Gettysburg July 1", rev. ed., Combined Publishing, 1996, ISBN 0-938289-81-0.
* McPherson, James M., "Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States)", Oxford University Press, 1988, ISBN 0-19-503863-0.
* Nye, Wilbur S., "Here Come the Rebels!", Louisiana State University Press, 1965 (reprinted by Morningside House, 1984), ISBN 0-89029-080-6.
* Pfanz, Harry W., "Gettysburgndash The First Day", University of North Carolina Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8078-2624-3.
* Pfanz, Harry W., "Gettysburgndash The Second Day", University of North Carolina Press, 1987, ISBN 0-8078-1749-X.
* Pfanz, Harry W., "Gettysburg: Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill", University of North Carolina Press, 1993, ISBN 0-8078-2118-7.
* Rawley, James A., "Turning Points of the Civil War", University of Nebraska Press, 1966, ISBN 0-8032-8935-9.
* Sauers, Richard A., "Battle of Gettysburg", "Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History", Heidler, David S., and Heidler, Jeanne T., eds., W. W. Norton & Company, 2000, ISBN 0-393-04758-X.
* Sears, Stephen W., "Gettysburg", Houghton Mifflin, 2003, ISBN 0-395-86761-4.
* Symonds, Craig L., "American Heritage History of the Battle of Gettysburg", HarperCollins, 2001, ISBN 0-06-019474-X.
* Tagg, Larry, [http://www.rocemabra.com/~roger/tagg/generals/ "The Generals of Gettysburg"] , Savas Publishing, 1998, ISBN 1-882810-30-9.
* Trudeau, Noah Andre, "Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage", HarperCollins, 2002, ISBN 0-06-019363-8.
* Tucker, Glenn, "High Tide at Gettysburg", Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1958 (reprinted by Morningside House, 1983), ISBN 0-89029-715-4.
* Wert, Jeffry D., "Gettysburg: Day Three", Simon & Schuster, 2001, ISBN 0-684-85914-9.
* Gottfried, Bradley M., "The Maps of Gettysburg: An Atlas of the Gettysburg Campaign, June 3ndash June 13, 1863", Savas Beatie, 2007, ISBN 978-1-932714-30-2.
* Haskell, Frank Aretas, "The Battle of Gettysburg", Kessinger Publishing, 2006, ISBN 978-1-4286-6012-0.
* Huntington, Tom, "Pennsylvania Civil War Trails: The Guide to Battle Sites, Monuments, Museums and Towns", Stackpole books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3379-3.
* Paris, Louis-Philippe-Albert d'Orléans, [http://books.google.com/books?id=woP8IV7zHGwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=subject:%22History%22+%22Civil+War%22+-spanish&lr=&as_brr=1&ei=MuzER9X4CojcygS01oXDDA&sig=J0nAW8VQapVLR3oLKsSzlZf7dFk#PPR1,M1 "The Battle of Gettysburg: A History of the Civil War in America"] , 1886, (online version by Digital Scanning, Inc., 1999), ISBN 1-58218-066-0.
* Shaara, Michael, "The Killer Angels: A Novel", David McKay Co., 1974, (reprinted by Ballantine Books, 2001), ISBN 978-0345444127.
* Stackpole, Gen. Edward J., "They Met at Gettysburg", Stackpole Books, 1956, ISBN 0-8117-2089-6.
* [http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/44gettys/44gettys.htm "Choices and Commitments: The Soldiers at Gettysburg," a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan]
* [http://www.gettysburg.travel/ Gettysburg Visitor Information]
* [http://www.gettysburgphotographs.com/index2.htm Gettysburg Photographs.com (NPS Tour Map of Gettysburg with links to photogalleries)]
* [http://www.army.mil/gettysburg Interactive Battle Of Gettysburg with Narratives]
* [http://www.historyanimated.com/Gettysburgh.html Animated history of the Battle of Gettysburg]
* [http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/gettysburg/ Military History Online: The Battle of Gettysburg]
* [http://www.gdg.org/Research/People/Buford/witt4.html Explanation of Buford's Defense at Gettysburg]
* [http://www.brotherswar.com/ The Brothers War: The Battle of Gettysburg]
* [http://www.gdg.org/ Gettysburg Discussion Group archives]
* [http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Military/ConfederateGenerals.html List of 53 Confederate generals at Gettysburg]
* [http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Military/UnionGenerals.html List of 67 US generals at Gettysburg]
* [http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/getttour/sidebar/letterman.htm Camp Letterman General Hospital]
* [http://www.gettysburg.edu/library/gettdigital/civil_war/civilwar.htm Civil War Era Digital Collection at Gettysburg College] Collection contains digitized paintings, photographs, and pamphlets of the Battle of Gettysburg
* [http://purl.org/net/nysl/nysdocs/1863084 New York at Gettysburg (Final Report on the Battlefield of Gettysburg)] A three-volume account of the positions and movements of troops from New York State on the battlefield of Gettysburg.
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