"Grant's Overland Campaign. Prior to Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee had established a reputation as an almost invincible general, achieving stunning victories against superior numbers—although usually at the cost of high casualties to his army—during the Seven Days, the Northern Virginia Campaign (including the Second Battle of Bull Run), Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. Only the Maryland Campaign, with its tactically inconclusive Battle of Antietam, had been less than successful. Therefore, historians have attempted to explain how Lee's winning streak was interrupted so dramatically at Gettysburg. Although the issue is tainted by attempts to portray history and Lee's reputation in a manner supporting"
"Battle of Gettysburg. In late 1864, President Abraham Lincoln, determined to deal a ""mortal blow"" to the Confederacy, developed a strategy with his military advisors to cease the only significant sustained blockade running activity, that originating from the Cape Fear River outlet. On 24 December 1864, Union warships began an intense bombardment of nearby Fort Fisher, and after a persistent onslaught, Union forces captured the vastly undermanned Fort Fisher on the evening of 15 January 1865. Brigadier General Louis Jagger Hébert then commanded Fort Pender. Facing thousands of Union troops, the Confederate garrisons in the area withdrew to Wilmington, North"
"Gettysburg Union order of battle The Union order of battle during the Battle of Gettysburg includes the American Civil War officers and men of the Army of the Potomac (multiple commander names indicate command succession of command during the three-day battle (July 1–3, 1863). Order of battle compiled from the army organization during the battle, the casualty returns and the reports. MG George G. Meade, Commanding General Staff: General Headquarters: Command of the Provost Marshal General: BG Marsena R. Patrick Guards and Orderlies: Engineer Brigade: BG Henry W. Benham MG John F. Reynolds (k) <br> MG Abner Doubleday <br> MG"
"offensive as an opportunity to destroy a Confederate army. The Confederate and Union armies met at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1. The battle, fought over three days, resulted in the highest number of casualties in the war. Along with the Union victory in the Siege of Vicksburg, the Battle of Gettysburg is often referred to as a turning point in the war. Though the battle ended with a Confederate retreat, Lincoln was dismayed that Meade had failed to destroy Lee's army. Feeling that Meade was a competent commander despite his failure to pursue Lee, Lincoln allowed Meade to"
"of the Gettysburg Battlefield were being erected. Some historians have argued that the battle was the turning point of the war and that this was the place that represented the Confederacy's last major offensive operation in the Eastern Theater. On the third day of the battle (July 3, 1863), Confederate General Robert E. Lee ordered an attack on the Union center, located on Cemetery Ridge. This offensive maneuver called for almost 12,500 men to march over of dangerously open terrain. Preceded by a massive but mostly ineffective Confederate artillery barrage, the march across open fields toward the Union lines became"
"States as they are today. [[File:Gettysburg by Britton.ogg|left|thumb|Modern recording of [[Gettysburg Address]] originally spoken by [[President of the United States|U.S President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]]]] [[File:Thure de Thulstrup - L. Prang and Co. - Battle of Gettysburg - Restoration by Adam Cuerden 0.5.jpg|left|thumb|[[Battle of Gettysburg]] – Restoration by Adam Cuerden 0.5]] The American Civil War began when seven [[Slave state|Southern slave states]] declared their [[secession]] from the U.S. and formed the [[Confederate States of America]], the Confederacy (four more states joinged the Confederacy later). Led by [[Jefferson Davis]], they fought against the [[Union (American Civil War)|U.S. federal government (the Union)]] under President"
"Fight at Monterey Pass The Fight at Monterey Pass (or Gap) was an American Civil War military engagement beginning the evening of July 4, 1863, during the Retreat from Gettysburg. A Confederate wagon train of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, withdrew after the Battle of Gettysburg, and Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. H. Judson Kilpatrick attacked the retreating Confederate column. After a lengthy delay in which a small detachment of Maryland cavalrymen delayed Kilpatrick's division, the Union cavalrymen captured numerous Confederate prisoners and destroyed hundreds of wagons. General Robert E. Lee ordered his Confederate"
"Gettysburg Address The Gettysburg Address is a speech that U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered during the American Civil War at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg. It is one of the best-known speeches in American history. Although not the day's primary speech, Lincoln's carefully crafted address came to be seen as one of the greatest and most influential statements of American national purpose. In just 271 words, beginning with"
"high number of casualties, including the death of General Stonewall Jackson. Following the Confederate victory, Lee decided to take the offensive, launching the Gettysburg Campaign in June 1863. Lee hoped that Confederate victories in the offensive would empower Lincoln's political opponents and convince the North that the Union could not win the war. After Hooker failed to stop Lee in the early stages of his advance, Lincoln replaced Hooker with General George Meade. Lee led his army into Pennsylvania, and was followed by Meade's Army of the Potomac. While many in the North fretted over Lee's advance, Lincoln saw the"
"a council of war in which his corps commanders agreed that the army should remain at Gettysburg until Lee acted, and that the cavalry should pursue Lee in any retreat. Meade decided to have Brig. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren take a division from Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick's VI Corps—the most lightly engaged of all the Union corps at Gettysburg—to probe the Confederate line and determine Lee's intentions. Meade ordered Butterfield to prepare for a general movement of the army, which he organized into three wings, commanded by Sedgwick (I, III, and VI Corps), Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum (II and"
"River, and harassed Carlisle and Harrisburg to the north. Learning to his surprise that General George Meade (""who replaced Hooker"") had moved Union forces north of the Potomac River, Gen. Lee hastened to concentrate his far-flung forces. The two hostile armies came together unexpectedly at the important crossroads town of Gettysburg. Attacking from the north and west into the city of Gettysburg, on July 1, 1863, over 28,000 Confederate soldiers finally prevailed after nine hours of desperate fighting with 18,000 Union soldiers. The weight of the Confederates forced General Abner Doubleday's Union troops back through the streets of Gettysburg, to"
"defeat at Gettysburg, Lee sent a letter of resignation to President Davis on August 8, 1863, but Davis refused Lee's request. That fall, Lee and Meade met again in two minor campaigns that did little to change the strategic standoff. The Confederate Army never fully recovered from the substantial losses incurred during the 3-day battle in southern Pennsylvania. The historian Shelby Foote stated, ""Gettysburg was the price the South paid for having Robert E. Lee as commander."" In 1864 the new Union general-in-chief, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, sought to use his large advantages in manpower and material resources to"
"George Meade George Gordon Meade (December 31, 1815 – November 6, 1872) was a career United States Army officer and civil engineer best known for defeating Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. He previously fought with distinction in the Second Seminole War and the Mexican–American War. During the Civil War, he served as a Union general, rising from command of a brigade to command of the Army of the Potomac. Earlier in his career, he was an engineer and was involved in the coastal construction of several lighthouses. Meade's Civil War"
"second invasion of the North—the Gettysburg Campaign. With his army in high spirits, Lee intended to shift the focus of the summer campaign from war-ravaged northern Virginia and hoped to influence Northern politicians to give up their prosecution of the war by penetrating as far as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or even Philadelphia. Prodded by President Abraham Lincoln, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker moved his army in pursuit, but was relieved of command just three days before the battle and replaced by Meade. Elements of the two armies initially collided at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, as Lee urgently concentrated his forces there,"
"to the Confederacy, bringing out tobacco and cotton. The Union blockade increasingly shut down Confederate ports, and by late 1864 the blockade runners Were usually captured before they could make more than handful of runs. In the West, on July 4, 1863, Union forces under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant gained control of the Mississippi River at the Battle of Vicksburg, thereby splitting the Confederacy. Lincoln made General Grant commander of all Union armies. Grant put General William Tecumseh Sherman in charge of the Western armies. In 1864, Sherman marched south from Chattanooga to capture Atlanta, a decisive"
"George Pickett George Edward Pickett (January 16, 1825 – July 30, 1875) was a career United States Army officer who became a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He is best remembered for leading Pickett's Charge, the futile and bloody Confederate offensive on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg that bears his name. Pickett graduated last out of 59 cadets in the United States Military Academy class of 1846. He served as a second lieutenant in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War, and is noted for his service in the"
"As such, he was responsible for providing food and supplies to 54,000 Confederate troops and personnel. He was also a confidant of Confederate General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870), especially during the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1–3, 1863. On May 5, 1865, he attended the last meeting of the Confederate States of America government at the Bank of the State of Georgia (later the Heard House) and carried out its last order. It was then that Confederate Jefferson Davis (1808–1889) instructed him to take US$40,000 in gold and silver bullions from the Confederate Treasury to feed and clothe the defeated"
"the Gettysburg Campaign. As word reached Philadelphia that the Confederate army was marching on Harrisburg some 100 miles to the west, Philadelphians felt no urgency to prepare the city to defend itself. So on June 26, Major-General Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana took command of the military district of Philadelphia and began to build defensive entrenchments, with the help of volunteers recruited by Mayor Henry. At the beginning of July, Pennsylvania governor Andrew Gregg Curtin came to the city hoping to rally the city out of its lack of urgency. Philadelphia's Twentieth Pennsylvania Emergency Regiment and First City Troop were among"
"Union troops re-captured the territory in early 1862, forcing the Confederates to retreat following the Battle of Glorieta Pass in March. Confederate troops withdrew because a detachment of the 1st Colorado Infantry under Major John M. Chivington burned their supply train. Despite the Union regulars, 1st Colorado Infantry, and New Mexican Volunteers being defeated on the battlefield, they ultimately won the campaign; the battle was one of several later dubbed the ""Gettysburg of the West"". As the war dragged on and Union troops were withdrawn to fight elsewhere, famed explorer and frontiersman Kit Carson helped organize and command the 1st"
"Union's 117,000 troops, and 13,000 of the Confederate's 60,000 troops), and the defeat handed Lee the initiative, which allowed him to travel north to Gettysburg. Lincoln kept Hooker in command, but when General Halleck and Lincoln declined Hooker's request for troops from Harpers Ferry to reinforce his army while in pursuit of Lee's advance toward Pennsylvania, Hooker resigned his command. George G. Meade was appointed to the command of the Army of the Potomac on June 28, 1863, three days before Gettysburg, and was allowed to take the troops from Harpers Ferry. Hooker returned to combat in November, leading two"
"Edward Johnson (general) Edward ""Allegheny"" Johnson (April 16, 1816 – March 2, 1873) was a United States Army officer and Confederate general in the American Civil War. Highly rated by Robert E. Lee, he was made a divisional commander under Richard S. Ewell. On the first evening of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1, 1863), Ewell missed his opportunity to attack Cemetery Hill, and Johnson opted against attacking Culp's Hill, for which he had a discretionary order, though he attempted this on the second and third days. Ewell and Johnson are blamed by many for the loss of this decisive"
"General Elon J. Farnsworth was assigned command of the 1st Brigade. Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer was assigned command of the 2nd brigade. As the troops moved from Frederick toward Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the regiment in the rear was attacked by cavalry under the command of General James Ewell Brown ""Jeb"" Stuart. Farnsworth's 1st Brigade counter-attacked, and with the help of Custer's 2nd Brigade drove off the Confederate cavalry. The 1st West Virginia had 2 killed, 5 wounded, and 18 men taken prisoner. This June 30 battle became known as the Battle of Hanover. The Battle of Gettysburg began on the"
"commanding general who issued discretionary orders to Ewell and then continued the battle for another two days, bears the final responsibility for the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg. When Ewell's corps did attack these positions on July 2 and July 3, the Union had had time to fully occupy the heights and build impregnable defenses, resulting in heavy Confederate losses. Postwar proponents of the Lost Cause movement, particularly Jubal Early, but also Maj. Gen. Isaac R. Trimble, who had been assigned to Ewell's staff during the battle, criticized him bitterly in attempts to deflect any blame for the loss of the"
"a defense against the Confederate advance. He was acutely aware of the tactical importance of holding the high ground south of Gettysburg, and so he did, beginning one of the most important battles in American military history. His skillful defensive troop dispositions, coupled with the bravery and tenacity of his dismounted men, allowed the I Corps, under Major General John F. Reynolds, time to come up in support and thus maintain a Union foothold in tactically important positions. Despite Lee's barrage attack of 140 cannons and a final infantry attack on the third day of the battle, the Union army"
"Confederate attack and Coster's defense. Charles Coster Charles R. Coster (c. 1837 – December 23, 1888) was an American soldier and public official, who is best known for commanding a brigade at the Battle of Gettysburg. Coster was born in New York City, New York. On April 17, 1861, just five days after the firing on Fort Sumter, he enlisted as a private in the 7th New York Militia, one of the first regiments to come to the defense of Washington, D.C. at the outbreak of the Civil War. He later enlisted in 1861 at age 24 as a first"
"orderly withdrawal and managed to escape across the Potomac River without being drawn into another battle. Meade was heavily criticized by President Abraham Lincoln for his cautious pursuit and failure to destroy Lee's retreating army. Casualties were high with total losses on both sides over 27,000 Confederate and 23,000 Union. The residents of Gettysburg were left to care for the wounded and bury the dead following the Confederate retreat. Approximately 8,000 men and 3,000 horses lay under the summer sun. The soldiers' bodies were gradually reinterred in what is today known as Gettysburg National Cemetery, where, on November 19, 1863,"
"greatest battle only days later at Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle of the war. He succeeding in defeating General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate forces, but was criticized by President Abraham Lincoln for allowing Confederate forces to retreat to Virginia. Meade continued to serve as the Army of the Potomac's commanding officer until the end of the war, though Ulysses S. Grant was appointed general-in-chief of all Union armies, superseding Meade's authority. Unlike many Civil War generals, there were no calls for a memorial to Meade after his death in 1872 because he was not popular with Lincoln, Grant, or"
"of his political enemies in front of the Joint Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War, questioning his actions at Gettysburg and his failure to defeat Lee during the retreat to the Potomac. On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln spoke at the dedication ceremonies for the national cemetery created at the Gettysburg battlefield. His Gettysburg Address redefined the war, calling for a ""new birth of freedom"" in the nation, which established the destruction of slavery as an implied goal. Gettysburg Campaign The Gettysburg Campaign was a military invasion of Pennsylvania by the main Confederate army under General Robert E."
"Gettysburg, Pennsylvania as part of the III Corps, 3rd Brigade, U.S. Army under the command of Colonel Norman J. Hall. On July 3, 1863, the third and last day of the battle, his unit participated in what became known as Pickett's Charge. The charge was a disastrous infantry assault ordered by Confederate General Robert E. Lee against Major General George G. Meade's Union positions on Cemetery Ridge. During the battle, De Castro attacked a Confederate flag bearer from the 19th Virginia Infantry regiment, with the staff of his own colors and seized the opposing regiment's flag, handing the prize over"
"infantry division. This indeed had started a general engagement and Heth was on the losing side so far. By 12:30 p.m., his remaining two brigades, under Brig. Gen. J. Johnston Pettigrew and Col. John M. Brockenbrough, had arrived on the scene, as had the division (four brigades) of Maj. Gen. Dorsey Pender, also from Hill's Corps. Hill's remaining division (Maj. Gen. Richard H. Anderson) did not arrive until late in the day. Considerably more Confederate forces were on the way, however. Two divisions of the Second Corps, commanded by Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, were approaching Gettysburg from the north,"
"Pickett's Charge Pickett's Charge was an infantry assault ordered by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Union positions on July 3, 1863, the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg in the state of Pennsylvania during the American Civil War. Its futility was predicted by the charge's commander, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, and it was arguably an avoidable mistake from which the Southern war effort never fully recovered militarily or psychologically. The farthest point reached by the attack has been referred to as the high-water mark of the Confederacy. The charge is named after Maj."
"officers and men for duty; its loss in that battle was 368 killed, 1,922 wounded, and 1,511 captured or missing; total, 3,801, out of less than 9,000 engaged. After Gettysburg, George Meade decided to break up the XI Corps. Returning to Virginia after Gettysburg, on August 7 the 1st Division (Alexander Schimmelfennig's and later George Henry Gordon's) was permanently detached, having been ordered to Charleston Harbor. On September 24, the 2nd and 3rd divisions (Steinwehr's and Schurz's) were ordered to Tennessee, together with the XII Corps under the command of Former Army of the Potomac commander Joseph Hooker. These two"
"missing. In December of the same year, General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia defeated Union General Ambrose E. Burnside's Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Fredericksburg, where Union forces repeatedly made frontal assaults across open ground against fortified Confederate positions. The string of southern victories came to an end when Robert E. Lee was decisively defeated at the Battle of Gettsyburg between 1 and 3 July 1863 by the Army of the Potomac under General George G. Meade. This is regarded by most historians as the turning point of the Civil War. The Retreat from Gettysburg"