Battle of Gettysburg Fact Sheet

1) General Robert E. Lee was in overall command with Generals Longstreet, Hill, Ewell, Heth, Pickett, Stuart and others in charge of different units. (Confederates) 2) General Meade was in overall command with Generals Buford, Reynolds, Doubleday, Hancock and others in charge of different units. (Union) 3) There were 95,000 Union troops involved and 75,000 Confederate troops involved. 4) There were about 23,040 Union casualties and 22,000 to 25,000 Confederate casualties. 5) The battle was fought July 1-3, 1863. 6) Jefferson Davis hoped to make the people in the North weary of the war in this battle. 7) The battle was fought in the North as an offensive measure by the Confederacy to bring the war out of Virginia.

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8) General Lee marched his army out of central VA and north Toward Potomac River with the objective of invading Maryland and Pennsylvania. 9) One reason for the invasion was that Lees army was in need of supplies and raw materials that could not be obtained in the Confederacy. His men had suffered greatly for want of food during the winter and spring of 1863. 10) Lee also hoped to obtain a victory on northern soil to take attention away froma dismal situation at Vicksburg, MS. 11) Lee also believed if his army came out victorious in the battle Britain and France would recognize the Confederacy as an independent nation, and provide the growing peace

movement in the North with enough reasons to press the Lincoln administration to sue for peace. 12) As Lees army crossed in PA the Union army cautiously followed Lee shielding the capitol of Washington, DC from the Confederate forces. 13) The Battle of Gettysburg began early on the morning of July 1, 1863, when General Buford's pickets three miles west of Gettysburg spotted the Confederate column sent by General Hill. A Union cavalry officer fired the first shot of the battle and the Confederates answered back with gun shots of their own. 14) One of the first Union soldiers to fall was Major General John Fulton Reynolds, instantly killed while leading his troops into the fray. 15) Once back in Virginia, General Lee reported to President Jefferson Davis on what happened at Gettysburg and how is soldiers had done their best to win the battle. The general never criticized any of his commanders for mistakes that may have been made, nor did he write badly of his soldiers. He knew how hard they had fought and how many of them had been left behind, including many good officers. 16) General Meade also reported to President Lincoln and though the president was disappointed that the Union army had not destroyed Lee's army, he thanked the general for doing such a good job. Congress also thanked General Meade for the victory at Gettysburg, but there were some Union officers who were not quite so pleasant to the general, including General Sickles. General Meade was forced to defend his actions for many years to come. 17) Every home and church in Gettysburg was a hospital, and every field and yard held a grave of a soldier, hastily dug and filled. To provide a proper burial for the Union dead, local citizens began a project for a national cemetery to be placed at Gettysburg.

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18) The Pickett-Pettigrew assault (more popularly, Picketts Charge) momentarily pierced the Union line but was driven back with severe casualties. Stuarts cavalry attempted to gain the Union rear but was repulsed.

19) On July 4, Lee began withdrawing his army toward Williamsport on the Potomac River, thus concluding the Battle of Gettysburg. His train of wounded stretched more than fourteen miles. 20) On July 1, Confederate forces converged on the town from west and north, driving Union defenders back through the streets to Cemetery Hill. During the night, reinforcements arrived for both sides. On July 2, Lee attempted to envelop the Federals, first striking the Union left flank at the Peach Orchard, Wheatfield, Devils Den, and the Round Tops with Longstreets and Hills divisions, and then attacking the Union right at Culps and East Cemetery Hills with Ewells divisions. By evening, the Federals retained Little Round Top and had repulsed most of Ewells men. During the morning of July 3, the Confederate infantry were driven from their last toe-hold on Culps Hill. In the afternoon, after a massive artillery bombardment, Lee attacked the Union center on Cemetery Ridge.

"The Battle of Gettysburg Summary & Facts | Civilwar.org." Civil War Trust: Saving America's Civil War Battlefields. Web. 18 Jan. 2012. <http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg.html>.