To appreciate the importance of the Union victory at Gettysburg, you have to understand the situation that existed just prior to the battle.

After two years of fighting, the Civil War was nearly at a standstill. In early May of 1863, Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeated the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Chancellorsville Virginia, despite being outnumbered by more than two-to-one. Morale in the Union army and throughout the north reached a new low.

High Water Mark
The term High Water Mark is used to denote the location and time of the greatest military advancement made by the Confederate army during the course of the American Civil War. The Confederate High Water Mark is located in a small stretch of earth known as the "Angle" on Cemetery Ridge, just south of Gettysburg. It was here on July 3, 1863 that the Union Army repulsed the men of Pickett's Charge. Never again would Lee have the resources to launch a major offensive onto northern soil following his defeat at Gettysburg.

Bolstered by his recent string of victories, General Lee convinced the southern war cabinet, under Confederate President Jefferson Davis, to launch an offensive onto northern soil and strike a decisive blow at the Army of the Potomac. Lee hoped this bold maneuver would force the North to redirect their efforts away from Vicksburg Mississippi where Union General Ulysses S. Grant was laying siege to the city. He also hoped that a decisive victory might force Lincoln to sue for peace and end the war.

The stakes were high and everyone knew it. If the Confederates defeated the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, major cities like Washington DC, Baltimore and Philadelphia would become vulnerable to attack. Even the common foot soldier knew the significance of the impending battle.

Gettysburg July 1, 1863

How was the Army of Northern Virginia organized? To see a short movie on the organizational structure of Lee's army, click on the image below. The movie is just a small portion of two longer movies that describe the armies that fought at Gettysburg. The full version is part of the GETTYSBURG EXPEDITION GUIDE

This map (above) is a small, low resolution version of the one contained in the GETTYSBURG EXPEDITION GUIDE or the GETTYSBURG FIELD GUIDE. The map depicts the terrain as it appeared back in 1863. The yellow line is the TravelBrains audio tour, superimposed so that you can compare the past with the present, while driving through the park. If you plan on touring the battlefield, these maps and the dozens of historic battlefield photographs will help bring the history to life and give you clarity on how the battle unfolded.

By the morning of July 2, 1863, General Lee was still without the aid of his cavalry. JEB Stuart, the Confederate cavalry commander, had not yet arrived on the battlefield. This was a disadvantage for Lee and one that would affect the day's fighting.

Early that morning, Lee received reports that the left end of the Union army terminated along Cemetery Ridge. He ordered his second in command, General James Longstreet, to lead the main thrust of the attack against that end of the Federal defenses. On the other end of the Union line, he instructed General Ewell to make a demonstration against the enemy in order to prevent them from shifting their troops to defend against the main attack.

By the early afternoon of July 2, 1863, almost all of the Union army had arrived on the battlefield and taken up positions south of town. Due to the terrain, the Union line took on the shape of a fishhook (see image). This formation gave the Federals a distinct advantage. Using the interior lines (blue arrows), they could quickly shift their reserve forces to meet the point of Lee's attack.

The Union formation changed, however. General Daniel Sickles, commander of the Union III Corps, decided to advance his men west towards an elevated stretch of Earth near a peach orchard along the Emmitsburg Road. Sickles believed the new position was superior, but it left his men exposed on the flank and difficult to support.

By the time General Meade, commander of the Union army, discovered what Sickles had done, it was too late. Confederate General Longstreet launched his attack.

Wave after wave of Confederate soldiers began pouring out of the woods along the southern end of Seminary Ridge. Soon the Union III Corps was in danger of being flanked, as the Rebels pushed towards the slopes of Little Round Top.

If not for the watchful eyes of Union General Gouverneur K. Warren and the quick action of several Union commanders, the strategic high ground of Little Round Top would have fallen into the hands of the Confederates. Following several desperate charges by Union soldiers, the Rebels were pushed back from the crest of Little Round Top.

But out in front of Little Round Top, the battle was taking a decidedly different direction. The men of the Union III Corps were split in two by a fresh wave of attacks on the Peach Orchard and The Wheatfield. By the end of the day, the III Corps was decimated, losing nearly fifty percent of its men. When the fighting finally subsided on the left end of the Union line, the Confederates had inflicted heavy casualties and captured major sections of the battlefield, but had failed to take Little Round Top. The Union line was still in tact and in control of the high ground.

The fighting, however, was far from over. As the battle drew to a close on the left end of the Union line, the right end began what would become the longest sustained fighting of the battle. Beginning at approximately 7 p.m. and continuing until the late hours of the evening, the Confederates launched a series of attacks on Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill. Then beginning early in the morning on July 3, the attacks began again with little rest for the men.

Gettysburg July 3, 1863

The fighting started early on the final day of the battle. At approximately 4:30 in the morning, Union gun crews began pounding the Confederates in the area of Culp's Hill. The Federals were determined to retake the earthworks at the base of the hill that the Rebels had captured the night before. What followed was a blistering seven hours of fighting on the steep and rocky slopes of Culp's Hill. By the time it was over, the Federals had retaken the earthworks and maintained control of the high ground.

Lee's original plan had called for a coordinated attack, but the fighting on Culp's Hill forced him to change his strategy. He was, however, still committed to delivering the decisive blow against his enemy here at Gettysburg.

The day before Lee had tested both ends of the Union line and could not break them. Now he became convinced that his enemy was weakest in the middle and issued orders to launch a massive frontal assault on the thin blue line defending Cemetery Ridge. The assault would end up in the history books as, "Pickett's Charge".

At approximately 1:00 in the afternoon of July 3, 1863, 150 Confederate cannons from the Peach Orchard all the way to Oak Hill opened fire. Concentrating their destructive fire power on the Union troops and artillery positioned on Cemetery Ridge, the cannonade was meant to blast away any resistance to the infantry charge that followed.

The Union cannons answered the call and for nearly two hours both sides fired shot and shell with a deafening effect. The noise of the cannonade was so loud it could be heard as far away as Pittsburgh, 150 miles from Gettysburg. In Baltimore, it sounded like rolling thunder.

Unfortunately for the Confederate soldiers participating in the charge, the goals of the cannonade had not been fully achieved. Almost immediately the Federal gun crews opened fire and began raking the long gray line of soldiers as they attempted to march across nearly a mile of open fields.

When they reached the Emmitsburg Road, the entire center of the Union line ignited in a blaze of musket fire. The Confederates lines were thinning quickly, but they continued to close ranks and push forward. Converging on the "clump of trees" along Cemetery Ridge, they reached a low stone wall and were able to force the Union defenders back. Suddenly the Rebels had some protection and could shoot at the Federal troops who were now exposed.

The respite was short lived, however. Confederate General Lewis Armistead knew that if they were going to succeed, they would have to move forward and split the Union forces in two. With his black hat balanced on the tip of his sword, Armistead yelled, "Give them the cold steel boys!" and led his men over the wall. But the Rebels were greeted with the musket fire of additional Union troops rushing to fill the gaps. Armistead was mortally wounded reaching out for a captured Union cannon. Soon the entire Confederate assault ground to a halt as the Federal troops crowded in on all sides, shooting at close range.

Pickett's Charge was one of the greatest military disasters of the Civil War. The losses were staggering. In the span of a single hour, all of Pickett's regimental commanders were killed or wounded. Front line casualty rates reached seventy percent. When Pickett reached the safety of Seminary Ridge, Lee instructed him to gather his division and prepare for a counterattack. To this Pickett replied, "General Lee, I have no division."