Gettysburg Campaign

The Gettysburg Campaign of June-July 1863 was a decisive turning point in the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia into a raid into Pennsylvania designed to capture supplies and destroy the political will of the Union to continue the war.

Lee's movement started on the first of June and within a short time was well on its way through Maryland, with General George Meade, the new Union commander, moving north along parallel lines. Lee's cavalry, under General Jeb Stuart had the primary mission of gathering intelligence on where the enemy was position, but Stuart failed and instead raided some supply trains. He did not rejoin Lee until the battle was underway. Lee's armies threatened Harrisburg, Washington, Baltimore and even Philadelphia. Local militia units hurriedly formed to oppose Lee, but they were inconsequential in the face of a large, battle-hardened attack force. Gettysburg was a crossroads junction in heavily wooded areas. Over three days, July 1-3, Confederate forces arrived piecemeal from the northwest, while Union forces arrived piecemeal from the east. By July 1 Meade was to the south of Lee--Lee's retreat was cut off and he had to fight, and had to win. On July 1, 1863, the fighting began, with a Confederate advantage in manpower. The Union forces fell back on a fishhook position on hills to the southeast of town.

The bloody combat in very hot July weather climaxed in the spectacular but fruitless charge of General George E. Pickett's brigades into a trap set by Union forces atop Cemetery Ridge. Pickett failed, and lee was out of reserves (and out of artillery ammunition). After this decisive defeat, Lee was trapped, but Meade failed badly in not pursuing. Lee's escape was one of his greatest achievements. By the end of July Lee's depleted army was back in its camps around Orange Court House, Virginia. There was little important action the rest of the year.

For months Confederates denied there was a defeat. However the only bright spot for them was that Lee's army systematically looted Pennsylvania and in retreat brought back enough captured food, wagons, hardware, horses and cattle to keep Lee supplied for months to come. The looting indeed was part of Lee's plan, but the 28,000 casualties permanently weakened his army, leaving it no chance to take the initiative in the future.

Memory

The campaign and battle is enshrined in American memory as a near-sacred event, as Abraham Lincoln said when he dedicated the cemetery in November, giving the most influential speech in American history. Every state erected memorials at the battlefield.

Bibliography

• Brown, Kent Masterson. Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics, and the Pennsylvania Campaign. U. of North Carolina Press, 2005. excerpt and text search
• Coddington, Edwin B. The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command (1968), the best single book; excerpt and text search
• Gallagher, Gary W., ed. Three Days at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership (1999) online edition
• Gallagher, Gary ed. The Second Day at Gettysburg and Beyond (1993) excerpt and text search
• Gallagher, Gary ed. The Third Day at Gettysburg and Beyond (1994)
• McPherson, James M. "To Conquer a Peace? Lee's Goals in the Gettysburg Campaign." Civil War Times (2007) 46(2): 26-33. Issn: 1546-9980 Fulltext: Ebsco
• Nofi, Albert A. The Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863 (1997) online edition; excerpt and text search
• Pfanz, Harry W. Gettysburg: The First Day (2000) excerpt and text search
• Pfanz, Harry W. Gettysburg: The Second Day (1987) online edition excerpt and text search
• Sears, Stephen W. Gettysburg (2004) excerpt and text search
• Wills, Garry. Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America (1993) excerpt and text search
• Woodworth, Steven E. Beneath a Northern Sky: A Short History of the Gettysburg Campaign. (2003). 241 pp.