Robert E. Lee

The battle of Gettysburg was fought on July 1 through July 3, 1863, considered by most military historians the turning point in the American Civil War (Johnson 84). The Battle of Gettysburg was a decisive engagement in that it arrested the Confederates’ second and last major invasion of the North, destroyed their offensive strategy, and forced them to fight a defensive war in which the slowness of their manufacturing capacity and transportation facilities doomed them to defeat (McPherson 25).

The Army of the Potomac, under the Union general George Gordon Meade, numbered about 85,000; the Confederate army, under General Robert E. Lee, numbered about 75,000 (Johnson 90). After the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2 to 4, an important victory for the Confederates, Lee divided his army into three corps, commanded by three lieutenant generals: James Longstreet, Richard Stoddert Ewell, and Ambrose Powell Hill (Johnson 91). Lee then formulated a plan for invading Pennsylvania, hoping to avert another federal offensive in Virginia and planning to fight if he could get the federal army into a vulnerable position; he also hoped that the invasion might increase Northern war-weariness and lead the North to recognize the independence of the Confederate

States of America (Johnson 85). In pursuit of this plan, Lee crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains, proceeded up the Shenandoah Valley, and, crossing Maryland, entered Pennsylvania (Clark 86). Upon learning federal troops were north of the Potomac, Lee decided to concentrate his whole army at Gettysburg (Clark 86).

On June 30, Confederate troops from General Hill’s corps, on their way to Gettysburg, saw federal troops that Meade had moved down to intercept the Confederate army (McPherson 102). The Battle began on July 1 outside of Gettysburg with an encounter between Hill’s advance brigades and the federal cavalry division commanded by Major General John Buford, supported by infantry under Major General John Fulton Reynolds (McPherson 103). Hill encountered stubborn resistance, and the fighting was undecided until Ewell arrived from the north in the afternoon. The Confederates pushed against General Oliver Howard’s corps and forced the federal troops to retreat from their forward positions to Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Ridge, southeast of Gettysb...

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... captured or missing (Johnson 91).

Lee retreated west and southwest through Hagerstown, Maryland and into Virginia. Imboden’s wagon train, composing of wagons and ambulances, stretched for over 17 miles (Johnson 190). Meade considered pursuit, but determined that the defensive nature of the Appalachian passes prohibited full pursuit (Johnson 191). Meade did harass Lee’s retreat, which resulted in minor skirmishes and capture of various Confederate units, but did not materialize (Johnson 191). Meade’s decision not to pursue Lee angered Lincoln, who expected a decisive victory (Johnson 192). Also, the lack of vigorous pursuit showed Meade as being too cautious. Lee hurting from Gettysburg, was forced to return to Virginia. The war was far from over and lasted another 2 years (Johnson 192).

The Gettysburg Address, a famous speech, was delivered later that year by United States president Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (McPherson 192). He presented it in dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery honoring those who died in the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg.