The battle of Gettysburg took place on July 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 1863, between the two main armies in the American Civil War. There were 34 states in the United States at that time, and 11 states from the southeastern part of the country formed the Confederate States of America, and tried to break away from the rest of the Union. The remaining 23 states remained in the Union, and went to war to prevent the Southern states from breaking away.
The capital of the United States was the same then as it is now--Washington. The city of Washington is on the north side of the Potomac River, immediately north of the state of Virginia. The state of Virginia was one of the Southern States which had broken away and joined the Confederate States. The capital of the Confederate States of America was at Richmond in Virginia, less than 100 kilometers south of the city of Washington. Therefore, an important part of the war was fought in Virginia and states near Virginia, as both sides attempted to capture the capital of their opponents, and to end the war.
The war began in April, 1861. By April of 1863, both sides had fought many battles, and both sides had won some battles, and lost some battles. There were railroads, but there were no automobiles. You cannot fight a battle from a railway car, so even if both sides were able to move men and supplies by railway, they needed to get off the railways, and get out into the fields to fight. The roads in those days were very poor--most of them were simply dirt, and turned to mud when it rained. Armies usually moved very slowly. Because there were no automobiles and no trucks, they relied on horses to move their supplies, and to take the wounded men to hospitals. The line of wagons with supplies, and ambulances for wounded soldiers were known as "trains." Therefore, armies usually did not fight in the winter time, because they could not easily feed the horses. The armies did most of their fighting in the spring and summer, when there was enough grass growing to feed the horses.
By late April of 1863, the main United States Army was the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Joseph Hooker, and it was just north of the town of Fredericksburg in Virginia, facing south. The main army of the Confederate States was the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Robert Lee, and it was south of Fredericksburg, facing north.
Joe Hooker did well as a division commander (roughtly speaking about 5,000 or 6,000 men), and he was capable of commanding a corps (usually two, three or four divisions, and usually having 15,000 to 20,000 men). But he proved not to be competent to command the entire Army of the Potomac, which had more than 100,000 men in April, 1863. Robert Lee was a very capable commander--although he was careless about the lives of his men, and a great many of them were killed because Lee liked to attack his enemy whenever he could manage it--and he had become a legendary commander by April, 1863. At that time, the Army of Northern Virginia had about 70,000 men, but 15,000 of them had been sent south under the command of James Longstreet, so Lee only had 55,000 men. Joe Hooker sent part of his army south over the Rappahannock River to threaten Lee, and then sent the rest to the west. Those men who went west marched south, to try to get behind Lee. Lee saw the movement, and left a small portion of his army (only about 3,000 men) to face the United States troops near Fredericksburg, and marched west with the remainder to confront Hooker's main army. In a horrible four day battle in heavy woods, both sides suffered thousands of casualties, and Hooker was forced to retreat. It seems that he was overwhelmed by the responsibility of commanding more than 100,000 men, and he stoppd in the heavy woods instead of marching further south to fight in the open. Lee sent his best commander, Thomas Jackson, far to the west, and then Jackson turned back to the east, and attacked Hooker's army from behind. Lee did to Hooker what Hooker had failed to do to him. In the battle, though, Jackson was accidently shot by his own men, and died three weeks later. This was a blow from which Lee's army would never fully recover.
After that battle, James Longstreet returned to Lee's army with the two divisions he had taken south of Richmond. Lee reorganized the army now that Jackson was dead. Before Jackson died, the army had been organized into two corps, with four divisions in the First Corps commanded by James Longstreet, and five divisions in the Second Corps commanded by Thomas Jackson. With Jackson dead, Lee now re-organized his army into three corps. Three divisions were in the First Corps commanded by James Longstreet. Three divisions were in the Second Corps, commanded by Richard Ewell (he had been Jackson's second in command). The remaining three divisions were put into the Third Corps, comanded by Alvin Hill. Hill had once commanded the largest division in the Army, when he was part of the Second Corps. Now that he commanded the Third Corps, he was given two other divisions to add to his "Light Division." With replacements, Lee once more commanded about 70,000 men.
Because he had defeated Hooker, the United States forces were unhappy and uncertain about what to do next. Being a bold and resourceful commander, Lee immediately marched far to the west, and then turned north. This had the effect of making the United States troops retreat toward the city of Washington to protect it. If the United States had had a commander as bold as Lee, they might have hurried south to threaten Richmond--but they didn't, they had Joe Hooker.
Lee continued to the North, and crossed the Potomac River about 50 kilometers west of the city of Washington. Virginia had been fought over for two years, and was in bad shape. Lee's plan had three parts. The first part was to carry the war to the north, to Maryland and Pennsylvania, and to relieve the pressure on Virginia--that worked. The second part was to get the supplies for his army in the north, so that Virginia could recover, so that Virginia could get a "breathing spell"--that worked. The third part was to threaten the cities of Washington, Philadelphia and Baltimore, and force the Army of the Potomac to fight a battle, which Lee was sure he could win--that part sort of worked and sort of didn't. A great battle was fought near the small town of Gettysburg Pennsylvania, but Lee did not win that battle.
By late June, the Army of Northern Virginia was strung out over a long arc from the Potomac river to near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Harrisburg is the capital of the state of Pennsylvania, and it was part of the plan to force the United States Army to fight--that worked. The southern end of the army was still crossing the Potomac River into Maryland and had not yet entered Pennsylvania. That was the First Corps, commanded by James Longstreet, with three divisions amounting to about 20,000 men, commanded by John Bell Hood, George Pickett and Lafayette McLaws. The middle portion of the army, Alvin Hill's Third Corps, had just marched into Pennsylvania, with somewhat more than 20,000 men, in three divisions commanded by Harry Heth, Dorsey Pender and Richard Anderson. Lee was riding with Alvin Hill. The rest of the army, now marching east toward Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and far to the north and east of Gettysburg, was the Second Corps commanded by Richard Ewell, about 20,000 men in three divisions commanded by Robert Rhodes, Jubal Early and Edward Johnson.
The rest of Lee's army, almost 10,000 cavalry (cavalry means soldiers riding horses), was commanded by James Stuart, and they had disappeared. Lee had given Stuart "discetionary orders," which meant that he was to "screen" the army (keep the United States troops from learning what Lee was doing), but that he could otherwise do as he pleased. He made a series of bad mistakes, and was out of touch with Lee from June 23 to July 2, 1863. Lee was, effectively, "blind." In those days, armies relied upon the cavalry to keep them informed of what the enemy was doing. Because Stuart did not keep in touch with Lee, Lee could not "see" the United States troops. The only large body of cavalry with Lee's army was a brigade of about 1,800 men, commanded by William "Grumble" Jones. (He was called "Grumble" Jones because he complained all the time--but he was good at what he did.) Jones was with Ewell far to the north and east.
Late in June, Lee learned that Joe Hooker had been replaced as commander of the Army of the Potomac by George Meade. Lee and Meade had both been in the United States Army before the war, and both had fought in Mexico fifteen years earlier. Lee knew most of the high ranking officers in the United States Army, and most of them knew Lee and his high ranking officers. When Lee learned that Meade was now in command of the Army of the Potomac, he said that Meade "will make no blunder (mistake) in my front, and he will not fail to take advantage of any blunder that i make." Lee had respect for Meade. Before Meade replaced Hooker, President Lincoln had offered command of the army to John Reynolds, who commanded the First Corps in the Army of the Potomac. Reynolds turned down the offer, and the army was given to Meade. Reynolds was from Pennsylvania, and was known as Pennsylvania's "favorite son." His First Corps was in the lead marching north, and they were screened by a cavalry division. That cavalry division was commanded by John Buford, a Southerner from Kentucky who had remained loyal to the Union. On June 30, 1863, Buford made contact with Lee's army.
That part of Pennsylvania is mountainous, with many long, high ridges running northeast to southwest. This meant it was difficult to keep track of an army who was to the east or west of your own army. Reynolds sent Buford on to the small town of Gettysburg, and ordered him to scout to the west to find Lee's army. When Buford succeeded in locating the Southern army, the men of the Third Corps reported that they had found "Yankees" (United States soldiers) to the east. Lee told Hill, commanding Third Corps, to make a reconnaisance (to scout to the east to look for the enemy). Hill gave the job to Harry Heth, and told Heth to make it a reconnaisance in force (which means to send many men to scout, so that the enemy could not prevent them from finding their army). Heth's idea of a reconnaisance in force was to take his entire division of four brigades--more than 7,000 men. There was a brief skirmish (a small fight) on the evening of June 30, and on the morning of July 1, 1863, Heth marched east with his entire division and got into a sharp fight with Buford's cavalry. Hill learned of the fight because he could hear the shooting, and he sent the division commanded by Dorsey Pender (about 6,000 men) to support Harry Heth. This caused what is known as a "meeting engagement." A meeting engagement is a battle which starts because the two sides collide as they march toward each other, and not because either side planned to fight a battle there.
John Reynolds rode out of Gettysburg to the west to see the fight, and to decide where to send the soldiers he commanded in the First Corps of the United States Army. He "posted" two of this three divisions (his third division was still marching to join him--U.S. divisions were much smaller than Southern divisions, and only numbered about 3,000 men each in most cases)--posting troops means to tell them where to stand and fight. While he was riding along, looking at the Southern troops, he was shot and killed. George Meade, who commanded the U.S. troops, had not arrived yet. After Reynolds was killed, his second in command, Abner Doubleday, took command of the First Corps. The Eleventh Corps was also marching north, and had almost reached Gettysburg. The Eleventh Corps was commanded by Oliver Howard, and as he was the highest ranking general present, he took command of U.S. troops who were fighting.
Buford's cavalry had fought long and hard, and had badly punished the Southern troops commanded by Heth and Pender. But cavalry is expensive, because of the cost of horses and equipment and the intensive training need to make man and horse behave properly--so Buford's troops were withdrawn soon after the First Corps arrived. Now Heth and Pender were facing the divisions of Wadsworth and Robinson, which included some of the best soldiers in the Northern Army. The brigade commanded by Colonel Meredith, the first brigade of the first division of the First Corps, were known as the Iron Brigade, because they never retreated, no matter how badly they were hurt. The Southerners just referred to those soldiers as "them black hat fellers," because they wore tall black hats which had been the style before the war. The Iron Brigade suffered horrible casualties. They had first fought the Southerners, and fought in a battle for the first time, in August, 1862, not quite a year earlier, and had suffered terrible casualties then. They were now much reduced in numbers, but they held their ground, and suffered 80% casualties before they were finally withdrawn from the battle (casualties means all of the men who were killed or wounded or missing). But Wadsworth and Robinson had stopped the Southern soldiers. The final division of Hill's Third Corps had finally arrived, commanded by Richard Anderson, and he put his soldiers on the right of Pender, to the south, which threatened to get behind the U.S. troops, so Doubleday got permission from Howard to withdraw to a ridge south of Gettysburg known as Cemetary Ridge.
While Heth and Pender fought Buford, and then fought the First Corps, more Southern troops arrived. The night before, when Lee learned that the Northern army was to the east, he had determined to fight, and had sent a message to Longstreet to hurry up and march north with the First Corps and to Ewell to turn around and come back to the west and south with the Second Corps. Around noon on July 1st, the first of Ewell's troops arrived, the division commanded by Robert Rhodes. Rhodes pushed vigorously to the south toward the town of Gettysburg. Rhodes and the other division commander, Jubal Early, had some of the best troops in the Southern army, and they were facing Howard's Eleventh Corps, who had formed a line north of Gettysburg. The Eleventh Corps troops were mostly Germans and Poles, most of whom did not speak English, and most of whom had never fought in a major battle. The Southerners quickly drove them back through the town of Gettysburg, especially after Early arrived and added his troops to the attack. The Eleventh Corps was withdrawn to a high hill just south of Gettysburg called Cemetary Hill, just north of Cemetary Ridge, where the survivors of the First Corps were now posted.
By then, it was late afternoon. The Third Corps troops of Heth and Pender were exhausted from fighting all day, and Anderson's division was worn out from hard marching to get to the fight. Both Rhodes' and Early's troops had marched for many hours to get to Gettysburg, and then fought for hours, and they were also tired. The other division of Ewell's Second Crops, Edward Johnson's division, had marched far to the west, and had to march back to the east to get to Gettysburg. They arrived as the sun was going down, and did not take part in the fight. Ewell ordered them to occupy a hill east of Gettysburg, Culp's Hill, but when they got there, troops from the United States Third Corps were already there. Johnson could not get Rhodes and Early to help him, so he withdrew his division, and did not fight the Yankees.
Longstreet's three divisions had marched hard overnight, and arrived late on July 1st, and early on July 2nd. The two lead divisions, commanded by John Bell Hood and Lafayette McLaws got a little sleep, and were sent out to fight on the next day, July 2nd. During the night, the Third Corps of the Army of the Potomac (U.S. troops) were moved from the right to the left end of the line, at the southern end of Cemetary Ridge. On July 2nd, Lee planned to attack that part of the United States line. He ordered Longsteet to attack. There is a controversy over whether or not Longstreet behaved properly. After the war, and after Lee had died, Longstreet claimed that he had an understanding with Lee that the Southerners would not attack, but would wait for the Yankees to attack. Defenders of Lee say there was no such understanding, and that Longstreet ruined the attack because he did not want to make an attack, and delayed the march.
Whether or not that is true, the divisions of Hood and McLaws did not attack until the afternoon of July 2nd. Before they attacked, for no good reason at all, Daniel Sickles, commanding the Third Corps of the Army of the Potomac, advanced to the west off Cemetary Ridge to a lower ridge. This created a "salient," meaning a part of the line which bulges out. Late in the afternoon, the division of McLaws, and part of Hood's division attacked the Third Corps around a peach orchard. The fighting was hard, and many men were killed and wounded. The Third Corps fought well, but they were exposed, and being attacked from three sides, and they had to retreat. It now looked as though Lee's plan might work, and the rest of Hood's division advanced into the rough ground south of Cemetary Ridge, around a tall hill known as Little Round Top. General George Sykes, commanding the Fifth Corps of the Army of the Potomac had just arrived with his troops, and put the brigade of Colonel Strong Vincent on Little Round Top. A deadly and bitter fight broke out, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. The Yankees held on, and Hood's division was forced to retreat.
While this was going on, Lee had planned for Ewell to attack the Yankees on Cemetary Hill and Culp's Hill. Rhodes' division had fought hard on July 1st, and had suffered heavy casualties, so they were held out of the fight. Those parts of Early's division which had not fought the previous day, and Johnson's division attacked. The hills they were attacking were steep, and the U.S. troops had had all night to dig in. The Southerners were repulsed with heavy casualties, and Johnson's flank was threatened (U.S. troops were in a position to get behind him), so the Southerners were forced to retreat. The second day was now over. Stuart's cavalry finally showed up, and fought an entirely useless skirmish with Yankee cavalry. Although Lee did not accuse Stuart of failure, he was cold and unfriendly. Stuart felt very bad, and from then until he was killed in 1864, he was Lee's most loyal and reliable commander--but it was too late to save this battle. Stuart's cavalry was moved from the left (northern end) of the line to the right (southern end of the line). Lee now planned to attack the U.S. troops on the third day, July 3rd.
The Third Corps had suffered very heavily on the first day. Major portions of Pender's division, which was the smallest division, had been captured, and the rest had suffered heavy casualties. Harry Heth had been wounded, and his division had suffered heavily, as well. The senior officer in Heth's division, James Pettigrew, was given command of a division made up of troops from Heth's, Pender's and Anderson's division, and placed on Seminary Ridge in order to attack the Yankees. The two divisions in First Corps commanded by McLaws and Hood had suffered very heavy casualties, and could fight no longer, but George Pickett's division had not fought, and they were lined up on Seminary Ridge to attack the Yankees. A General officer who had been wounded a year before, and who now did not have a command, Isaac Trimble, was given command of troops from the Second Corps who were still in a condition to fight, and was lined up northwest of Gettysburg to attack the Yankees on Cemetary Hill.
The event of the third day, July 3rd, 1863, is known as Pickett's Charge, because Pickett's fresh division was given the main objective of driving the U.S. troops off Cemetary Ridge. By now, all of the Army of the Potomac had arrived, and the Second Corps of the army, commanded by Winfield Scott Hancock, had been placed on Cemetary Ridge. The Second Corps was the largest Corps in Meade's army, had good troops with experience of battle, and had some fine divisional commanders. The stage was set for one of the most dramatic scenes in the American Civil War.
Longstreet was pouting again, and was opposed to the attack. He had been ordered to use his artillery to shell the Yankee position before the troops moved out to attack. Colonel Alexander commanded his artillery reserve, and was given almost all of the cannons in the Southern army. Longstreet told him to order the attack when the Yankees had been "softened up" by the shelling, and then went back to a shady tree, and laid down and went to sleep. For more than two hours, almost every cannon Lee's army possessed shelled the U.S. troops in the Second Corps who were lined up on Cemetary Ridge. After firing for a little while, the cannons tended to dig into the ground, and began to "fire long," meaning their shot and shell went over the troops on the ridge, and landed behind them. This meant that cannons behind the Yankee line were badly shot up, but the U.S. artillery commander, General Hunt, withdrew that artillery, and brought up new artillery, ready for the attack.
After more than two hours, the Southern gunners were running out of powder and shot. Finally, Alexander, worried about the unusual authority Longstreet had given him, told Longstreet that soon he could fire no longer, having run out of powder, and Longstreet told him to order the attack in that case. It is not clear now who actually ordered the attack, and after the war, Longstreet denied the story about giving the responsibility to Alexander. Whoever was responsible, Pickett's division now marched out to attack the Yankees, with Pettigrew and Trimble supporting his flanks (the right and left ends of his line). General Hunt, the Yankee artillery commander, now sent cannons up to Cemetary Ridge, and they began to tear great holes in the Southern line. The Southerners came on bravely, and even managed to break into the U.S. line. But so many had been killed and wounded in the advance, that they could not hold their position, and U.S. troops counter-attacked, and drove off the Southerners, killing and wounding many, and capturing many. Pickett's division was shattered, and Pettigrews and Trimble's troops, after suffering badly, were forced to retreat. Some witnesses say the Pickett pointed to Lee and said, bitterly: "That old man cost me my division." Lee rode among the troops who staggered back to Seminary Ridge, saying: "This is too, too bad. This is my fault, it is all my fault." He encouraged his men, and told them they would fight another day. It is extraordinary in these times to see someone in a position of responsibility acutally take responsibility of the consequences of his actions.
The following day, July 4th, which is the United States' national holiday, it began to rain. It rained heavily for many days. The two armies faced each other without fighting that day. On the following day, Lee withdrew his army, and eventually returned to Virginia. Meade did not begin to follow him until July 9th, and has been criticized for that, but i think that is unfair. Both armies had suffered heavily, and now that Stuart was back with Lee's army, the Southern cavalry, which had done no hard fighting, was able to prevent the Yankees from scouting Lee's army.
The battle was horrendous by the standards of the day. Lee's army numbered about 75,000, although the roughly 10,000 of the cavalry did not participate. His army suffered about 28,000 casaulties--killed and wounded. Meade's Army of the Potomac arrived with about 90,000 troops. His casualties were about 23,000. More than 50,000 Americans were killed or wounded, or went missing, in that battle. About 7,000 men were killed, and more than 30,000 were wounded. The rest were captured or went missing.
Pickett's Charge on the third day is called "the highwater mark of the Confederacy"--meaning that after that battle, the fortunes of the South began to decline, until they finally lost the war in 1865. The battle is also called the turning point of the war, implying that the North was losing before the battle, and began to win after the battle. That is an oversimplification, and ignores the crucial campaigns in the west. Nevertheless, the battle of Gettysburg is one of the most important events in American history.
Hellow!Would you please tell me some details about Gettysburg Battle?How many people doed 
?Why so many?
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