The+Battle+of+Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg has been called the turning point of the Civil War and has also been called "the high-water mark" of the Confederacy. This means that the Confederates were never able to manuever any further North than Gettysburg. After the battle, the remainder of the war in the Eastern Theater took place in the South.

The Battle of Gettysburg took place from July 1, 1863 through July 3, 1863. There were Confederate troops that had marched through Gettysburg at the end of June on their way to invade Harrisburg.


 * //Army hierarchy and command//**- One regiment had a colonal, a Lieutenant Colonal, and a Major. A brigade consisted of a brigadier general. A division had a brigadier general or a major general in control. The biggest unit of an army, a corps, has a major general, or a lieutenant general in command.

Day 1 - July 1, 1863
John Buford, a Union Calvary general, was the first to come across the Confederates. His dismounted cavalry were positioned northwest of Gettysburg. What he saw was Confederate General Henry Heth's soldiers. Miles away Union Gen. John Reynolds led his First Corps to the sound of battle. The Confederate infantrymen were beating John Buford and his cavalry. Reynolds came just in time to save Buford. The Confederate attack then stalled. Both sides called for reinforcements and Confederate Gen. Richard Ewell's Second Corps forces hit the Union army on two sides. The Union attack then retreated. Meanwhile, the Iron Brigade of the Union First Corps was getting tossed around by a brigade of soldiers from North Carolina. The Union soldiers crammed the streets of the town with cannon shells exploding overhead. The surviving Union soldiers gathered atop Cemetery Hill. Lee spotted them and asked Ewell if he wanted to attack again. Ewell declined because his men were exhausted.

Day 2 - July 2, 1863
General Meade saw a better defensive position along Culp's Hill, across Cemetery Ridge, and on Little Round Top. Confederate First Corps General James Longstreet struggled to get his troops into position. Union Third Corps Gen. Dan Sickles moved his army out from Cemetery Ridge to the peach orchards. That move left Little Round Top unoccupied. The Confederates realized that and saw that they could bombard the Union army with cannon fire from atop there. At 3:40 Longstreet finally attacked. His troops tried to capture Devil's Den. Union Gen. Gouverneur Warren noticed that Little Round Top was unoccupied. He began to organize his men and when he looked to attack, the Confederate flag had already been planted. The Union and Confederate armies fired desperately at each other. At the end of the fighting 17,000 men died for both sides combined. General Robert Lee was set on another day of fighting.

**Day 3 Pickett's Charge - July 3, 1863**
The total amount of wounded,missing, and killed soldiers for the Union army was 23,040 soldiers. For the Confederates, it was suspected to be as much as 28,000 soldiers. In the morning General Lee ordered that the Confederate artillery fire on the Union army. They fired 140 cannons at the Union army. Then Confederate Gen. George Pickett got 12,000 men ready to march toward Cemetery Ridge. Their line stretched out across the valley. That left the Union artillerymen ready to fire at an open target. As Pickett neared 100 yards, the Union opened up fire. Then two Union regiments swung around the Confederate soldiers and raked its flanks. Facing musket fire on each side the charge was beginning to fall apart. Gen. Lewis Armstead led a small group of Confederate soldiers to break into Union lines. They swung their rifles like clubs and officers used pistols to fire short range. Armstead fell because he was hit by several bullets. Most of his men were either killed or captured. General Lee called Pickett for a counter attack and Pickett replied, "I have no division."