— Ch. 1 · Strategic Context And Campaign Launch —
Battle of Gettysburg.
~8 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
On the 3rd of June 1863, General Robert E. Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia northward from Fredericksburg, Virginia. This marked the beginning of his second invasion of the North following a major victory at Chancellorsville in May. Lee's force numbered approximately 72,000 men and included three new corps commanded by Lieutenant Generals James Longstreet, Richard S. Ewell, and A.P. Hill. The campaign aimed to shift focus away from war-ravaged Virginia and threaten cities like Philadelphia or Harrisburg. Confederate leaders hoped this move would pressure northern politicians into ending the war. During the advance, Lee issued strict orders to minimize harm to civilians, though quartermasters often paid farmers with worthless Confederate money. Between 40 and nearly 60 free African Americans were kidnapped during the march and sent south into slavery. By June 29, Lee's army stretched in an arc from Chambersburg to Carlisle near Harrisburg. Union forces under Major General Joseph Hooker pursued but failed to stop the Confederate advance. On June 28, President Abraham Lincoln replaced Hooker with Major General George Gordon Meade just days before the battle began.
The First Day Of Battle
At 7:30 a.m. on the 1st of July 1863, two brigades of Confederate General Henry Heth's division advanced eastward along the Chambersburg Pike toward Gettysburg. They encountered light resistance from Union cavalry vedettes before meeting dismounted troopers of Colonel William Gamble's brigade. These Union soldiers fired breech-loading Sharp's carbines from behind fences and trees, delaying the Confederate advance. By 10:20 a.m., Confederates had pushed Union cavalrymen east to McPherson Ridge until the vanguard of the I Corps arrived. North of the pike, Brigadier General Lysander Cutler's brigade repelled attacks around an unfinished railroad bed cut in the ridge. South of the pike, Archer's brigade assaulted through Herbst Woods where the Union Iron Brigade captured several hundred men including Archer himself. General John F. Reynolds was shot and killed early in the fighting while directing troop placements. Major General Abner Doubleday assumed command as fighting resumed at 2:30 p.m. When Pettigrew's North Carolina Brigade flanked the 19th Indiana, the Iron Brigade was pushed out of the woods toward Seminary Ridge. By early afternoon, the Union line ran in a semicircle west, north, and northeast of Gettysburg. Around 2:00 p.m., Confederate divisions under Robert E. Rodes and Jubal Early assaulted positions north and northwest of town. A blunder by Brigadier General Francis C. Barlow allowed Early's troops to overrun his division on Blocher's Knoll. As Union positions collapsed both north and west of town, Howard ordered a retreat to Cemetery Hill where he had left Adolph von Steinwehr's division in reserve. Winfield S. Hancock arrived from Meade and declared this position the strongest nature offered for battle.