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N0KFQ > TODAY 03.07.14 16:00l 88 Lines 4385 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 25257_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Jul 3
Path: IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<GB7CIP<N0KFQ
Sent: 140703/1458Z 25257@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
Jul 3, 1863:
Battle of Gettysburg ends
On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate General
Robert E. Lee's last attempt at breaking the Union line ends in
disastrous failure, bringing the most decisive battle of the
American Civil War to an end.
In June 1863, following his masterful victory at the Battle of
Chancellorsville, General Lee launched his second invasion of the
Union in less than a year. He led his 75,000-man Army of Northern
Virginia across the Potomac River, through Maryland, and into
Pennsylvania, seeking to win a major battle on Northern soil that
would further dispirit the Union war effort and induce Britain or
France to intervene on the Confederacy's behalf. The
90,000-strong Army of the Potomac pursued the Confederates into
Maryland, but its commander, General Joseph Hooker, was still
stinging from his defeat at Chancellorsville and seemed reluctant
to chase Lee further. Meanwhile, the Confederates divided their
forces and investigated various targets, such as Harrisburg, the
Pennsylvania capital.
On June 28, President Abraham Lincoln replaced Hooker with
General George Meade, and Lee learned of the presence of the Army
of the Potomac in Maryland. Lee ordered his army to concentrate
in the vicinity of the crossroads town of Gettysburg and prepare
to meet the Federal army. At the same time, Meade sent ahead part
of his force into Pennsylvania but intended to make a stand at
Pipe Creek in Maryland.
On July 1, a Confederate division under General Henry Heth
marched into Gettysburg hoping to seize supplies but finding
instead three brigades of Union cavalry. Thus began the Battle of
Gettysburg, and Lee and Meade ordered their massive armies to
converge on the impromptu battle site. The Union cavalrymen
defiantly held the field against overwhelming numbers until the
arrival of Federal reinforcements. Later, the Confederates were
reinforced, and by mid-afternoon some 19,000 Federals faced
24,000 Confederates. Lee arrived to the battlefield soon
afterward and ordered a general advance that forced the Union
line back to Cemetery Hill, just south of the town.
During the night, the rest of Meade's force arrived, and by the
morning Union General Winfield Hancock had formed a strong Union
line. On July 2, against the Union left, General James Longstreet
led the main Confederate attack, but it was not carried out until
about 4 p.m., and the Federals had time to consolidate their
positions. Thus began some of the heaviest fighting of the
battle, and Union forces retained control of their strategic
positions at heavy cost. After three hours, the battle ended, and
the total number of dead at Gettysburg stood at 35,000.
On July 3, Lee, having failed on the right and the left, planned
an assault on Meade's center. A 15,000-man strong column under
General George Pickett was organized, and Lee ordered a massive
bombardment of the Union positions. The 10,000 Federals answered
the Confederate artillery onslaught, and for more than an hour
the guns raged in the heaviest cannonade of the Civil War. At 3
p.m., Pickett led his force into no-man's-land and found that
Lee's bombardment had failed. As Pickett's force attempted to
cross the mile distance to Cemetery Ridge, Union artillery blew
great holes in their lines. Meanwhile, Yankee infantry flanked
the main body of "Pickett's charge" and began cutting down the
Confederates. Only a few hundred Virginians reached the Union
line, and within minutes they all were dead, dying, or captured.
In less than an hour, more than 7,000 Confederate troops had been
killed or wounded.
Both armies, exhausted, held their positions until the night of
July 4, when Lee withdrew. The Army of the Potomac was too weak
to pursue the Confederates, and Lee led his army out of the
North, never to invade it again. The Battle of Gettysburg was the
turning point in the Civil War, costing the Union 23,000 killed,
wounded, or missing in action. The Confederates suffered some
25,000 casualties. On November 19, 1863, President Lincoln
delivered his famous Gettysburg Address during the dedication of
a new national cemetery at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg.
The Civil War effectively ended with the surrender of General
Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in April 1865.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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