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In the early summer of 1863, Gen. Robert E. Lee and his battle-hardened Army of Northern Virginia stood undefeated. In early May, Lee had led his veterans against Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s Federals concentrated around the small crossroads of Chancellorsville. After three days of desperate fighting, Lee’s Rebels forced Hooker to withdraw behind the Rappahannock River.
Determined not to sit and await new Federal onslaughts, Lee decided to cross the Potomac River and strike into Pennsylvania. He hoped to carry the fighting away from war-torn Virginia and gain access to the rich harvests of Pennsylvania. In addition, a victory on Union soil might embolden the Northern peace parties and encourage European recognition of the Confederacy.
In the first weeks of June, the Army of Northern Virginia, 70,000 strong, pushed north with Gen. Richard Ewell’s corps in the vanguard. Ewell marched swiftly down the Shenandoah Valley and on June 15, the first Rebel infantry crossed the Potomac. While the corps of A.P. Hill and James Longstreet marched in Ewell’s wake, J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry stayed east of the Blue Ridge Mountains to screen the army from Federal probes. On June 24, Lee permitted Stuart to depart on a raid into enemy territory — a fateful decision that would deprive him of his cavalry for most of the campaign.
On June 28, with his forces concentrated around Frederick, Hooker was sacked and replaced by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade. The new commander promptly sent his forces marching north to menace Lee’s lines of communication. The Confederate leader, unaware that Meade’s 90,000 men were rapidly closing in on his army, had dispatched Ewell toward Harrisburg while holding Longstreet and A.P. Hill in the vicinity of Chambersburg. But when Lee received a report that the Federals were not far off, he ordered his army to concentrate in the vicinity of the crossroads town of Gettysburg.
On July 1, part of A.P. Hill’s corps moved to Gettysburg to seize a supply of shoes that were reported to be there. As the men moved toward the town down the Chambersburg Pike, they soon encountered Federal cavalry. Despite orders to avoid a general engagement, the Rebels launched a series of powerful attacks against the badly outnumbered troopers. Federal infantry under Gen. John Reynolds joined the fighting at midmorning to turn back the assaults.
During a midday lull, Gen. Oliver O. Howard’s corps arrived and extended the Federal position to the north of Gettysburg. The arrival of Ewell’s corps marching down from the north, however, broke Howard’s lines and sent his men reeling back through Gettysburg. By nightfall, the Federals had fallen back to rally around the high ground south of town.
On the morning of July 2, encouraged by his success of the preceding day, Robert E. Lee planned to renew the attack. Lee planned an assault that would send Longstreet’s corps to attack in stages from south to north along the Federal line. The attack would begin against the lightly held Union left flank near two rocky hills named Big and Little Round Top. At about 4:00 p.m., after a long delay, Longstreet finally arrived in position. The Rebels advanced past Big Round Top and stormed up the rocky slopes of Little Round Top, where they were halted in viscous fighting by Federal troops who had been rushed to the scene.
While the fighting raged around Little Round Top, Confederate units further to the north slammed into Maj. Gen. Dan Sickles’ corps. Earlier in the day Sickles, displeased with the position assigned by Meade, had moved his entire corps forward to an exposed position along the Emmitsburg Road. He now found himself under attack by Rebel forces from the south and west. Sickles’ men were slowly driven back in desperate fighting that raged over landmarks such as the Wheat Field, the Peach Orchard and the Trostle Farm. Reinforcements urgently dispatched by Meade finally halted the Confederate advance.
At the far northern end of the Federal line an assault by Confederate Gen. Richard Ewell was delayed until early evening. The Confederates were stopped by Federals firing from behind formidable breastworks constructed on the crests of Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill.
By the morning of July 3, after two days of bloody fighting, the costly Rebel attacks on the Union flanks had achieved little. Still undaunted, Lee now decided to smash through what he believed was a weak Federal center using the just-arrived division of Gen. George Pickett supported by already bloodied troops under Brig. Gen. James J. Pettigrew. At 3:00 p.m., after an ineffective two-hour artillery bombardment, the Rebel infantry stepped off.
The long gray lines advanced at a walk into the teeth of murderous artillery and rifle fire. Pressing on despite fearful losses, the survivors struck the Union lines at several points, including the now-celebrated stone wall. But Federal reserves, rushed from different parts of the line, stopped the Confederate advance and the shattered remnants retreated back across the corpse-strewn field leaving 19 Rebel battle flags in Federal hands. Gen. Lee rode forward to rally the demoralized survivors repeating, "Don’t be discouraged. It was my fault this time."
As the sound of the guns faded, Robert E. Lee sadly prepared to withdraw back into Virginia. His army had suffered over 20,000 casualties, numbers the Confederacy could ill afford to lose. On the Federal side the butcher’s bill was just as high — the Army of the Potomac had suffered 23,000 men killed, wounded or taken prisoner. On July 4, as thunderstorms raged over the blood-soaked battlefield, Lee gave orders to begin the withdrawal of his army back to the Potomac River crossings.