Why gettysburg

The Army of the Potomac, initially under Maj. Joseph Hooker Maj. George G. Meade replaced Hooker in command on June 28 , consisted of more than , men in the following organization:. During the advance on Gettysburg, Maj. Note that many other Union units not part of the Army of the Potomac were actively involved in the Gettysburg Campaign, but not directly involved in the Battle of Gettysburg.

These included portions of the Union IV Corps, the militia and state troops of the Department of the Susquehanna, and various garrisons, including that at Harpers Ferry. In reaction to the death of Lt. Thomas J. First Day of Battle July 1, Anticipating that the Confederates would march on Gettysburg from the west on the morning of July 1, Buford laid out his defenses on three ridges west of the town: Herr Ridge, McPherson Ridge and Seminary Ridge. These were appropriate terrain for a delaying action by his small cavalry division against superior Confederate infantry forces, meant to buy time awaiting the arrival of Union infantrymen who could occupy the strong defensive positions south of town at Cemetery Hill, Cemetery Ridge, and Culp's Hill.

Buford understood that if the Confederates could gain control of these heights, Meade's army would have difficulty dislodging them. Heth's division advanced with two brigades forward, commanded by Brig. James J. Archer and Joseph R. They proceeded easterly in columns along the Chambersburg Pike. Three miles 5 km west of town, about a. According to lore, the Union soldier to fire the first shot of the battle was Lt. Marcellus Jones. In Lt. Jones returned to Gettysburg to mark the spot where he fired the first shot with a monument.

Eventually, Heth's men reached dismounted troopers of Col. William Gamble's cavalry brigade, who raised determined resistance and delaying tactics from behind fence posts with fire from their breechloading carbines. Still, by a. John F. Reynolds finally arrived. North of the pike, Davis gained a temporary success against Brig. Lysander Cutler's brigade but was repulsed with heavy losses in an action around an unfinished railroad bed cut in the ridge. Iron Brigade under Brig.

Solomon Meredith enjoyed initial success against Archer, capturing several hundred men, including Archer himself. General Reynolds was shot and killed early in the fighting while directing troop and artillery placements just to the east of the woods. Shelby Foote wrote that the Union cause lost a man considered by many to be "the best general in the army.

Abner Doubleday assumed command. Fighting in the Chambersburg Pike area lasted until about p. It resumed around p. John M. The 26th North Carolina the largest regiment in the army with men lost heavily, leaving the first day's fight with around men.

By the end of the three-day battle, they had about men standing, the highest casualty percentage for one battle of any regiment, North or South.

Slowly the Iron Brigade was pushed out of the woods toward Seminary Ridge. Hill added Maj. William Dorsey Pender's division to the assault, and the I Corps was driven back through the grounds of the Lutheran Seminary and Gettysburg streets. As the fighting to the west proceeded, two divisions of Ewell's Second Corps, marching west toward Cashtown in accordance with Lee's order for the army to concentrate in that vicinity, turned south on the Carlisle and Harrisburg roads toward Gettysburg, while the Union XI Corps Maj.

Oliver O. Howard raced north on the Baltimore Pike and Taneytown Road. By early afternoon, the U. However, the U. The leftmost division of the XI Corps was unable to deploy in time to strengthen the line, so Doubleday was forced to throw in reserve brigades to salvage his line. Around 2 p. The Confederate brigades of Col. Edward A. O'Neal and Brig. Alfred Iverson suffered severe losses assaulting the I Corps division of Brig. John C. Robinson south of Oak Hill. Early's division profited from a blunder by Brig.

Francis C. Barlow, when he advanced his XI Corps division to Blocher's Knoll directly north of town and now known as Barlow's Knoll ; this represented a salient in the corps line, susceptible to attack from multiple sides, and Early's troops overran Barlow's division, which constituted the right flank of the Union Army's position.

Barlow was wounded and captured in the attack. Howard ordered a retreat to the high ground south of town at Cemetery Hill, where he had left the division of Brig. Adolph von Steinwehr in reserve. Winfield S. Hancock assumed command of the battlefield, sent by Meade when he heard that Reynolds had been killed. Hancock, commander of the II Corps and Meade's most trusted subordinate, was ordered to take command of the field and to determine whether Gettysburg was an appropriate place for a major battle.

Hancock told Howard, "I think this the strongest position by nature upon which to fight a battle that I ever saw. General Lee understood the defensive potential to the Union if they held this high ground. He sent orders to Ewell that Cemetery Hill be taken "if practicable. The first day at Gettysburg, more significant than simply a prelude to the bloody second and third days, ranks as the 23rd biggest battle of the war by number of troops engaged.

About one quarter of Meade's army 22, men and one third of Lee's army 27, were engaged. Second Day of Battle July 2, Plans and Movement to Battle.

Longstreet's third division, commanded by Maj. George Pickett, had begun the march from Chambersburg early in the morning; it did not arrive until late on July 2.

The Union line ran from Culp's Hill southeast of the town, northwest to Cemetery Hill just south of town, then south for nearly two miles 3 km along Cemetery Ridge, terminating just north of Little Round Top. The shape of the Union line is popularly described as a "fishhook" formation. The Confederate line paralleled the Union line about a mile 1, m to the west on Seminary Ridge, ran east through the town, then curved southeast to a point opposite Culp's Hill.

Thus, the Union army had interior lines, while the Confederate line was nearly five miles 8 km long. Lee's battle plan for July 2 called for Longstreet's First Corps to position itself stealthily to attack the Union left flank, facing northeast astraddle the Emmitsburg Road, and to roll up the U.

The attack sequence was to begin with Maj. Richard H. Anderson's division of Hill's Third Corps. The progressive en echelon sequence of this attack would prevent Meade from shifting troops from his center to bolster his left.

At the same time, Maj. Lee's plan, however, was based on faulty intelligence, exacerbated by Stuart's continued absence from the battlefield. Instead of moving beyond the U. Sickles had been dissatisfied with the position assigned him on the southern end of Cemetery Ridge. Seeing higher ground more favorable to artillery positions a half mile m to the west, he advanced his corps—without orders—to the slightly higher ground along the Emmitsburg Road.

This created an untenable salient at the Peach Orchard; Brig. Andrew A. Humphreys's division in position along the Emmitsburg Road and Maj. David B. Birney's division to the south were subject to attacks from two sides and were spread out over a longer front than their small corps could defend effectively.

About p. Most of the hill's defenders, the Union XII Corps, had been sent to the left to defend against Longstreet's attacks, and the only portion of the corps remaining on the hill was a brigade of New Yorkers under Brig. George S. Because of Greene's insistence on constructing strong defensive works, and with reinforcements from the I and XI Corps, Greene's men held off the Confederate attackers, although the Southerners did capture a portion of the abandoned U. Andrew L.

Harris of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, came under a withering attack, losing half his men; however, Early failed to support his brigades in their attack, and Ewell's remaining division, that of Maj. Rodes, failed to aid Early's attack by moving against Cemetery Hill from the west. The Union army's interior lines enabled its commanders to shift troops quickly to critical areas, and with reinforcements from II Corps, the U. Jeb Stuart and his three cavalry brigades arrived in Gettysburg around noon but had no role in the second day's battle.

Wade Hampton's brigade fought a minor engagement with newly promoted year-old Brig. Longstreet's attack was to be made as early as practicable; however, Longstreet got permission from Lee to await the arrival of one of his brigades, and while marching to the assigned position, his men came within sight of a Union signal station on Little Round Top.

Countermarching to avoid detection wasted much time, and Hood's and McLaws's divisions did not launch their attacks until just after 4 p. Third Day of Battle July 3, Some black camp workers were taken prisoner along with the Confederate soldiers at Gettysburg and, once released, many stayed in the North.

As Confederates advanced on Gettysburg there was terror among the approximately 2, residents there as well as in the neighboring towns. White residents feared for their lives and property; African Americans feared enslavement. Many white civilians huddled in basements, but for people of color the stakes were greater, and they fled.

In Gettysburg, Abraham Brian, a free black man who owned a small farm near Cemetery Ridge, left with his family, as did Basil Biggs, a veterinarian, and Owen Robinson, an oyster seller.

Nearby in Chambersburg, some contrabands—former slaves who sought refuge with the Union Forces—were kidnapped by Confederate calvary units. The Emancipation Proclamation stated that those seeking freedom from states of rebellion could not be re-enslaved. Accordingly, the Union refused to hand over contrabands to the Confederates, and this, too, this prompted retaliation.

Confederate soldiers threatened to burn the homes of white residents who were sheltering contrabands. Often, Confederate troops assumed that free blacks were contrabands solely because of their skin color. After the battle, residents of what had only days before been a peaceful agricultural and college town were in despair. There was literally blood running through the streets, as the dead were piled up in horrific numbers.

Slain animals were left to rot. The fields were scorched and barren. Farmers had to rely on the army or government to supply food. Wounded soldiers languished, waiting for medical attention. Camp Letterman, an army field hospital, was established east of Gettysburg and triaged patients until they could be transported to permanent facilities in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Nurses for the United States Sanitary Commission, a Union relief organization staffed largely by women, provided essential care and comfort.

Residents of Gettysburg managed to bury the dead in a temporary cemetery. However, prominent members of the community lobbied for a permanent burial ground on the battlefield that would honor the defenders of the Union.

The field tents and temporary shelters came down. The battlefield remains a testament and memorial to the events of July 1—3, Gettysburg Gettysburg Animated Map. Close Video. Adams County, PA Jul 1 - 3, How it ended Union victory. Before the Battle On June 3, soon after his celebrated victory over Maj.

During the Battle. Union 93, Aftermath Union. Estimated Casualties. Union 23, 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. Questions to Consider 1.

What role did enslaved workers play in the Battle of Gettysburg? How did the Battle of Gettysburg and its aftermath affect residents of the Pennsylvania town? Gettysburg: Featured Resources. Civil War Article. Civil War Video. Lee took immediate responsibility and patched together a defensive line. Lee retreated on the 4th of July.

Meade lost more than 20,, probably 23, The casualties were near or perhaps a bit more than 50, killed, wounded, and missing for the three-day battle.

Learn more about the common soldiers of the American Civil War. Today, we see Gettysburg as one of the most important battles of the Civil War. However, back then, there was a much more mixed view. On one hand, Lee had been driven out of Pennsylvania, and it was a victory for the North. But many in the North were of the opinion that Meade should have followed up his success on July 3 and inflicted greater damage on the Confederate Army.

The Confederates argued that they were not driven from the field, rather they left of their own volition. Learn more about Gettysburg and why Robert Lee invaded the North. Gettysburg was an important campaign. It stopped the Confederate momentum in the Eastern Theater and it probably killed any chance of Europe intervening. It gave the Federals a badly needed victory and boosted Northern morale.