[Illustration: Decorative Initial I]
It is difficult to present a great battle with sufficient detail to
please both the student of tactics and the average reader. If the
visitor is not satisfied with the brief outline here presented, he is
recommended to read further in the books listed, and especially to
employ a guide, without whose trained and supervised services the best
manual is inadequate. The reader in search of romance is recommended to
the successive Incidents of the Battle as herein presented.
According to official records, the Gettysburg campaign of 1863 began on
June 3rd and ended on August 1st. No effort will be made to describe the
movements, counter-movements, and fifty minor engagements that occurred
before the armies crossed the Mason and Dixon’s line and finally
concentrated at Gettysburg, where they engaged in battle on July 1st,
2nd, and 3rd. It is necessary, however, that the visitor should
understand the approach to the field.
Location of the Armies.
On June 3rd the Union Army, called the Army of the Potomac, lay at
Falmouth, Va., on the north side of the Rappahannock River,
Major-General Joseph Hooker in command.
The Confederate Army, called the Army of Northern Virginia, occupied the
south bank, with headquarters at Fredericksburg, General Robert E. Lee
in command.
Both armies were resting after the major engagement at Chancellorsville,
in which the Confederates were victorious.
The Army of the Potomac was made up of seven infantry and one cavalry
corps. It numbered at the time of the battle approximately 84,000.
The Army of Northern Virginia was made up of three infantry corps and
one division of cavalry. It numbered at the time of the battle about
75,000.
Following the text is a roster of officers, which should be consulted,
both for an understanding of the battle and because of the obligation to
honor brave men.
General Lee’s Plan.
During the month of May, General Lee visited Richmond to discuss with
the Confederate government various plans involving political and
military considerations. Up to this time, the South had won the major
victories, but her resources, both in men and sinews of war, were
diminishing, and a prolonged conflict would be disastrous. It was
decided that the army should invade the North via the Shenandoah and
Cumberland valleys, with Harrisburg as an objective. This route not only
afforded a continuous highway but put the army in a position to threaten
Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington from the north. The Blue Ridge
Mountains to the east would screen the advance, and the rich
agricultural section would furnish supplies of food and forage.
The time was propitious. General Lee’s army was in the prime of
condition. The North was discouraged by losses, distrustful of Lincoln,
weary of war. The South believed that one great victory would assure her
the friendliness of the leading powers of Europe. Her independence once
acknowledged, she could import the materials of war and the necessities
of life which she lacked. It was thought certain that at the prospect of
invasion the North would withdraw troops from the siege of Vicksburg
then being conducted by General Grant. With high hopes the march was
begun.
Lee’s First Movement.
On June 3rd Lee put his army in motion northward, with Ewell’s Corps,
preceded by Jenkins’ and Imboden’s Cavalry, in the advance, followed by
Longstreet and lastly by Hill. Longstreet moved on the east side of the
Blue Ridge in order to lead Hooker to believe that Washington would be
threatened. On reaching Snicker’s Gap, he crossed the Ridge into the
Shenandoah Valley and followed Hill, who was now in advance. The great
army was strung out from Fredericksburg, Va., on the south to
Martinsburg, W. Va., on the north, with the cavalry division under
Stuart guarding the gaps along the Blue Ridge.
[Illustration: Since 1863 the population of Gettysburg has increased
from 2,000 to 5,500]
After driving out Union forces stationed at Winchester under Milroy,
Lee’s Army crossed the Potomac at Williamsport and Shepherdstown on June
23rd, 24th, and 25th, and advanced northward, unopposed, through the
Cumberland Valley, toward Harrisburg.
Hooker’s Plan.
On June 10th, Hooker proposed to President Lincoln that he cross the
Rappahannock and attack Hill, who still remained, and then move south,
threatening Richmond. He thought this might divert Lee from his invasion
of the North. In reply Lincoln said:
“_I think Lee’s Army and not Richmond is your sure objective point._”
The Appointment of Meade.
Thereupon Hooker started in pursuit of Lee on June 13th, moving east of
the Blue Ridge on a line parallel with Lee on the west, with the cavalry
guarding his left. He thus protected Baltimore and Washington. He
crossed the Potomac at Edward’s Ferry on the 25th and 26th and reached
Frederick on the 27th, where he halted. Believing himself handicapped by
orders from General Halleck, Chief in Command at Washington, who refused
the use of the Union forces at Harper’s Ferry, he asked to be relieved
of the command of the Army of the Potomac. The request was granted, and,
on June 28th, Major-General George G. Meade, in command of the 5th
Corps, was appointed his successor, Sykes taking command of General
Meade’s Corps.
Advance of Lee.
Lee’s Army had been steadily moving northward in the Cumberland Valley.
Ewell, in the advance, detached Early’s Division on reaching
Chambersburg, directing him to move through Gettysburg on June 26th and
thence to York and Wrightsville, there to cross the Susquehanna to
Columbia and move up to Harrisburg to meet the divisions of Rodes and
Johnson. Rodes reached Carlisle on June 28th, accompanied by Ewell;
Johnson was at Greenvillage, between Chambersburg and Carlisle. Hill
moved from Chambersburg to Cashtown, and Longstreet was in the rear at
Chambersburg. Lee’s headquarters were in Messersmith’s Woods near
Chambersburg.
[Illustration: General Reynolds’ position shortly before his
death.—Near General Buford’s statue, pointing toward the spectator,
is the first gun fired by the Union forces]
In his advance into Gettysburg, Early was opposed by the 26th Emergency
Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, Company A, consisting of students
of Pennsylvania (now Gettysburg) College, citizens of the town, and some
volunteers from Harrisburg. After skirmishing on the Chambersburg Pike
about 3 miles from the town, this regiment was obliged to retreat,
finally reaching Harrisburg. About 175 were captured, but were afterward
paroled. On the same day, George Sandoe, a Union scout, was shot by one
of Early’s pickets on the Baltimore Pike. He was the first Union soldier
killed in the vicinity of Gettysburg prior to the battle.
On account of the absence of his cavalry under Stuart, who had been left
with five brigades to guard the rear and hold the gaps of the Blue
Ridge, Lee did not know until June 28th that the Union Army had crossed
the Potomac and was threatening his line of communication with the
South. Learning this, he ordered a concentration of his forces at
Cashtown.
Meade’s Movement.
On assuming command, General Meade moved his army northward from the
vicinity of Frederick and established a tentative line along Pipe Creek,
between Manchester on his right and Emmitsburg on his left, with
headquarters near Taneytown.
Stuart’s Movement.
After the Union Army crossed the Potomac, Stuart left the line of the
Blue Ridge with three brigades of cavalry and made a raid around the
Union Army, crossing the Potomac at Seneca Creek and moving thence to
Hanover, where he engaged Kilpatrick’s Division of Union cavalry on June
30th. Passing through Jefferson, Dover, and Dillsburg to Carlisle, he
reached Carlisle on the afternoon of July 1st, getting into
communication with Lee, after an interval of a week.
Situation of Confederate Forces on June 30th.
On June 30th, Pender’s Division, Hill’s Corps, moved from Fayetteville
to Cashtown; Anderson’s Division to Fayetteville; Rodes’ Division,
Ewell’s Corps, from Carlisle via Petersburg to Heidlersburg. Early’s
Division advanced from York through Weiglestown and East Berlin, and
encamped 3 miles from Heidlersburg. Johnson’s Division marched from
Greenvillage to Scotland. Hood’s and McLaws’ Divisions, Longstreet’s
Corps, moved from Chambersburg to Fayetteville; Pickett’s Division
remained at Chambersburg. Lee’s headquarters were at Greenwood.
Situation of Union Forces on June 30th.
On June 30th the 11th Corps was at Emmitsburg, the 1st at Marsh Creek,
the 3rd at Bridgeport, the 5th at Union Mills, the 6th at Manchester,
the 12th at Littlestown, the 2nd at Taneytown. Two brigades of Buford’s
Cavalry Division were at Gettysburg; Gregg’s Cavalry Division was at
Manchester; Kilpatrick’s at Hanover. Meade’s headquarters were at
Taneytown.
The Approach.
Neither commander yet foresaw Gettysburg as a field of battle. Each had
expected to take a strong position and force his adversary to attack.
But in the hot summer weather fate was moving the mighty hosts closer
and closer. The sky was cloudless, and the summer moon was at its
brightest. The wheat was ripe, and the armies marched between partly
reaped fields.
[Illustration: The Pennsylvania Monument, with bronze figures of
distinguished officers and a roster of all Pennsylvanians in
battle.]
On the 30th, Hill, in the front at Cashtown, sent Pettigrew’s Brigade to
Gettysburg for supplies, shoes especially being badly needed. In the
meantime, Meade ordered Buford, with two brigades of cavalry at
Emmitsburg, to make a reconnaissance to Gettysburg. Buford reported:
“_I entered this place today at 11_ A.M. _Found everybody in a
terrible state of excitement on account of the enemy’s advance._”
On reaching Seminary Ridge, Pettigrew saw the approach of Buford. Not
wishing to bring on an engagement, he withdrew to the vicinity of
Cashtown.
Buford moved through the town and bivouacked for the night west of the
Seminary, along McPherson Ridge. He assigned to Gamble’s Brigade the
task of watching the Fairfield and Cashtown roads and to Devin the
Mummasburg, Middletown (now Biglerville), and Harrisburg roads. Early on
the morning of the 1st, he picketed all the roads leading north and
northeast.