with just enough horsemen to screen
the Southern army from Union cavalry
probes, but not enough to provide him
with a rapid scouting force for his
infantry. The timing could not have been
worse—the Confederate infantry had
just begun crossing the Pennsylvania
state line as his cavalry commander
departed. Lee would be operationally
blinded until Stuart returned from
reconnaissance. For his part, Joseph
Hooker refused to
believe that Lee’s
initial movements
represented
another great
raid. Rather, he
rationalized that
the enemy was
simply trying to get on his operational
flank by moving to the west. To foil him,
Hooker proposed to Lincoln a rapid
descent on Richmond. The Confederates,
he considered, would be forced to
retreat to protect their capital.
“I think Lee’s army, and not
Richmond, is your true objective
point,” Lincoln responded curtly. He
added that the Confederates had to be
spread out as they headed west and
north, and urged Hooker to attack and
defeat the enemy posthaste, declaring:
“The animal must be very slim
somewhere. Could you not break him?”
The general chose to disobey Lincoln,
however, and instead of attacking, he
trailed Lee’s advance cautiously, while
keeping between the Confederates and
Washington. As he did so, Confederate
general Richard Stoddert Ewell’s corps
successfully attacked and destroyed the
Union garrison at Winchester on June
13–15. During
this raid, Ewell
was able to
capture many
thousands of
prisoners, artillery,
horses, and
supplies in a
masterly manner, reminiscent of
Stonewall Jackson’s seizure of Harpers
Ferry the year before. Hooker resigned
on June 28, 1863, following continued
arguments with Lincoln.The road to Gettysburg
Union attempts to determine the
whereabouts of the Confederate
army met with repeated failure. The
president despaired as the telegraph
wires grew increasingly hot with franticappeals from Pennsylvania governor,
Andrew Curtin, who reported that the
Confederates had entered his state and
were threatening the Pennsylvania
capital, Harrisburg. Where was the
Army of the Potomac?
Lincoln’s patience was wearing thin,
citizens in Pennsylvania’s border counties
girded themselves for occupation by the
Confederates, and the North held its
collective breath as all eyes turned to
south-central Pennsylvania.
The number of Union
casualties during the cavalry
battle at Brandy Station in Virginia, on
June 9, 1863. Confederate casualties
numbered 523, and it was the first time
Jeb Stuart’s leadership was criticized.907
Stars and Bars
This example of the 11-starred version of the
first Confederate national flag was said to have
been captured by the 93rd Ohio Volunteers in
Tennessee in 1863.Despite the approaching enemy, morale
among the soldiers in the Northern
encampments remained strong. But
Lee’s Confederates were also bolstered.RENEWED NORTHERN MORALE
Within the Union army itself, most soldiers
were regaining their morale as reports
of the enemy in their “home” territory
reached their encampments. Fighting
and losing in Virginia because of inept
commanders was one thing, but engaging
the Confederates on Northern soil was
another. Under a new commander—General
George Meade—the Army of the Potomac
was ready for the chance to defeat the
Confederates. As one officer reported: “The
men are more determined than I have ever
before seen them.”INVINCIBLE SOUTHERNERS
As the Confederates moved northward,
optimism among the men in the ranks
soared. Southerners were eager to crush the
Yankees once and for all. An aura of
invincibility ran throughout the Rebel camps, a
confidence bred of repeated battlefield success
and unwavering trust in their leader,
Robert E. Lee.AFTER
Lee crosses the Potomac
In mid-June, Lee and his 75,000-strong army crossed
the Potomac River into Maryland. This contemporary
illustration shows Lee in three-quarter view in the
foreground conferring with an officer.“I shall throw an overwhelming force on their
advance, crush it, follow up the success... and
virtually destroy the [Army of the Potomac].”
GENERAL LEE IN A LETTER TO MAJOR GENERAL ISAAC TRIMBLE, 1863