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KB0WSA > TODAY 01.07.11 20:08l 47 Lines 2171 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 9499_KB0WSA
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Subj: Today in History - Jul 1
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KB0WSA
Sent: 110701/1840Z 9499@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.0.4
Jul 1, 1863:
The Battle of Gettysburg begins
The largest military conflict in North American history begins
this day when Union and Confederate forces collide at
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The epic battle lasted three days and
resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee's Army of
Northern Virginia.
Two months prior to Gettysburg, Lee had dealt a stunning defeat
to the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville, Virginia. He
then made plans for a Northern invasion in order to relieve
pressure on war-weary Virginia and to seize the initiative from
the Yankees. His army, numbering about 80,000, began moving on
June 3. The Army of the Potomac, commanded by Joseph Hooker and
numbering just under 100,000, began moving shortly thereafter,
staying between Lee and Washington, D.C. But on June 28,
frustrated by the Lincoln administration's restrictions on his
autonomy as commander, Hooker resigned and was replaced by
George G. Meade.
Meade took command of the Army of the Potomac as Lee's army
moved into Pennsylvania. On the morning of July 1, advance units
of the forces came into contact with one another just outside of
Gettysburg. The sound of battle attracted other units, and by
noon the conflict was raging. During the first hours of battle,
Union General John Reynolds was killed, and the Yankees found
that they were outnumbered. The battle lines ran around the
northwestern rim of Gettysburg. The Confederates applied
pressure all along the Union front, and they slowly drove the
Yankees through the town.
By evening, the Federal troops rallied on high ground on the
southeastern edge of Gettysburg. As more troops arrived, Meade's
army formed a three-mile long, fishhook-shaped line running from
Culp's Hill on the right flank, along Cemetery Hill and Cemetery
Ridge, to the base of Little Round Top. The Confederates held
Gettysburg, and stretched along a six-mile arc around the Union
position. Lee’s forces would continue to batter each end of the
Union position, before launching the infamous Pickett’s Charge
against the Union center on July 3.
73, Billie
KB0WSA @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-Mail: kb0wsa@winlink.org
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