The battle of Gettysburg

By: daniel MuÑoz-Vidal

Prior to the battle

• About the town of Gettysburg

• Union and Confederate Generals

• Confederates March Towards Gettysburg

Gettysburg - before the battle

• Before the battle, Gettysburg was an insignificant crossroads town founded by Samuel Gettys in 1786.

• By 1858, a railroad called the Gettysburg Railroad was completed and opened to the public for transportation.

• It was not until the Battle of Gettysburg that it would become one of the famously known battle grounds of the Civil War.

Generals of the Battle

Union• Major General George Gordon

Meade was the commanding Union General during the battle. He had recently replaced Major General Joseph Hooker as the commander of the Potomac Army.

Confederates• General Robert Edward Lee was the

Confederate General, who, during his march through Pennsylvania, left a trail of destruction by seizing peoples foods and capturing blacks, sending them to the south as slaves.

• General Lee had three generals under him to lead his men.

• General James Longstreet

• General Richard Stoddert Ewell

• General Ambrose Powell Hill

Confederates marchtowards Gettysburg

• The Confederates were on the move to Pennsylvania to threaten Washington, D.C. and to try to draw the Union away from Vicksburg.

• Union cavalry under the command of Major General Alfred Pleasonton, were sent to discover what General Lee was up to. The Union cavalry surprised Major General Stuart, the Confederate cavalry commander at Brandy Station. The battle of Brandy Station became the largest cavalry battle of the Civil War, with 20,000 mounted soldiers clashing along the Rappahannock River for twelve hours.

• Ultimately, the battle was a standoff, but the Union now knew that General Lee was on the move.

The First Day of Battle

July 1, 1863

July 1, 1863The Battle of Gettysburg began as a clash over shoes. Rumors circulated of a stash of shoes in the insignificant little crossroads town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. An infantry officer under Ewell’s command was sent to commandeer the shoes. The Union arrived from the south that day while the Confederates arrived from the north. About three miles from town, Confederate advance guards encountered General John Buford’s Union cavalry. Both sides sent couriers requesting immediate reinforcements to Gettysburg. Buford tried desperately to hold his position.

Confederate forces gathered first, while Union forces slowly arrived. The Confederates pushed the Union army to Culp’s and Cemetary Hill where General Winfield rallied troops into defensive positions.

General Lee arrived in the middle of the afternoon and ordered General Ewell to renew the attack on Culp and Cemetary Hill. Ewell did not attack because his men needed rest. General Longstreet wanted to flank the Union taking posts between General Meade’s army and Washington. General Lee stopped the plan as he did not know the numbers or strength of the Union army.

The Second Day of Battle

July 2, 1863

July 2, 1863Throughout the night, reinforcements gathered for both armies. When they stopped gathering, 65,000 Confederates faced 85,000 Union troops. The Union troops were positioned along Cemetery Ridge where neighboring hills overlooked the Union positions: Culp’s and Cemetery Hill on the right, Big and Little Round Top on the left. General Lee wanted these points taken.

Ewell was instructed to take Culp’s Hill while, Longstreet was to take the Round Tops. By the afternoon, Longstreet finally shifted two divisions into position to start the assault. By this time, General Stuart finally arrived, tired and dusty, and General Lee was furious with him for being late; but calmed down after realizing Stuart’s anguish.

Union General Daniel Sickles was sent to defend the Round Tops from Longstreet, but instead moved his troops to Peach Orchard, leaving the Round Tops and the Union’s left flank completely exposed.

Before General Meade could order Sickles back to the Round Tops, Longstreet began his assault. The 15th Alabama, while the 20th Maine was sent to counter the advancing Confederates. The 20th Maine formed a sort of right angled formation to stand against the 15th Alabama regiment.

As reinforcements were sent, a gap was formed on Cemetery Ridge where an Alabama brigade hurried to drive through it. General Winfield spotted the trouble and ordered 1st Minnesota to seal the gap. 82 percent, during the engagement, of the 1st Minnesota either were injured or killed, fortunately the southerners were repelled.

General Lee then planned for the following day one of the most significant charges of the battle.

The Third Day of Battle

July 3, 1863

July 3, 1863On the day before the National Holiday, the 4th of July, everything was going downhill for General Lee. Ewell’s men were driven from Culp’s Hill and Stuart’s cavalry was stopped by General Custer. Now everything depended on General Longstreet - his charge on Cemetery Ridge had to work. Pickett’s men took positions in the woods as they knew they would be needed for Pickett’s charge.150 Confederate batteries began to rain iron on Union position at one o’ clock, ahead of schedule. Fortunately for the Union, most shells overshot their mark. One shell almost hit the camp where General Meade was serving lunch, his men and he had to evacuate the area so they wouldn’t be hit.Once Confederate batteries ceased fire, 80 Union batteries commenced a return fire, sending shells back.

Most of the Union batteries hit their mark, and some were sent as far as the forest behind the Confederate line, surprisingly striking a hidden set of soldiers in the brush. After almost an hour of shells flying through the air, the battlefield fell silent as the Union had been ordered a cease fire to conserve ammunition, and to lure the Confederates out of the woods. General Longstreet saw this as the Union had lost all their ammo.The plan worked, Pickett was told to charge, 13000 Confederate soldiers began their march to Cemetery Ridge unaware of the impending trap. The Confederates covered one hundred yards a minute.All Union batteries from Cemetery Ridge to Little Round Top began to rain iron on the advancing Confederate troops. One officer remarked that “they could not help but hit with every shot.” The Confederates soon realized that the charge would end horribly, and began the retreat. 6500 men had either been killed or captured in Pickett’s Charge, that is half the men that were sent. General Lee proclaimed “It’s all my fault.” to the soldier who returned. The Union had won.

Map overview

DAY ONE DAY TWO DAY THREE

Tid-bits of the battle• The Union won the Battle of Gettysburg.

• General Lee’s wounded stretched 14 miles on July 4, the day of the Confederate’s retreat.

• General Meade did not pursue the retreating Confederate army.

• Pickett’s Charge did not happen until four o’ clock, three hours after the Confederate bombardment.

• Gettysburg then became one of the most famously known battlegrounds of the Civil War.

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