Gettysburg

July 1-3, 1863

Setting the stage:

• -The CSA had successfully deterred five Federal invasions.

• -The Union had already gone through 6 commanding Generals.

• -Lee had just lost his “Right hand man”, Stonewall Jackson.

• -This would be their second invasion of Union territory.

• 75,000 Confederate forces vs.. 90,000 Union forces

Why Did Lee go to Gettysburg?• -The CSA was not gaining anything from playing defense.

They were winning all defensive battles, why not an offensive one? And they could not win the war unless they successfully invaded the North and captured their capital.

• -Time was not on the CSA’s side. The longer the war dragged on, the less resources they would have to work with.

• -The lush Pennsylvania countryside was very appetizing to the CSA and offered a stark contrast to the war-ravaged Virginia countryside.

• -If the CSA successfully invaded the North, their chances of gaining recognition from European nations increased.

• - Copperheads and other Northerners would force peace negotiations if they claimed a threatening Northern victory

Changes made just before the battle:

• -June 28, 1863- General George Meade replaces General Joe Hooker as the Commander of the Army of the Potomac.

• -Meade’s Corps commanders were: Reynolds (1st), Hancock (2nd), Sickles (3rd), Sykes (5th), Sedgwick (6th), Howard (11th), Slocum (12th), Pleasonton (Cavalry), and Hunt (Artillery)

• -Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had just been reorganized following Jackson’s death. Lee divided his infantry divisions from two to three Corps: Longstreet (1st), Ewell (2nd), A.P. Hill (3rd), Stuart (Cavalry), Pendleton (Artillery).

• -Lee and Hill were both ill that summer, Ewell had just returned to service following a leg amputation, Longstreet did not believe in an aggressive campaign, and Stuart was MIA for the first two days of battle, leaving the Confederate forces blind and deaf.

The Plan and the Events leading up to Battle

• Early June 1863• Lee and his army marched across Maryland

and into PA just outside of Gettysburg.• Lee was unaware that there were Union forces

based in Gettysburg– Jeb Stuart and the Calvary (eyes and ears of the

army) have not been heard from for 3 days– They are out against Lee’s orders looking for

supplies

• A second Confederate raiding party went into the town of Gettysburg looking for supplies– This group will run smack into Union General

Meade’s Cavalry– Fire was exchanged – this will start the battle

Day 1 – July 1, 1863

• After the initial fire fight the Confederate forces will amass and push the smaller Union force back through the town of Gettysburg.– Union will regroup on the high ground of

Cemetery Ridge and Culp’s Hill and entrench– Lee wanted his commander Ewell to attack the

Union line quickly before they entrenched, but he hesitated and failed

• Longstreet saw the Union’s entrenched position and wanted to retreat and take up defensive position on Seminary Ridge and wait for the Union attack and reinforcements.– Lee felt his troops could manage an attack

Gettysburg Day 2 – July 2, 1863

• Lee orders his men to charge and take control of Little Round Top which would allow him high ground to fire down on the Union forces– Union managed to hold the ground and with

bloody fighting keep the Confederates at bay

• Confederates will then attack Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill– Union will maintain control through bloody

fighting• Devils Den – intense fighting between Big and

Little Round Top which would be taken over by the Confederates, but at heavy losses

• Wheatfield – bloody battle with the Union able to repel the Confederate forces

Gettysburg Day 3 – July 3, 1863

• Longstreet again tried to convince Lee not to attack and wait for the attack to come to them.– Lee believed the Union Army had little reserve and

was worn down and that his army was still capable of taking the battle

• Lee ordered an attack on Cemetery Ridge– Became known as Pickett’s Charge – largest and

freshest fighting force left• The Confederate artillery shelled the Union line with

little return fire so they assumed they had damaged their line• Picket let 15,000 men one mile across an open field and

up a slight grade– Came under enemy artillery fire– Lost nearly half of their men– Came down to hand to hand combat

• The Confederates amassed approximately 135 cannon and at one o'clock in the afternoon unleashed about an hour-long bombardment of the Union position. The Confederate infantry marched at around two o'clock, emerging from the woods below Seminary Ridge and urged on by Pickett's cry, "Don't forget today that you are from Old Virginia!" According to one Union observer it made for an awesome sight: "None on that crest now need be told that the enemy is advancing," he wrote. "Every eye could see his legions, an overwhelming, resistless tide of an ocean of armed men sweeping upon us! … Right on they move, as with one soul, in perfect order, without impediment of ditch, or wall, or stream, over ridge and slope, through orchard, and meadow, and cornfield, magnificent, grim, irresistible." This tableau later would be frozen into myth.

Impact of Gettysburg

• Lee and his army will retreat early on July 4• Meade and his army were too weak and did

not follow making Lincoln mad• Lee and the Confederates will never come

north again• Europe refused to interfere in the Civil War

• It has been written, “The South never smiled after Gettysburg.” Indeed, the losses that the CSA suffered there and elsewhere in 1863 doomed the Confederate war effort to eventual failure.

• Topic USA CSA– Killed 3,155 3,903– Wounded 14,529 18,735– Cap / miss 5,365 5,425– Total 23,049 28,063

• http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/interactives/civil-war-150#/5-deadliest-battles

Gettysburg Address• Several Speakers are invited to dedicate the

Gettysburg Battlefield Cemetery as a National Cemetery.– November 19, 1863

• Lincoln will have the shortest speech, but one that remains one of histories most important.– In his speech he will praise the bravery of the Union

soldiers and their commitment to winning the Civil War.

– He referenced other great works and ideas of the American government such as; the Declaration of Independence, and liberty, equality and democracy.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.