Battle of Gettysburg

The three-day Battle of Gettysburg, a Union victory, was the single bloodiest battle during the Civil War, and stopped the furthest Confederate advance into Union territory.

The Battle of Gettysburg began unexpectedly on July 1 when Union cavalry commanded by Brig Gen. John Buford encountered Confederate troops heading into Gettysburg. The fighting began in mid-morning along the ridges west of the town as both sides sent reinforcements forward. Successful Confederate assaults pushed the Union force off of Seminary Ridge. Union troops rallied on Cemetery Hill south of town and were later extended onto Culp’s Hill to the southeast of the town, and onto Little Round Top and Big Round Top south of Cemetery Ridge. The result of the first day’s fighting was a southern victory.

In the afternoon of July 2, units from Confederate Maj. Gen. Longstreet’s corps attacked the Round Tops. Although inadequately defended at first, additional troops were shuttled to the south and repulsed the Confederate assaults.Col.Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain of the Twentieth Maine would later win the Congressional Medal of Honor for his defense of Little Round Top. Severe fighting also took place at the Peach Orchard, the Wheat Field, and Devil’s Den, places in a “salient” created by Union Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles when he advanced his Third Corps without orders. Sickles was driven back to Cemetery Ridge with heavy losses. At the northern end of the line, Confederate Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell’s corps unsuccessfully attacked Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Ridge.

At mid-day on July 3 the Confederates began an artillery bombardment of the Union positions on Cemetery Ridge. Just before 2:00 p.m.ten infantry brigades, about 15,000 men, from Longstreet’s corps advanced over open fields against the Union center in a movement that has become known as Pickett’s Charge. Moving toward a clump of trees near a part of the line called “the Angle,” the Confederate assault advanced the last several hundred yards under heavy fire from Union infantry and canister rounds. The Confederate left began to collapse under the fire, and hand-to-hand combat broke out in “the Angle” where Union lines were momentarily breached. Additional Union units were forwarded to help beat back the Confederate assault, which is often referred to as the “High Tide” of the Confederacy. The Confederate force then began to retreat back toward Seminary Ridge. The next day the Army of Northern Virginia began to withdraw toward the Potomac.

With about 51,000 casualties over three days, the Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle during the Civil War. The Confederate defeat at Gettysburg, coupled with a nearly simultaneous Confederate surrender at Vicksburg,Mississippi, is seen by many as the beginning of the end for the Confederacy. Following the battle, on November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln came to Gettysburg to give “a few appropriate remarks” at a dedication of a cemetery for those who died at the Battle of Gettysburg, which has become known as the Gettysburg Address.