Transcript The battle of Gettysburg

The battle of
Gettysburg
By: daniel MuÑoz-Vidal
Prior to the
battle
• About the town of Gettysburg
• Union and Confederate Generals
• Confederates March Towards Gettysburg
Gettysburg - before the
battle
•Before the battle, Gettysburg
was an insignificant crossroads
town founded by Samuel Gettys
in 1786.
•By 1858, a railroad called the
Gettysburg Railroad was
completed and opened to the
public for transportation.
•It was not until the Battle of
Gettysburg that it would become
one of the famously known battle
grounds of the Civil War.
Generals of the Battle
Union
•Major General George Gordon
Meade was the commanding Union
General during the battle. He had
recently replaced Major General
Joseph Hooker as the commander
of the Potomac Army.
Confederates
•General Robert Edward Lee was the
Confederate General, who, during his march
through Pennsylvania, left a trail of
destruction by seizing peoples foods and
capturing blacks, sending them to the south
as slaves.
•General Lee had three generals under him
to lead his men.
•General James Longstreet
•General Richard Stoddert Ewell
•General Ambrose Powell Hill
Confederates march
towards Gettysburg
• The Confederates were on the move to
Pennsylvania to threaten Washington, D.C.
and to try to draw the Union away from
Vicksburg.
• Union cavalry under the command of Major
General Alfred Pleasonton, were sent to
discover what General Lee was up to. The
Union cavalry surprised Major General Stuart,
the Confederate cavalry commander at Brandy
Station. The battle of Brandy Station became
the largest cavalry battle of the Civil War, with
20,000 mounted soldiers clashing along the
Rappahannock River for twelve hours.
• Ultimately, the battle was a standoff, but the
Union now knew that General Lee was on the
move.
The First Day of
Battle
July 1, 1863
July 1, 1863
The Battle of Gettysburg began as a clash
over shoes. Rumors circulated of a stash of
shoes in the insignificant little crossroads
town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. An infantry
officer under Ewell’s command was sent to
commandeer the shoes. The Union arrived
from the south that day while the
Confederates arrived from the north. About
three miles from town, Confederate advance
guards encountered General John Buford’s
Union cavalry. Both sides sent couriers
requesting immediate reinforcements to
Gettysburg. Buford tried desperately to hold
his position.
Confederate forces gathered first, while Union
forces slowly arrived. The Confederates
pushed the Union army to Culp’s and
Cemetary Hill where General Winfield rallied
troops into defensive positions.
General Lee arrived in the middle of
the afternoon and ordered General
Ewell to renew the attack on Culp
and Cemetary Hill. Ewell did not
attack because his men needed rest.
General Longstreet wanted to flank
the Union taking posts between
General Meade’s army and
Washington. General Lee stopped
the plan as he did not know the
numbers or strength of the Union
army.
The Second Day of
Battle
July 2, 1863
July 2, 1863
Throughout the night, reinforcements
gathered for both armies. When they stopped
gathering, 65,000 Confederates faced 85,000
Union troops. The Union troops were
positioned along Cemetery Ridge where
neighboring hills overlooked the Union
positions: Culp’s and Cemetery Hill on the
right, Big and Little Round Top on the left.
General Lee wanted these points taken.
Ewell was instructed to take Culp’s Hill while,
Longstreet was to take the Round Tops. By
the afternoon, Longstreet finally shifted two
divisions into position to start the assault. By
this time, General Stuart finally arrived, tired
and dusty, and General Lee was furious with
him for being late; but calmed down after
realizing Stuart’s anguish.
Union General Daniel Sickles was sent to
defend the Round Tops from Longstreet, but
instead moved his troops to Peach Orchard,
leaving the Round Tops and the Union’s left
flank completely exposed.
Before General Meade could order
Sickles back to the Round Tops,
Longstreet began his assault. The
15th Alabama, while the 20th Maine
was sent to counter the advancing
Confederates. The 20th Maine formed
a sort of right angled formation to
stand against the 15th Alabama
regiment.
As reinforcements were sent, a gap
was formed on Cemetery Ridge where
an Alabama brigade hurried to drive
through it. General Winfield spotted
the trouble and ordered 1st Minnesota
to seal the gap. 82 percent, during the
engagement, of the 1st Minnesota
either were injured or killed,
fortunately the southerners were
repelled.
General Lee then planned for the
following day one of the most
significant charges of the battle.
The Third Day
of Battle
July 3, 1863
July 3, 1863
On the day before the National
Holiday, the 4th of July, everything
was going downhill for General Lee.
Ewell’s men were driven from Culp’s
Hill and Stuart’s cavalry was stopped
by General Custer. Now everything
depended on General Longstreet his charge on Cemetery Ridge had to
work. Pickett’s men took positions in
the woods as they knew they would
be needed for Pickett’s charge.
150 Confederate batteries began to
rain iron on Union position at one o’
clock, ahead of schedule. Fortunately
for the Union, most shells overshot
their mark. One shell almost hit the
camp where General Meade was
serving lunch, his men and he had to
evacuate the area so they wouldn’t
be hit.
Once Confederate batteries ceased
fire, 80 Union batteries commenced a
return fire, sending shells back.
Most of the Union batteries hit their mark, and
some were sent as far as the forest behind the
Confederate line, surprisingly striking a hidden set
of soldiers in the brush.
After almost an hour of shells flying through the
air, the battlefield fell silent as the Union had been
ordered a cease fire to conserve ammunition, and
to lure the Confederates out of the woods.
General Longstreet saw this as the Union had lost
all their ammo.
The plan worked, Pickett was told to charge,
13000 Confederate soldiers began their march to
Cemetery Ridge unaware of the impending trap.
The Confederates covered one hundred yards a
minute.
All Union batteries from Cemetery Ridge to Little
Round Top began to rain iron on the advancing
Confederate troops. One officer remarked that
“they could not help but hit with every shot.” The
Confederates soon realized that the charge would
end horribly, and began the retreat. 6500 men had
either been killed or captured in Pickett’s Charge,
that is half the men that were sent. General Lee
proclaimed “It’s all my fault.” to the soldier who
returned. The Union had won.
Map overview
DAY ONE
DAY TWO
DAY THREE
Tid-bits of the
battle
•The Union won the Battle of Gettysburg.
•General Lee’s wounded stretched 14 miles on July 4, the day of the
Confederate’s retreat.
•General Meade did not pursue the retreating Confederate army.
•Pickett’s Charge did not happen until four o’ clock, three hours after the
Confederate bombardment.
•Gettysburg then became one of the most famously known battlegrounds of the
Civil War.
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