We we think of the battle of Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania, we are thinking of one of the most famous battles of the American Civil War, but not only was this a very famous battle, it was the biggest battle. Yes, the biggest battle and the bloodiest. It is termed as the turning point of the entire Civil War. Union Major General George Gordon Meade faced off against Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Lee had been very successful up to that point, having defeated the Union army at Chancellorsville in May of 1863. Did Lee think that he could take the Confederate army up through the entire east coast and wipe out the Union forces there? No, not really. He was hoping, that if he got real lucky, he could reach Philadelphia, but his goal was Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He figured that by doing this, the North would lose their taste for the war. I think he also might have felt that the commanding General at Gettysburg, Major General Joseph Hooker could be easily beaten. What he didn't count on was the fact that Hooker would be replaced by Meade, who seemed far more capable. Meade had been a former Captain but when the Civil war broke out, he was appointed as brigadier general of volunteers. His brother in law became a general in the Confederate army and split his family.

As Lee's army got to Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, Lee used the town to marshall his forces, the idea was to wait until the entire army was available before attacking. In the start of the conflict the Union army had reinforced their defenses of a couple of ridges at the end of town, but they were soon driven out by the Southern forces. By the time that most of both armies were assembled, the fighting broke out. The Union army was attacked at six major areas and suffered high losses. There was a problem for the Confederate army though, even though they had inflicted heavy loses on the North, the Union army still held their lines and the South was losing men too. This went on for two days. On the third day the South decided that they would launch a large assault against Cemetery Ridge. Cemetery Ridge was important to the South because it was at the center of the Union lines and if it could be taken, the main Union line would be split in two. The Confederates managed to bring up about 160 guns and began the bombardment The firing did not weaken the position. Confederate General George E. Pickett was given the task of charging up to Cemetery Ridge with a unit of 12,500 men. Pickett was a West Point Graduate, but had graduated last in his class, he was the class clown. History remembers the attack as Pickett's charge, but this is in error because Confederate General Longstreet was in charge and under him were three Generals, each leading their own divisions. They were Pickett, Pettigrew and Trimble. Lieutenant General Longstreet had been a major who had resigned his commission. When the Civil War began he volunteered and thought that they were going to make him a paymaster, but to his surprise he was made a Colonel and put in charge of infantry. He received praises for his actions and rose quickly through the ranks.

Major General George E. Pickett

The charge was a terrible mistake. First of all, except for Pickett's division, all the other troops were exhausted from fighting. It is said that as they charged up the hill, some of the divisions drifted leaving others exposed. The Union lost 1,500 men on the first charge, but the south lost over 50% in casualties. Pickett lost his three brigade commanders and every regimental commander. Tremble and Pettigrew were casualties, one lost a leg and the other suffered a wound in the hand. Pickett returned without a scratch and would face later criticism for this. Lee told the surviving soldiers that this was all his fault. Lee told Pickett to rally his division. Some say that Pickett replied, "General Lee, I have no division now."

Senior Lieutenant General James Longstreet

General Meade was forced to throw 20,000 reinforcements into the battle. The Confederate army devastated the Union soldiers in the area known as Peach Orchard and the attacks reached the area known as Plum Run Valley or the Valley of Death, but they were beat back at that point. The Pennsylvania Reserves division of the V Corps had gotten there just in time. The Southern army actually reached the crest of Cemetery Ridge, but were beaten back. The Union Commander of an area on the extreme left of the Union line, Col. Strong Vincent, had only four small regiments, but he was able to beat off repeated attacks. The position had been saved due to some quick thinking by General Meade's chief engineer, General Gouvemeur K. Warran who had realized that this position had to be protected to protect the Union's left flank. He had sent an artillery battery and the 140th New York to help, just before the attack.

The next attack was on the Union's right flank. The area attacked was Culp's Hill. The hill had been undermanned since most of the troops were sent to defend the left flank. The only defenders left were a New York brigade under Gen. George S. Greene. That general had insisted on strong earthworks for protection and there were also other strong works that were left from the troops that left there. Because of this, the enemy was held off, even after repeated attacks. The only thing that the Confederates were able to accomplish were to occupy lower earth works, but they never got onto the top of the hill.

ON July 4, 1863 the two armies were facing each other across fields. Lee had now taken a defensive position and was hoping that the Union army would attack his position, for he was convinced that this was his last chance to defeat the Union army at Gettysburg. General Meade has been criticized throughout history for not attacking. He thought that this was too risky. The Confederate army left on July 5, 1863. They were followed by Meade's army.

General Meade's Headquarters On Cemetery Ridge

The casualties between the North and South in this battle are estimated around 46,000 to 50,000. It is thought that about 23,000 casualties were on the Union side. The Union army is thought to have had about 4,700 killed and about 12,600 wounded. They also had about 5,400 captured or missing. The South's loses are estimated at about 28,000 but this could be as low as 23,000. It has been said that if the figure is 23,000 then they had 4.700 killed, 12,700 wounded and 5,800 captured or missing. All figures are approximate and breakdowns may not add up to totals. I think it is important to realize that while both the figures for North and South seem close, the South had much less manpower so that for them, it was like losing three times that amount. The Confederate army would never be the same again. Were they too confident of victory? It seems that way. After Chancellorsville Lee felt that he could easily defeat a Northern army. What he didn't realize was that this Union army had much more competent leaders.