This Day In History July 1, 1863 First Day of the Battle of Gettysburg

http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=2229 ^

[mainepatsfan]

1863 : The Battle of Gettysburg begins

The largest military conflict in North American history begins this day when Union and Confederate forces collide at Gettysburg. The epic battle lasted three days and resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

Two months prior to Gettysburg, Lee had dealt a stunning defeat to the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville. He then made plans for a Northern invasion in order to relieve pressure on war-weary Virginia and to seize the initiative from the Yankees. His army, numbering about 80,000, began moving on June 3. The Army of the Potomac, commanded by Joseph Hooker and numbering just under 100,000, began moving shortly thereafter, staying between Lee and Washington, D.C. But on June 28, frustrated by the Lincoln administration's restrictions on his autonomy as commander, Hooker resigned and was replaced by George G. Meade.

Meade took command of the Army of the Potomac as Lee's army moved into Pennsylvania. On the morning of July 1, advance units of the forces came into contact with one another just outside of Gettysburg. The sound of battle attracted other units, and by noon the conflict was raging. During the first hours of battle, Union General John Reynolds was killed, and the Yankees found that they were outnumbered. The battle lines ran around the northwestern rim of Gettysburg. The Confederates applied pressure all along the Union front, and they slowly drove the Yankees through the town.

By evening, the Federal troops rallied on high ground on the southeastern edge of Gettysburg. As more troops arrived, Meade's army formed a three-mile long, fishhook-shaped line running from Culp's Hill on the right flank, along Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge, to the base of Little Round Top.

[don-o]

Where IS Jeb Stuart?

[mainepatsfan]

He would have at least tried at any rate.

[don-o]

ping

[mainepatsfan]

If you mean his grave site I believe it’s in Richmond.

[Lee'sGhost]

God bless the memory of the fighters for liberty.

[StoneWall Brigade]

Thanks for the ping

[don-o]

No. I mean on July 1. Lee was going into battle and his cavalry under the command of Jeb Stuart was, uh, off somewhere else.

[Fiji Hill]

In 2005, I visited Gettysburg and Antietam the same day. I was especially impressed with Antietam—Sharpsburg, to Southern partisans. It’s less of a tourist trap than Gettysburg, and the area doesn’t seem to have changed much since 1862. The infamous cornfield where thousands were killed is still used for growing corn.

[Nuc1]

Southerners, myself included, tend to have a somewhat romantic view of the Civil War, excuse me the war of northern aggression (even though we shot first), that leads one to believe that the South had a chance of achieving victory. When from the very beginning the south lost battle after battle. Mr David J Eicher wrote a book, The Longest Night, a single volume military history of the civil war, that gives the reader an understanding of the overall war dynamic that histories of individual battles don’t convey. And that dynamic is undeniable, the South was loosing from the beginning. If the boy general had moved down the peninsula the war would probably ended years earlier and many lives might have been saved. Oh well, what is is.

[mainepatsfan]

Ah sorry. On July 1st I believe Stuart was up near Carlisle.

[kjo]

Yes, the National Parks people need more money (or something); the major battlefields in Virginia are poorly marked. There is no bus tour. No tour guides except at Fredricksburg. You rent a tape and take the auto tour but you drive on REAL fast highways with people wanting to do seventy behind you.

It just does not work. Fredricksburg is almost all privatized and built up. The guide there points to a swale in a public road to show where 8000 men were hit.

Sad.

[ops33]

I always thought that Grant’s campaign against Vicksburg is the most brillant operation ever conducted by the US Army in the field.

[mainepatsfan]

I just love that area of the country.

[kjo]

Actually, Vicksburg began celebrating Independance Day again in 1944. On June 6th the community had lost a number of men at D-Day.

[Jackknife]

R.E. Lee monument at the location where he observed Pickett's Charge on the 3rd day

The 26th North Carolina monument near the Lee monument. In my opinion, the most striking and beautiful monument on the battlefield.

[mainepatsfan]

Yeah I don’t think many casual history observers appreciate how close McClellan was to ending the war in 1862.

[mainepatsfan]

It is. I don’t know what type of plans the parks are planning for the upcoming 150th Civil War anniversaries but it’d be nice if some improvements were made.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Buford won Gettysburg for the Union before the “battle” started.

[mainepatsfan]

If not the most brilliant it’s certainly near the top.

[Pistolshot]

Definitely. Jackson was Lee’s true tactical master. His brilliance for shaping the battlefield to the strengths of the South undoubtedly were his strong point. Gettysburg would have been far different than it was had he been there.