The Battle of Gettysburg
Neither side intended to fight a major battle at Gettysburg but both poured troops into the area after
their initial clashes. In the first two days the Southern forces failed to capitalize on their initial numerical
superiority. The ferocious combat of the third day would result in a disastrous defeat for the South.
THE UNION TIGHTENS ITS GRIP 1863A
decision by Union cavalry
commander Brigadier General
John Buford precipitated the
battle. At the end of June 1863, his
division of the Army of the Potomac
was near the town of Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania, when he learned that the
Confederates were coming quickly in
his direction. At the same time, Union
infantry corps were moving up from
Maryland. Realizing the danger of the
Confederates reaching Gettysburg first,
Buford made a stand on the ridges west
of Gettysburg in a bid to hold them off
until the Federals could mass and hold
the high ground (Cemetery Hill, Culp’s
Hill, and Cemetery Ridge) south of
town. Lee had no intention of fighting
at Gettysburg, but Buford’s stand forced
him to engage before he was ready.Early on July 1, Southern troops
under Brigadier General Henry Heth
blundered into Buford’s men along the
Chambersburg Pike and were forced
to deploy. Although Buford’s troopers
had the edge in firepower with their
breech-loading carbines, Heth’s menBEFORE
Robert E. Lee’s invasion of the North began
with an advance into Pennsylvania, which
initially met little Union resistance.
ORDERS AND COUNTER-ORDERS
As advance elements of General Richard Ewell’s
Confederate corps crossed the Mason-Dixon
Line, local residents either fled or tried to hide
their possessions from Southern foraging
parties. Lee now ordered Ewell to divide his
corps. One division marched toward York,
capturing that city in late June, but could not
cross the Susquehanna River because Union
militia burned the only bridge. Another column
headed up the Cumberland Valley toward
Carlisle, to strike Harrisburg from that direction.
But before they could cross the river, Lee recalled
his scattered army to concentrate near
Cashtown. The Federal army was drawing
near and Lee wanted to be ready.
LINCOLN RELIEVES HOOKER
Slow to react to Lee’s initial movements north in
June, Union general Joseph Hooker, in
command of the Army of the Potomac, lost his
remaining credibility with Abraham Lincoln.
On June 28, Lincoln replaced him with Major
General George G. Meade.
Death of General Reynolds
Reynolds commanded the Army of
the Potomac’s left wing. The
circumstances of his death are
disputed: he may have been killed
by a Southern sharpshooter or by
“friendly fire” from his own side.began to push them
back—but not fast
enough. By mid-morning,
Buford’s tired command
had received support from
the First Corps under Major General
John Reynolds. Intense fighting erupted
between Reynolds’s veteran troops and
Confederate divisions under Heth and
Major General Dorsey Pender. Reynolds
was shot from his horse as he led his
Iron Brigade into position. Yet despiteThe retaking of East Cemetery Hill
On July 2, the “Louisiana Tigers” Brigade overran the
Union position on East Cemetery Hill. Peter F. Rothermel’s
The Repulse of the Louisiana Tigers (1866) shows Union
troops rushing the hill and driving the Tigers off again.