The Battle of Gettysburg Research Paper

On a scorching, sweltering day, Robert E. Lee, and his tattered army marched towards the Federals to seize supplies. After Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had scored a smashing victory over the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville (Editors), the rebels are marching towards Gettysburg. After three days of catastrophic fighting, the CSA (Confederate States of America) was demolished. The North and South used precise strategy on the first day of Gettysburg, the battle of little round top, and Pickett's charge. 

On July 1, 1863, Robert E. Lee sent General Henry Heth’s ebullient infantry to occupy supplies in Gettysburg (Vossler). By mid-morning, Union infantry arrived, relieving the CSA (Vossler). A lull spread across the battlefield as the fighting slowed, then stopped, allowing both sides to reorganize and bring fresh forces back into position (Vossler). Fighting soon resumed and new Confederate troops were arriving. The two sides were using deliberate tactics to fight each other in the Battle of Gettysburg.

On the Union side, President Abraham Lincoln had lost confidence in the Army of the Potomac’s commander, Joseph Hooker, who seemed reluctant to confront Lee’s army after the defeat at Chancellorsville (Editors). Joseph Hooker was fired later. The rebels outnumbered the federals and forced them to retract back to the center and forced the Union to form into a fishhook formation (Vossler). 

In the late afternoon, Union General Reynolds shouts “Forward Men, Forward for God’s sake, drive those fellows out of the woods (Foster).” Reynolds was soon later shot at the back of the neck, wounded, and later died. Reynolds was later replaced by Abner Doubleday, inventor of baseball. Confederate General Heth was preparing a second attack along McPherson ridge (Foster). By the afternoon of the 1st, Heth was preparing for a second attack along McPherson’s Ridge. Around the same time, Ewell was moving troops into position to the north to support Jubal Early’s division that was heavily engaged against elements of the Union Eleventh Corps. The Union defense was falling quickly and needed reinforcements horribly.

On the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, it became a critical position during General Robert E. Lee’s flank attacks against Major General George Gordon Meade’s Union position atop Cemetery Ridge (History Net LLC). Meade commanded Gen. Warren to inspect positions (https://www.facebook.com/thoughtcodotcom). Little round top became a high advantage point to those who are on top of the hill. Warren’s gun crew fired a cannonball and CSA was retreating. Col. Strong Vincent answered with a brigade from the 1st Division of the V Corps. He started setting up defensive lines upon the hill. Some of Vincent’s regiments and corps are 20th Maine, 83rd Pennsylvania, 44th New York, and 16th Michigan. 

Ultimately, Longstreet’s troopers did not arrive at their goal until around 3:00 pm, after many of the Confederates had marched for nearly nine hours after stepping off in the early hours of the morning of July 2nd. Longstreet, worn down by the march and the course of events of the day, was increasingly frustrated with the way things were unfolding. Other brigades of the CSA attacked Seminary Ridge, the Peach Orchard, Rose farm, the Wheatfield, and Devil’s Den (thestrategybridge.com). General O’Rourke scurried to grab as many men as he could, while further support was dispatched to support the flank. 

The Confederates were being rocked and struck by the cannons on top of the hill. The federals were later supported by 3,000 infantries (historynet.com). Lieutenant Hazlett fell dead. Opposing the Union were nearly 650 Confederates of the 47th and 15th Alabama. Union Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine Regiment make a daring downhill charge to defend Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Around 6:30 pm, CSA Gen. Oates ordered his regiments to withdraw from the hill when he lost nearly half of his 520 men (historynet.com). The Texans lost nearly all their men. There were 565 casualties for the Union and 4,864 casualties for the CSA. The battle of little round top was over, while the federals kept using different maneuvers to dominate their enemies.

The third and final day of the Battle of Gettysburg would be no less dramatic than the earlier two (Foster). Federal forces were lining up across all the ridges and the hills forming safeguarding walls of men. Major General Robert E. Lee thought he could win the battle only with an aggressive charge even though he had been assaulted from left to right. Union General Meade knew he had to make an attack, so he commanded them to go lower of Cemetery Ridge.

Lee chose General George E. Pickett to lead this charge known as the Pickett Charge. His 5,400 men were not fighting in the past days, so these men would be perfect (Foster). The Confederate assault plan was called for a pre-bombardment to soften the Federal lines up. So, General Lee ordered his men to line up 150 cannons open fire with a massive artillery barge (McNamara). The two sides fired at each other with a vast number of cannonballs, until the CSA ran out of ammunition and people (Foster). The ground shook for nearly two hours. Approximately 12,500 Confederate soldiers, from Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee marched from their positions along Seminary Ridge across the rolling and undulating one mile of open ground with Cemetery Ridge and the Federal center as their destination (Foster). 

Pickett ordered his infantry to charge, and he addressed, “Don’t forget today, you are from Old Virginia (McNamara).” The rebels were continuously being harassed while they ran through the obstacles and stone walls. They were all being killed mostly with cannons. In total, the CSA lost 6,555 of its soldiers in the first hour (America Battlefield Trust). When the CSA was starting to advance near the Union forces, soldiers began switching their bullets into canister shots (McNamara). These methods of defense helped the Union win the charge. Union General Winfield S. Hancock was severely wounded (Foster). Named the "Angle," for where the low stonewalls took control of by Union soldiers along Cemetery Ridge jutted back to the east. Federal General Alexander Webb defended the Angle and challenged General Lewis Armistead to one-on-one combat. Armistead was wounded, and perhaps 250 men died climbing over the wall (America Battlefield Trust). 

Many Confederate soldiers who have not died, or were wounded, fled the battleground (America Battlefield Trust). Some attackers of the CSA infantry were taken as prisoners. The wounded and the dead littered the battlefield (McNamara). While the southerners retreated to Virginia, they continued being harassed on the way back (McNamara). From then on, the offensive war of the CSA was now over. 

Lee expressed deep regret for the charge saying, “This has been all my fault.” Pickett blamed General Lee for the devastating losses (America Battlefield Trust).