GETTISBURG

Before the Battle, major cities in the North as Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington were under

Threat of the attack from General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, that had crossed the Potomac River and marched to Pennsylvania. The Union Army of the Potomac, under its new commander, General George G. Made, marched to intercept General Lee.

On Wednesday, July 1, two divisions of Confederates headed to Gettysburg. They ran into Federal cavalry West of the town at Willoughby Run and the battle began. Events quickly escalated. General Lee rushed 25,000 men to the scene, however the Union had less than 20,000 men.

After a long period of aggressive fighting and heavy casualties on both sides, the Federals were pushed back to the town of Gettysburg and regrouped south of the town along the high ground near the cemetery. General Lee ordered Confederate General R.S. Ewell to take over the high ground. However, General Ewell hesitated

As Dawn broke on Friday July 3, about 4:30 a.m., General Lee’s timetable was undermined as Union cannons pounded the Rebels to drive them away from the trenches. The Rebels did not withdraw, but instead attacked the Federals around 8 a.m. This began a vicious three-hour struggle. The Rebels constantly charging up the hill only to be forced to move back. The Federals finally counter attacked and drove the Rebels off the hill and across the Rock Creek. Around 11 a.m., the fighting on Culp’s Hill stopped, then an unexpected silence settled over the battlefield.

Generals from each side gathered in war councils to plan for the upcoming day. Union Commander, General Made decided his army would remain in place and wait for Lee to attack. On the Confederate side,General Longstreet once again tried to talk General Lee out of attacking such a strong position. However, General lee thought the beaten up Union soldiers were nearly done.

Throughout the morning and into the afternoon there was a high humidity and a 90 degree temperature. Without minding the temperature, the Rebels moved into position in the woods on the opposite side of Cemetery Ridge for the coming charge. Interestingly, some Union troops were moved away from Cemetery Ridge on General Gorge’s orders because he thought General Lee would attack again in the south. Several hours before, General Made had correctly predicted General Lee would attack the center. He left only 5,750 men stretched out along the half-mile front to initially face a 13,000 men Rebel charge.

Again, General Lee encountered arguments about his battle plan from Longstreet. General Lee estimated about 1

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