The Battle of Gettysburg
John Burns (70) -Gettysburg civilian who fought. Injured 3 times.
Throughout most of the war, the South was always defending their land, with the North invading, always playing on that side of the board. But twice, the Confederates invaded Union land. Both times, the South had lost. The last of the two invasions was the Battle of Gettysburg. General Robert E. Lee had attempted going onto Northern soil in order to prove to the Federals that fighting was useless, and that they should just give up.
But Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States of America, was wanting Lee to go and save Vicksburg, in order to prevent the entire Mississippi from being under Union control. But Davis agreed to Lee's plan, for Lee had done so much for the Confederacy. He had recent wins and Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, giving his troops confidence for the next battle.
Early June, Lee set off towards the North. They had to avoid the Army of the Potomac, located at the Rappahannock River. But Joseph Hooker, the commander of the army, received news from Lincoln that part of the Southern force was moving, so he began moving northward, staying between the Confederates and D.C. Lee had his most trusted commander of the cavalry, General Jeb Stewart, also known as Lee's "eyes and ears," go in a wide circle around the Union army. But the distance was farther than both of them expected, and General Lee had no information on the location of Stuart or the Union army for 8 days. By the time Steward came back with the information, it was too late to help.
During the Confederate's 3-week march north, Lee was not troubled about the spread out troops that were distributed over a 100 miles scape. It helped disguise their destination, and made food gathering easier. Lee planned that once in Pennsylvania, the 3 corps would be joined back together. But on the 28, a spy gave Lee the news that the army had already crossed the Potomac, rapidly closing n on his right flank. The next day, it was found out that Hooker was replaced by General George Meade. Lee's plan fell apart due to Stuart's failure. Lee respected Meade, for they had fought during the Mexican-American War. Lee had to move quickly towards Cashtown and Gettysburg. He wanted a battlesite closer to Harrisburg, and ordered his men to not start a general battle, even if they were attacked.
As the Army of Potomac pushed westward, Meade too warned his commanders to avoid a full-scale battle until he had arrived. As the gap between the blue-uniforms and grey-getups, neither commander was ready to fight, and neither chose the town of Gettysburg. It was an accident that the two armies had chosen the location for the greatest battle in the Civil War.
The Battle of Gettysburg was a 3 day battle that started off with Union General John Buford having his to cavalry brigades look for Confederate infantry. They had seen Southerners the day before, and he had warned his soldiers to be ready to fight, because "they will attack you in the morning, and they will come booming...You will have to fight like the devil until supports arrive." Buford's troops neared Gettysburg, spotting the Rebels also approaching the town. The Rebels he saw were part of A.P. Hill's III Corps, commanded by General Henry Heth. The supposed idea was that Heth's men heard about a shoe factory in town, and he had received permission to find his men shoes, since the Southerners were always short in supply. They even took off shoes from the dead to use as there own!
Buford saw he was outnumbered, and send a message for help, while having his men dismounting and open fire from the protection of trees and fences. Heth's number was around 7,000, while Buford's were almost 3,000, but 25% of these men had to hold the reins for the others' horses. Even though it was against the odds, the Yankees held of the Rebels for nearly 2 hours, losing ground very slowly. This was due to the knew top-loading carbines they were given, allowing soldiers to squeeze in 15-20 shots per minute, compared to those of 3-4 per minute by a standard muzzle-loading Springfield musket. Late in the morning, Buford's cavalry got support from a Federal division commanded by General John Reynolds. They took up positions on the outskirts of Gettysburg, and waited for the Rebel infantry to attack. But Heth's soldiers, too, were receiving reinforcements for Ewell's II Corps. The Union troops were outnumbered again. They retreated through and around Gettysburg, and attempted to take a position on Culp's Hill. By nightfall, the South had suffered 8,000 causalities, but they had the Northerners on the run. As they pushed the Yankees through the streets of Gettysburg, they thought that they were sure to win the fight. General Reynolds was killed, and the North was close to total collapse.
A few Union men arrived at Cemetery Hill, meeting a highly-respected general known as Winfield Scott Hancock, who helped "steady the men." He established a defensive line, but it was so thin, he believed that it was his last stand. At this moment did General Lee arrived, and wasn't proud of his men's astounding work. His words? "I am not prepared to bring on a general engagement today." But when he noticed that Hancock's troops were being killed upon the hill, he changed his mind, for he knew that one big push would give them control of that high land around Gettysburg. He sent a message to Ewell for more troops, but Ewell did not comply with these requests, so the Union forces had a chance to strengthen their defensive positions. By nightfall, both sides were extremely tired. The Yankees controlled Culp's Hill, Cemetery Hill, and Cemetery Ridge, while the Rebels only had Seminary Ridge. A valley that split the groups was less than a mile wide. But the losses of that one day were huge; one brigade, starting out with 1,829 men, had suffered 1,153 casualties or imprisonments by the end of that day. On the other side of the war, 600 0f 800 men from a regiment were killed, wounded or missing.
On the second day at Gettysburg, Lee was inspecting the battlefield. He saw instead of Union soldiers clinging to their lives, he saw artillery ready for battle. Most of the Army of the Potomac had arrived during the night, and Meade established the troops in a solid defensive arc, from Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill to Little Round Top, the former 2 being in the north and the latter in the South. This area expanded across 3 miles. The South's line was 2 miles longer. They were spread out more thinly, meaning that Meade could move men and artillery to trouble spots far more easily than Lee could. The South was centered on Missionary Ridge. Through these difficulties, Lee was determined to attack. Longstreet had just arrived, and urged Lee to move the troops around Meade's flank and establish a position between the Union army and Washington, but Lee was stubborn in his ways and didn't do that. Lee said in reply, a statement which his soldiers would whole-heartedly agree with after nearly crushing the enemy yesterday, "The enemy is there, and I am going to attack him there." Lee expected Longstreet to attack by noon, but it wasn't until 4 till the men were in position. To add to his frustration, Stuart just arrived, but his cavalry was still miles away. They wouldn't be of much use, so Lee had Stuart have his men attack the supply lines the next day. Lee's men whom he counted on the most were not supporting him.
Union General Dan Sickles didn't like his position his division was given, which was a low section of Cemetery Ridge. Without noticing Meade, he moved his men half a mile forward to higher ground, creating a "salient" or bulge in the line, nearly cutting off his division from the others. Longstreet's division commanders saw this, and unleashed and artillery barrage on the exposed position, and then rushing in to attack. One division dared go into an area called the "Devil's Den," a place full of huge, jagged boulders, and ended up being crushed by the Union, but the Confederates kept coming in hand-to-hand fighting. During this time, an Alabama brigade led by Colonel William Oates saw Little Round Top nearly deserted, and had 500 men go towards it. He believed that Little Round Top was the key for the entire battlefield. If Confederate artillery could be moved onto that hill, they could fire the Union line up to Culp's Hill. But as his men climbed the steep hillside, one of Meade's staff officers saw the undefended area, and go two brigades to rush to the place, one being led by Colonel Joshua Chamberlain. This clash was one of the biggest small-scale encounters that occurred during the Civil War. As the troops reached the crest of Little Round Top, they were completely astounded to see Chamberlain's men already there. One Maine soldier described the position "...The lines were so near each other that the hostile gun barrels almost touched." The Federals attached bayonets, which was a "a sword-like stabbing blade that may be fixed to the muzzle of a rifle for use in hand-to-hand fighting." When he gave the order, they rushed down the hill, yelling wildly, charging into the Alabamans. The Rebels stumbled backwards, ran, or surrendered, and Little Round Top remained under Northern control.
Farther north, another Rebel regiment charged into Sickles' troops in two areas. Over 1,600 Confederates took 1,000 prisoners and continued up Cemetery Ridge. Just as they were arriving to the top, three fresh Union divisions stopped the attack with short-ranged artillery blasts. This continued on, one Confederate charge after another, each being stopped by Union reinforcements arriving just on time. But the South had suffered about 7,000 casualties of 22,000 men involved during these attacks, and gained nothing.
General Meade had little time to sleep during this battle, and his army had already suffered 15,000 casualties. So he was pleased when his 12 generals all agreed with him on having their soldiers stay in their position and continue fighting the next day. Lee, too, had made up his mind. Again his army had almost crushed those of the Potomac, but almost wasn't enough. The bad timing had affected everything. If tomorrow his troops had better timing and had a more effective use of the artillery, the Confederacy would win the battle.
On July 3, the final day of the battle, Union artillery began fire soon after Meade's troops resumed the fighting on Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill. Hearing the cannons, Le knew his chance of attacking the Army of the Potomac on two fronts at once was ruined. By mid-morning, Edwell's soldiers gave up attempting trying to get either hill mentioned previously. The Southerner's only hope were dependent on Longstreet's I Corps, who had been battered the day before. 12,000 men, half of which were fresh troops from General George E. Picket, were ordered to cross the valley to the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. Longstreet's division organized in the woods near Peach Orchard. At 1 P.M. Confederate artillery opn fired on Cemetery Ridge. 140 cannons from all three divisions with each one with more than 130 rounds of ammunition shot against the Union. Federal cannons responded, and the artillery duel, that largest ever in the nation's history, continued for over 2 hours. Longstreet hoped that the artillery would create huge blasts in the lines to give his infantry a chance, but there wasn't nearly as much damage as he hoped for. Many of the Rebel shells flew right over the Union's head, and they couldn't see where they were shooting at due to the heavy smoke created from the attacks. At around 3 P.M., the Union artillery subsided, and Yankee officers hope that this would trick the Southerners into believing that the Confederate's cannons were knocking out those of the North. It worked, and a Rebel artillery commander sent a note to Picket, telling him to start the attack while ammunition was still left. Picket decided to move forward.
The commanders pressed that the men not shoot or use their "Rebel yell" yet. As the grey-colored men continued at a pace quite like jogging, they ran into deadly firing from artillery located on the Round Tops. A Union soldier described the scene as tearing into Confederate ranks with "a fearful effect," and "sometimes as many as ten men being killed or wounded by the bursting of a single shell." The Southerners continued on, and there was a low stone wall which they approached. When they were only 200 yards away, a Union commander yelled out "Fire!" and 11 cannons and 1,700 rifles open fired upon the attackers. With 100 yards to go, the attackers stopped advancing and fired, shattering part of the Union line. One artillery battery was exploded, and hundreds of Union troops in one division broke out and fled. A few hundred Rebels reached the stone wall and climbed over it. But the only leader who reached it that far was General Lewis Armistead, and still holding up his sword and hat, yelled out the famous words of hope, "Come on, boys! Give them cold steel! Who will follow me?" The men behind him yelled out a fearsome Rebel yell.
At this point the Yankee soldiers were at the brink of cracking. At that moment, the Confederacy reached its "high water mark," like the crest of a wave. This lasted only seconds, and in the next instant, Armistead fell with a fatal gunshot wound and Northern reinforcements clashed into the Rebels. The disorganized masses stood shooting, bayoneting, and clubbing. Without a leader to lead them, every Confederate who reached the top was killed, wounded, or captured within minutes. The men behind them slowly started climbing back down the slope. Some Northern officers attempted a counterattack, but the soldier's couldn't' move; they could fight no more that day.
Along with the other Confederates, Pickett rode up with them to Lee. Lee urged him to organize his troops. Sobbing from his failure, Pickett said, "General Lee, I have no division now." To this, Lee replied, "Come, General Picket. Your men have done all that men can do. The fault is entirely my own."
That same day, John C. Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg to Grant along with his entire army of 30,000. To add to the number of lost troops were the 28,000 casualties. More than half of the casualties at Gettysburg were veterns. This loss of a great number- 60,000- of men was more than the South could sacrifice. They didn't have the population to replace the losses. Lincoln was not pleased that the North hadn't gone after the South, but he didn't know about the damage the Union had inflicted upon the enemy with all the losses. He even said, "We had them within our grasp. We had only to stretch forth our hands and they were ours. And nothing I could say or do could make the army move." Though Lee's army was intact, the only thing he could do with them was to delay the unavoidable fighting and retreating until there was more more room to scoot back. The end eventually came at Appomattox Court House in April of 1865.
But Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States of America, was wanting Lee to go and save Vicksburg, in order to prevent the entire Mississippi from being under Union control. But Davis agreed to Lee's plan, for Lee had done so much for the Confederacy. He had recent wins and Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, giving his troops confidence for the next battle.
Early June, Lee set off towards the North. They had to avoid the Army of the Potomac, located at the Rappahannock River. But Joseph Hooker, the commander of the army, received news from Lincoln that part of the Southern force was moving, so he began moving northward, staying between the Confederates and D.C. Lee had his most trusted commander of the cavalry, General Jeb Stewart, also known as Lee's "eyes and ears," go in a wide circle around the Union army. But the distance was farther than both of them expected, and General Lee had no information on the location of Stuart or the Union army for 8 days. By the time Steward came back with the information, it was too late to help.
During the Confederate's 3-week march north, Lee was not troubled about the spread out troops that were distributed over a 100 miles scape. It helped disguise their destination, and made food gathering easier. Lee planned that once in Pennsylvania, the 3 corps would be joined back together. But on the 28, a spy gave Lee the news that the army had already crossed the Potomac, rapidly closing n on his right flank. The next day, it was found out that Hooker was replaced by General George Meade. Lee's plan fell apart due to Stuart's failure. Lee respected Meade, for they had fought during the Mexican-American War. Lee had to move quickly towards Cashtown and Gettysburg. He wanted a battlesite closer to Harrisburg, and ordered his men to not start a general battle, even if they were attacked.
As the Army of Potomac pushed westward, Meade too warned his commanders to avoid a full-scale battle until he had arrived. As the gap between the blue-uniforms and grey-getups, neither commander was ready to fight, and neither chose the town of Gettysburg. It was an accident that the two armies had chosen the location for the greatest battle in the Civil War.
The Battle of Gettysburg was a 3 day battle that started off with Union General John Buford having his to cavalry brigades look for Confederate infantry. They had seen Southerners the day before, and he had warned his soldiers to be ready to fight, because "they will attack you in the morning, and they will come booming...You will have to fight like the devil until supports arrive." Buford's troops neared Gettysburg, spotting the Rebels also approaching the town. The Rebels he saw were part of A.P. Hill's III Corps, commanded by General Henry Heth. The supposed idea was that Heth's men heard about a shoe factory in town, and he had received permission to find his men shoes, since the Southerners were always short in supply. They even took off shoes from the dead to use as there own!
Buford saw he was outnumbered, and send a message for help, while having his men dismounting and open fire from the protection of trees and fences. Heth's number was around 7,000, while Buford's were almost 3,000, but 25% of these men had to hold the reins for the others' horses. Even though it was against the odds, the Yankees held of the Rebels for nearly 2 hours, losing ground very slowly. This was due to the knew top-loading carbines they were given, allowing soldiers to squeeze in 15-20 shots per minute, compared to those of 3-4 per minute by a standard muzzle-loading Springfield musket. Late in the morning, Buford's cavalry got support from a Federal division commanded by General John Reynolds. They took up positions on the outskirts of Gettysburg, and waited for the Rebel infantry to attack. But Heth's soldiers, too, were receiving reinforcements for Ewell's II Corps. The Union troops were outnumbered again. They retreated through and around Gettysburg, and attempted to take a position on Culp's Hill. By nightfall, the South had suffered 8,000 causalities, but they had the Northerners on the run. As they pushed the Yankees through the streets of Gettysburg, they thought that they were sure to win the fight. General Reynolds was killed, and the North was close to total collapse.
A few Union men arrived at Cemetery Hill, meeting a highly-respected general known as Winfield Scott Hancock, who helped "steady the men." He established a defensive line, but it was so thin, he believed that it was his last stand. At this moment did General Lee arrived, and wasn't proud of his men's astounding work. His words? "I am not prepared to bring on a general engagement today." But when he noticed that Hancock's troops were being killed upon the hill, he changed his mind, for he knew that one big push would give them control of that high land around Gettysburg. He sent a message to Ewell for more troops, but Ewell did not comply with these requests, so the Union forces had a chance to strengthen their defensive positions. By nightfall, both sides were extremely tired. The Yankees controlled Culp's Hill, Cemetery Hill, and Cemetery Ridge, while the Rebels only had Seminary Ridge. A valley that split the groups was less than a mile wide. But the losses of that one day were huge; one brigade, starting out with 1,829 men, had suffered 1,153 casualties or imprisonments by the end of that day. On the other side of the war, 600 0f 800 men from a regiment were killed, wounded or missing.
On the second day at Gettysburg, Lee was inspecting the battlefield. He saw instead of Union soldiers clinging to their lives, he saw artillery ready for battle. Most of the Army of the Potomac had arrived during the night, and Meade established the troops in a solid defensive arc, from Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill to Little Round Top, the former 2 being in the north and the latter in the South. This area expanded across 3 miles. The South's line was 2 miles longer. They were spread out more thinly, meaning that Meade could move men and artillery to trouble spots far more easily than Lee could. The South was centered on Missionary Ridge. Through these difficulties, Lee was determined to attack. Longstreet had just arrived, and urged Lee to move the troops around Meade's flank and establish a position between the Union army and Washington, but Lee was stubborn in his ways and didn't do that. Lee said in reply, a statement which his soldiers would whole-heartedly agree with after nearly crushing the enemy yesterday, "The enemy is there, and I am going to attack him there." Lee expected Longstreet to attack by noon, but it wasn't until 4 till the men were in position. To add to his frustration, Stuart just arrived, but his cavalry was still miles away. They wouldn't be of much use, so Lee had Stuart have his men attack the supply lines the next day. Lee's men whom he counted on the most were not supporting him.
Union General Dan Sickles didn't like his position his division was given, which was a low section of Cemetery Ridge. Without noticing Meade, he moved his men half a mile forward to higher ground, creating a "salient" or bulge in the line, nearly cutting off his division from the others. Longstreet's division commanders saw this, and unleashed and artillery barrage on the exposed position, and then rushing in to attack. One division dared go into an area called the "Devil's Den," a place full of huge, jagged boulders, and ended up being crushed by the Union, but the Confederates kept coming in hand-to-hand fighting. During this time, an Alabama brigade led by Colonel William Oates saw Little Round Top nearly deserted, and had 500 men go towards it. He believed that Little Round Top was the key for the entire battlefield. If Confederate artillery could be moved onto that hill, they could fire the Union line up to Culp's Hill. But as his men climbed the steep hillside, one of Meade's staff officers saw the undefended area, and go two brigades to rush to the place, one being led by Colonel Joshua Chamberlain. This clash was one of the biggest small-scale encounters that occurred during the Civil War. As the troops reached the crest of Little Round Top, they were completely astounded to see Chamberlain's men already there. One Maine soldier described the position "...The lines were so near each other that the hostile gun barrels almost touched." The Federals attached bayonets, which was a "a sword-like stabbing blade that may be fixed to the muzzle of a rifle for use in hand-to-hand fighting." When he gave the order, they rushed down the hill, yelling wildly, charging into the Alabamans. The Rebels stumbled backwards, ran, or surrendered, and Little Round Top remained under Northern control.
Farther north, another Rebel regiment charged into Sickles' troops in two areas. Over 1,600 Confederates took 1,000 prisoners and continued up Cemetery Ridge. Just as they were arriving to the top, three fresh Union divisions stopped the attack with short-ranged artillery blasts. This continued on, one Confederate charge after another, each being stopped by Union reinforcements arriving just on time. But the South had suffered about 7,000 casualties of 22,000 men involved during these attacks, and gained nothing.
General Meade had little time to sleep during this battle, and his army had already suffered 15,000 casualties. So he was pleased when his 12 generals all agreed with him on having their soldiers stay in their position and continue fighting the next day. Lee, too, had made up his mind. Again his army had almost crushed those of the Potomac, but almost wasn't enough. The bad timing had affected everything. If tomorrow his troops had better timing and had a more effective use of the artillery, the Confederacy would win the battle.
On July 3, the final day of the battle, Union artillery began fire soon after Meade's troops resumed the fighting on Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill. Hearing the cannons, Le knew his chance of attacking the Army of the Potomac on two fronts at once was ruined. By mid-morning, Edwell's soldiers gave up attempting trying to get either hill mentioned previously. The Southerner's only hope were dependent on Longstreet's I Corps, who had been battered the day before. 12,000 men, half of which were fresh troops from General George E. Picket, were ordered to cross the valley to the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. Longstreet's division organized in the woods near Peach Orchard. At 1 P.M. Confederate artillery opn fired on Cemetery Ridge. 140 cannons from all three divisions with each one with more than 130 rounds of ammunition shot against the Union. Federal cannons responded, and the artillery duel, that largest ever in the nation's history, continued for over 2 hours. Longstreet hoped that the artillery would create huge blasts in the lines to give his infantry a chance, but there wasn't nearly as much damage as he hoped for. Many of the Rebel shells flew right over the Union's head, and they couldn't see where they were shooting at due to the heavy smoke created from the attacks. At around 3 P.M., the Union artillery subsided, and Yankee officers hope that this would trick the Southerners into believing that the Confederate's cannons were knocking out those of the North. It worked, and a Rebel artillery commander sent a note to Picket, telling him to start the attack while ammunition was still left. Picket decided to move forward.
The commanders pressed that the men not shoot or use their "Rebel yell" yet. As the grey-colored men continued at a pace quite like jogging, they ran into deadly firing from artillery located on the Round Tops. A Union soldier described the scene as tearing into Confederate ranks with "a fearful effect," and "sometimes as many as ten men being killed or wounded by the bursting of a single shell." The Southerners continued on, and there was a low stone wall which they approached. When they were only 200 yards away, a Union commander yelled out "Fire!" and 11 cannons and 1,700 rifles open fired upon the attackers. With 100 yards to go, the attackers stopped advancing and fired, shattering part of the Union line. One artillery battery was exploded, and hundreds of Union troops in one division broke out and fled. A few hundred Rebels reached the stone wall and climbed over it. But the only leader who reached it that far was General Lewis Armistead, and still holding up his sword and hat, yelled out the famous words of hope, "Come on, boys! Give them cold steel! Who will follow me?" The men behind him yelled out a fearsome Rebel yell.
At this point the Yankee soldiers were at the brink of cracking. At that moment, the Confederacy reached its "high water mark," like the crest of a wave. This lasted only seconds, and in the next instant, Armistead fell with a fatal gunshot wound and Northern reinforcements clashed into the Rebels. The disorganized masses stood shooting, bayoneting, and clubbing. Without a leader to lead them, every Confederate who reached the top was killed, wounded, or captured within minutes. The men behind them slowly started climbing back down the slope. Some Northern officers attempted a counterattack, but the soldier's couldn't' move; they could fight no more that day.
Along with the other Confederates, Pickett rode up with them to Lee. Lee urged him to organize his troops. Sobbing from his failure, Pickett said, "General Lee, I have no division now." To this, Lee replied, "Come, General Picket. Your men have done all that men can do. The fault is entirely my own."
That same day, John C. Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg to Grant along with his entire army of 30,000. To add to the number of lost troops were the 28,000 casualties. More than half of the casualties at Gettysburg were veterns. This loss of a great number- 60,000- of men was more than the South could sacrifice. They didn't have the population to replace the losses. Lincoln was not pleased that the North hadn't gone after the South, but he didn't know about the damage the Union had inflicted upon the enemy with all the losses. He even said, "We had them within our grasp. We had only to stretch forth our hands and they were ours. And nothing I could say or do could make the army move." Though Lee's army was intact, the only thing he could do with them was to delay the unavoidable fighting and retreating until there was more more room to scoot back. The end eventually came at Appomattox Court House in April of 1865.