The Battle of Gettysburg

 

Introduction about The Battle of Gettysburg:-

The Battle of Gettysburg was the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought in North America. During the first three days of July 1863, the Union Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia turned a small town in Southern Pennsylvania into the site of a struggle for the future of the United States. More than 50,000 men fell as casualties (men listed as killed, wounded, or missing/captured), a scale of suffering never seen before or since on American soil. According to many historians, Gettysburg was the turning point of the American Civil War. It was the Confederacy's best chance to achieve victory, and it breathed new life into the Union war effort.

Confederate Invasion:-

 In the spring of 1863, Confederate forces under the command of General Robert E. Lee achieved a tremendous victory over Major General Joseph Hooker and the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia.

The victory was so tremendous that Lee believed it could propel his army to undertake a bold strategic move

On June 9, while near Culpepper, Virginia, Confederate cavalry forces under Major General Jeb Stuart became engaged with Federal cavalry in the Battle of Brandy Station, the largest cavalry battle of the Civil War.

By mid-June, Lee's army was north of the Potomac and headed toward Pennsylvania.

While Lee's army moved northward, the Army of the Potomac was struggling with the aftermath of defeat.

While Hooker moved north, he and General-in-Chief Henry Halleck argued over the status of Union troops stationed at Harpers Ferry.

At this point, Lee's army was already in Pennsylvania, and Union forces were in Maryland moving north as quickly as possible.

Showdown at Gettysburg:-

Since Confederate cavalry Commander Jeb Stuart was not present with the army and was instead riding through the Northern countryside on reconnaissance and foraging missions, Lee did not have an accurate understanding of Union positions or strength.

While Confederate forces had already been in Gettysburg, it was on the morning of July 1 that the battle began in earnest.

Buford intended to hold any advancing Confederates long enough for Union infantry to arrive and take a position at Gettysburg.

Without Lee's full knowledge and approval, the Battle of Gettysburg was about to begin.

The Federal Eleventh Corps had arrived on the field as well, taking position north of the town.

With the battle quickly intensifying, Lee decided to fully commit his army to the action at Gettysburg.

By nightfall, Federal forces had fallen back through the town of Gettysburg and taken a position on Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge, just south of Gettysburg.

Gettysburg Day1: Lee sees victory:-

Following Robert Lee’s plan for an invasion of the North, the Confederates were marching toward Pennsylvania to reconcentrate near Gettysburg. They were to take the Union Army and the Army of the Potomac when the battle began on July 1.

As the battle unfolded before him, Lee saw that his troops were coming in in a position to threaten a federal line that curved in a big arc around Gettysburg—north, and west of Gettysburg. He gave the orders to push the assaults, and, by the end of the day on July 1, two Federal corps had been shattered. The famous Iron Brigade, the most famous unit in the Army of the Potomac, lost 1,200 out of 1,800 in the fight.

But that night, Potomac Army chief George Meade arrived on the field, and Union reinforcements poured into the area. The same happened on the Confederate side: James Longstreet’s troops approached the field and there was George Pickett’s division.

Gettysburg: A slow start to day 2:-

On the second day, Lee decided to attack both ends of the Union line—the Union right at Culps Hill and the Union left flank, which, at that point, was somewhere, as far as Lee knew, on Cemetery Ridge.

It was late in the afternoon before the Confederates got going. Longstreet attacked the Union left and almost captured the high ground at Little Round Top, and Richard Ewell’s troops almost captured the high ground on Culps Hill. It was a very frustrating day for Lee. He was close on both ends of the line, but he didn’t quite succeed.

Gettysburg Day3: A Doomed Assault:-

For the third day, Lee, yet again, decided to attack, using the same plan—pressure against both ends of the Union line. But things didn’t go as planned. The Federals attacked before Lee could get going on the Culps Hill end of the line and Longstreet argued that his divisions, which had fought so hard on July 2 on the Union left, weren’t up to fighting again.

Thus, Lee fell back to another plan, which came to be known as Pickett’s Charge. This was a major assault against the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. About 13,000 Confederates of George Pickett’s division and two other divisions would cover about seven-tenths of a mile in the most famous infantry assault of the war against the center of Meade’s position. And, they failed. About half of the men in the assault were shot down. Lee took immediate responsibility and patched together a defensive line. Meanwhile, Meade didn’t try to launch a counterattack, and that was the end of the fighting at Gettysburg. Lee retreated on the 4th of July.

There were at least 25,000 Confederate casualties; at least a third of Lee’s army had been shot down. Meade lost more than 20,000, probably 23,000. The casualties were near or perhaps a bit more than 50,000 killed, wounded, and missing for the three-day battle.