Why Was the Battle of Gettysburg Important? The 1863 Union Victory Explained

Day One: The Fight Begins On the morning of 1 July 1863, Union cavalry under John Buford was positioned west of Gettysburg, watching the roads that led into the town. The Confederate soldiers approaching from that direction were moving through open farmland, expecting to find only a small Union force. Instead, Buford’s cavalrymen had dismounted and formed a defensive line behind fences and low rises. They opened fire with their carbines while Union artillery supported them from behind the ridge. The Confederates advanced, but each attack was slowed by the Union fire. Buford knew he could not hold the position forever. His purpose was to delay the Confederates until Union infantry could arrive from the south. Every minute gave the Union army more time to reach the battlefield and occupy the higher ground around the town. John F. Reynolds soon arrived with the Union I Corps and sent his soldiers into the fight. Reynolds was killed shortly afterward, but the reinforcements he had brought helped strengthen the Union line around McPherson Ridge, a low stretch of rising ground west of Gettysburg. For several hours, the Union troops resisted the Confederate attacks. The fighting moved across fields, fences, and patches of woodland, with neither side able to gain a decisive advantage. Then more Confederate soldiers began arriving. A. P. Hill’s corps continued pressing from the west, while Richard S. Ewell’s corps approached from the north, near the roads leading down from Carlisle. The Union troops were now being attacked from two directions, and their position became increasingly difficult to hold. By afternoon, the Union line began to collapse. Soldiers were pushed away from McPherson Ridge and Seminary Ridge, the higher ground west of town. At the same time, Confederate troops attacked from the north and forced Union units away from positions near Oak Hill and Barlow’s Knoll. The retreat became confused. Union soldiers moved back through Gettysburg while Confederate troops followed close behind. Streets filled with infantry, artillery teams, wagons, wounded men, and civilians trying to escape the fighting. Yet the retreat did not become a complete disaster. South of Gettysburg, the Union army gathered on a chain of higher ground formed by Cemetery Hill, Cemetery Ridge, and Culp’s Hill. These positions curved around the southern edge of the town and gave the Union soldiers a strong defensive line. By nightfall, the Confederates had won the first day’s fighting, but the Union army still held the heights. The battle had moved away from the town itself, and the ground that mattered most was now in Union hands. Day Two: The Struggle for the Flanks On 2 July, the Union army occupied the high ground south of Gettysburg. Its line stretched from Culp’s Hill on the right, through Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge, to Little Round Top on the far left. The position was strong because the soldiers could see across the open fields below and support one another along the ridge. Robert E. Lee decided to attack both ends of the Union line. James Longstreet’s First Corps would strike the Union left, while Richard Ewell’s Second Corps attacked the right. A. P. Hill’s Third Corps remained in the centre, where it could keep Union troops from moving too easily between the two threatened sides. The Confederate attack began late in the afternoon on the Union left. Longstreet’s troops advanced toward the Peach Orchard, an exposed area of elevated farmland in front of the Union line. Union artillery fired across the fields, but Confederate infantry gradually forced the defenders back. The fighting spread toward the Wheatfield and Devil’s Den. The Wheatfield was a large open area surrounded by woods and stone walls, while Devil’s Den was a rocky position that offered cover to sharpshooters. Both places became scenes of intense close-range fighting. Units moved forward, were driven back, and returned to the attack, often without knowing what was happening on either side of them. The Confederate advance then turned toward Little Round Top. Little Round Top Little Round Top stood at the far end of the Union line. Although it was not the highest hill on the battlefield, its position made it extremely important. If Confederate troops captured it, they could fire into the side and rear of the Union army on Cemetery Ridge. Union troops reached the hill just before the Confederates attacked. The 20th Maine was ordered to hold the far end of the Union position, where the regiment faced repeated attacks from Alabama soldiers climbing up the slope. The fighting continued until the Union soldiers were almost out of ammunition. When another Confederate attack began to form, Colonel Joshua Chamberlain ordered his men to fix bayonets and charge downhill. The move caught the Confederates by surprise. The 20th Maine struck their exposed side and forced them back down the hill. Little Round Top remained in Union hands, and the Union left was not turned. The Fight for the Right While Longstreet’s troops attacked the left, Confederate soldiers under Ewell pressed against the Union right around Culp’s Hill and East Cemetery Hill. Culp’s Hill formed the right end of the Union position and was protected by stone walls, trees, and earthworks. Confederate troops captured part of the defensive line during the night, but they could not advance far enough to break through. The following morning, Union troops counterattacked and recovered the lost ground. At East Cemetery Hill, closer to the centre of the Union line, Confederate soldiers reached the Union artillery positions after dark. Fighting broke out among the guns, but the Union defenders eventually drove them away. The attacks had pushed the Union army back in several places, but they had not destroyed the line. Lee had struck both flanks and failed to create a breakthrough. Day Three: The Final Attack On the morning of 3 July, Union troops attacked at Culp’s Hill and recovered much of the ground lost during the previous night. The Confederate attack on the Union right had failed. Lee now turned his attention to the Union centre on Cemetery Ridge. He believed that the fighting of the previous day had weakened it and decided to launch a direct attack across the open fields. At about 1 p.m., Confederate artillery opened fire. More than a hundred guns bombarded the Union position, filling the area with smoke and noise. From the Confederate side, it appeared that the Union artillery had been silenced. In reality, many Union batteries had stopped firing to conserve ammunition and avoid revealing their positions. When the Confederate bombardment ended, the Union guns opened again. Pickett’s Charge Around 3 p.m., Confederate infantry emerged from the woods and began moving across the fields. The attack included George Pickett’s Virginia division, together with troops from the divisions of James Johnston Pettigrew and Isaac Trimble. Thousands of men advanced in long lines toward the stone wall on Cemetery Ridge. The distance was nearly three-quarters of a mile (about 1.2 km), leaving the soldiers exposed almost from the moment they began moving. Union artillery fired into the Confederate ranks from the front and from the sides. Gaps appeared in the attacking line, but the soldiers continued forward. When they came within musket range, Union infantry rose behind the wall and fired volleys into the crowded formations. Some Confederates reached the wall. Brigadier General Lewis Armistead led a group over it and briefly entered the Union position, but the breakthrough was too small to hold. Armistead was mortally wounded, and Union troops surrounded or drove back the remaining attackers. The charge collapsed. The survivors had to cross the open fields again, now retreating under Union fire. Pickett’s division had suffered devastating losses, and the attack had failed to break the Union centre. Lee’s final chance to win the battle was gone. The fighting gradually stopped that evening, and on 4 July the Confederate army began withdrawing toward the Potomac River. Britannica — Battle of Gettysburg. Wikipedia - Battle of Gettysburg American Battlefield Trust — The Battle of Gettysburg American Battlefield Trust — Pickett’s Charge. U.S. Army Center of Military History — The Gettysburg Campaign, June–July 1863.

Buford Buys Time The first turning point came before the main armies had even arrived. John Buford’s cavalry held the ridges west of Gettysburg long enough for Union infantry to reach the field. Buford did not need to defeat the Confederates. He only needed to prevent them from taking the high ground. His delaying action gave the Union army time to form the defensive position that ultimately saved it. Reynolds Falls John F. Reynolds was killed shortly after arriving on the first day. His death removed one of the Union’s most respected commanders at the beginning of the battle. Yet the Union reinforcements he had brought helped prevent the Confederate attack from becoming an immediate breakthrough. Reynolds’s fall was a severe loss, but his decision to move quickly toward the fighting bought the army crucial time. The Union Reaches the Heights The most important decision of the first day was the Union retreat toward Cemetery Hill, Cemetery Ridge, and Culp’s Hill. The Union army had lost the ground around the town, but it had gained a strong defensive position. Had the Confederates captured the ridges before the Union reinforcements arrived, Meade might have been forced to fight in the open or retreat toward Baltimore. Instead, the Union army formed a line that Lee could attack but could not easily break. Little Round Top Holds The defence of Little Round Top was a major tactical turning point. The hill formed the end of the Union position. If it fell, Confederate troops could move around the Union left and threaten the rear of the army. The counterattack by the 20th Maine prevented that from happening. It was one small part of a huge battle, but its survival protected the entire Union flank. Lee’s Flank Attacks Fail Lee’s plan on 2 July depended on attacks against both Union flanks. Longstreet’s troops captured ground on the Union left, but they did not break through. Ewell’s attacks on the Union right also failed to destroy the position. By nightfall, Meade still held the high ground. Lee had used much of his army’s strength without creating the opening he needed. The Centre Holds The final turning point was Pickett’s Charge. Lee believed a concentrated attack could break the Union centre, but the Confederate artillery bombardment did not silence the Union guns. When the infantry advanced, it crossed open ground under artillery and musket fire. A few men reached the Union wall, but the assault lacked enough strength to hold the breakthrough. Once the attack failed, Lee had no realistic path to victory. Britannica — Battle of Gettysburg. Wikipedia - Battle of Gettysburg American Battlefield Trust — The Battle of Gettysburg American Battlefield Trust — Pickett’s Charge. U.S. Army Center of Military History — The Gettysburg Campaign, June–July 1863.

Lee Retreats South The Battle of Gettysburg ended on 3 July, but the Confederate army did not immediately leave Pennsylvania. Lee waited near Gettysburg while his wounded were gathered and his supply trains were prepared. On 4 July, he began the retreat toward the Potomac River. Rain swelled the river and delayed the Confederates. For several days, Lee’s army was trapped between the flooded Potomac and the pursuing Union army. Meade moved cautiously, and the Confederates eventually crossed back into Virginia on the night of 13–14 July. The Union had won the battle, but Lee’s army escaped destruction. The Human Cost Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle fought in the American Civil War. The Union suffered about 23,000 casualties. Confederate losses are harder to calculate, but estimates range from approximately 23,000 to 28,000. The figures include men killed, wounded, captured, or missing. Thousands of wounded soldiers remained on the battlefield after the armies moved away, and many later died from their injuries or disease. The battle also devastated the local community. Farms became hospitals, fields became burial grounds, and civilians were left to care for thousands of wounded soldiers from both armies. Horses, cattle, crops, fences, and buildings were destroyed across the countryside. A Turning Point in the War Gettysburg did not end the Civil War, but it stopped Lee’s second invasion of the North. After the battle, the Army of Northern Virginia remained dangerous, but it would spend much of the rest of the war fighting defensively. At almost the same time, Union forces captured Vicksburg on the Mississippi River. The combination of Gettysburg and Vicksburg marked a major shift in the war: the Confederacy had lost a major campaign in the east and a vital strategic stronghold in the west. The Confederacy could still resist, but it was increasingly forced to respond to Union offensives rather than launch its own. The Gettysburg Address Four months after the battle, on 19 November 1863, Abraham Lincoln travelled to Gettysburg for the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. His speech lasted only a few minutes, but the Gettysburg Address transformed the meaning of the battle. Lincoln presented the war as a test of whether a nation founded on liberty and equality could survive. He connected the sacrifices of the soldiers with the future of the United States, arguing that the dead had given their lives so that “government of the people, by the people, for the people” "shall not perish from the earth". The battlefield therefore became more than a place where Lee’s invasion had failed. It became a symbol of the Union’s attempt to preserve the nation and redefine what that nation meant. A Battle Remembered in Stone Gettysburg is now preserved as a national military park, with monuments marking the positions of regiments, brigades, divisions, and commanders. The stone wall along Cemetery Ridge, Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Devil’s Den, and Pickett’s Charge remain among the most recognizable locations in American military history. Gettysburg was not won by one shot or one regiment alone. It was won because, over three days, the Union army repeatedly held the ground it could not afford to lose. Britannica — Battle of Gettysburg. Wikipedia - Battle of Gettysburg American Battlefield Trust — The Battle of Gettysburg American Battlefield Trust — Pickett’s Charge. U.S. Army Center of Military History — The Gettysburg Campaign, June–July 1863.

1. The Defensive Lines That Never Saw a Shot Before the armies collided at Gettysburg, both commanders tried to force the other to attack on ground of their choosing. Robert E. Lee hoped to draw the Union army into a fight near Cashtown, about eight miles west of Gettysburg, while George G. Meade prepared a carefully planned defensive line along Pipe Creek near Taneytown, Maryland, roughly twelve miles to the southeast. In the end, neither of these prepared positions was used; the battle erupted instead around the crossroads town that lay between them. 2. The Only Civilized Being on Culp’s Hill On the third day, amid the brutal fighting on Culp’s Hill, a stray dog wandered into the advancing Confederate columns. The animal was shot and, as it lay dying, licked the hand of a nearby soldier. A Union officer who witnessed the scene later called the dog “the only civilized being” on the battlefield and ordered that it be given an honorable burial. 3. A Generals' Bloodbath Gettysburg was not only costly for ordinary soldiers; it was unusually deadly for senior officers. Of roughly 120 generals present over the three days, nine were killed or mortally wounded—one of the highest concentrations of general officer losses in the entire Civil War. Their deaths and wounds left lasting gaps in command on both sides and shaped the course of the fighting. 4. The Shoe Myth That Wouldn’t Die A popular story once claimed that Confederate troops stumbled into Gettysburg because they were searching for a shoe factory. Historians and battlefield researchers have long shown that no such factory existed in Gettysburg or Adams County in 1863. The battle happened because of the town’s road network, not a shoe hunt. Battlefields.org - 10-facts-gettysburg abc27.com - 160 things you may not know about the gettysburg campaign