THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA FOUGHT
JULY 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 1863
The battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was not a planned battle. General Lee took his army into the north to break up all the preconceived plans that the Union forces had, to relieve the South–Virginia in particular–of the ememy's presence and to subsist while there on his resources. They would also be in a good position to bring pressure on Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Baltimore and isolate and strangle Washington, D. C. and get an early settlement to the war.
The Federal forces under General George C. Meade, the new commander of the Army of the Potomac, were ordered into Pennsylvania also. They arrived in Gettysburg on June 30. General Lee's army was scattered out somewhat in Pennsylvania. General "J. E. B." Stuart was east of Gettysburg, near Harrisburg; General Ewell with his Second Corp was at Carlisle; General Early's troops were at York and General Longstreet's 1st Corp was with General Lee at or near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
On July 1, General Harry Heath's Division of A. P. Hill's Corp. set out from Chambersburg for Gettysburg to find supplies for the troops, what they needed most was shoes. On the Chambersburg Pike, a mile and a half from town they ran into Yankee troops. They were John Buford's cavalry, potrolling the roads for Confederate troops know to have been seen in the area. The cavalry dismounted to trade shots with Heath's infantry and soon reinforcements from both sides arrived and the battle of Gettysburg had begun and would prove to be the bloodiest three days of the Civil War.
The battle centered mostly on the northwest side of Gettysburg with General Meade's right flank. Neither side had all their troops there on July 1st, but they were arriving hourly and thrown into battle as fast as possible. The Confederate forces gave a good account of themselves and at dusk had driven General Meade's men back into town to Cemetery Hill.
The heaviest fighting on the second day was on the north and east side of Gettysburg. General Ewell arrived early in the day from Carlisle and not knowing a battle had started, he ran into the Federal's XI corps under General Howard. With help from General Early and General Jones they managed to push the XI Corps back across Hanover Road; they took Benner's Hill and pushed them to the base of Culp's Hill. That was as far as they could go and the 1st, 2nd and V Corps came to the XI's aid. Heavy fighting took place the rest of the day but at dusk everyone was holding their grounds.
During the night of July 2nd General Lee held a meeting with his Corps commanders and decided the center of General Meade's line must be the weak spot, so tomorrow they would hit there. General Longstreet voted against this plan as he figured Meade was strong there also. The plan was drawn and General Pickett was to lead the charge with 12,000 infantry troops after the artillery softened the area with about 3 hours of shelling. The Union artillery traded shot-for-shot with Lee's artillery. The firing died down and the bugle call sounded and 13,000 gray clad troops stood up and started towards General Meade's lines one-and one-half miles away.
The Union artillery cut holes after holes in this line, but it never once stopped, and closed holes in rank and kept moving. "These were brave men". The line of gray moved on and on, finally they came within rifle range of General Meade's men which were behind stonewalls. Very few units made it back to General Lee's line. This brought the battle of Gettysburg to a close with over 50,000 men killed, wounded, and missing, in the three days of fighting. The books list 23,186 Union troops and 27,063 Confederate troops. The battle had crippled both armies and the battle did not resume on July 4th and General Lee gathered his wounded together as best he could and started the long trip back to Virginia.
The 42nd Infantry Division now under the command of Lt. General Richard S. Ewell; he had been appointed commander of the Second Corps. After General Jackson was killed at Chancellorsville they did their heaviest fighting on July 2nd, but were also involved on the 3rd holding as many Union troops away from the fighting in the center of the line. They were in Brigadier GEneral John M. Jones' brigade and commanded by Lt. Colonel R. W. Withers.