Gettysburg Timeline

The Civil War

Timeline

Prior to the Battle

Prior to the Battle of Gettysburg, the Civil War had been going on for two years. Although the people in the south were doing very well at this point, Robert E. Lee felt that he wanted to expand the territory of the Confederates. At this point, Lee already had scouts in some southern Pennsylvania towns exploring for supplies. Lee decided to try to take Pennsylvania because its farmlands weren't destroyed by war, and he thought it would confuse Hooker, the main United States general defending the eastern border. Lee's first goal was to first destroy the essential railroad bridge in Harrisburg, PA. Secondly, he would move his army to make attacks on Philadelphia and Baltimore. Lee's army originated in Richmond, VA and made the journey north to Harrisburg. It was their second attempt to reach Harrisburg.

Neither side intended the battle of Gettysburg. It started because since the Confederate soldiers had made such a long journey all of the way from Richmond. By the time they had reached northern Maryland, the soldiers feet were very tired and many had either no shoes or very old ones. One scout the Confederates had sent north informed the regiment that there was a shoe factory in the small town of Gettysburg, located just 50 miles northwest of Baltimore. So a few Confederate regiments decided to head for Gettysburg.

(Route of Confed. Army)

July 1, 1863

Amazingly, after arriving in Gettysburg, the Confederate infantry ran into the Union Cavalry. The first day of the battle occurred mainly west of town. Later in the day, Union lines broke and the battle briefly went through town. The Union eventually ended up on Cemetery Ridge. It didn't look good for the Union by the end of the day when the reinforcements arrived. There were 75,000 Union soldiers and 97,000 Confederate soldiers. Although some of the fighting occurred in town, the only civilian casualty was a lady named Jenny Wade. She is now famous.

(Day 1 Map)

July 2, 1863

On the second day of the battle, the lines were firmly established. The Confederates were based at Lutheran Seminary Ridge. Union soldiers were based at another point, called Culp's Hill. The battle ended that day at a hill called Little Round top at the edge of town. It was known as the "fishhook line." All of July 3rd's fighting occurred there.
At this point, there was some disagreement as to whether the Confederate soldiers should give up and move back and continue the fighting. It was eventually agreed that they would continue fighting until they were victorious, which never happened.

(Day 2 Map)

July 3, 1863

Early on July 3, the fighting resumed at Culp's Hill. Lee attempted to attack the Union's center at Cemetery Ridge. Both Confederate attempts were unsuccessful. Following an artillery battle, Confederate General George E. Pickett sent 13,000 troops across an open field to penetrate the lines - it later came to be known as Pickett's Charge. Only a few southern troops made it to the top of the ridge. Although the charge failed, it became famous because over 10,000 soldiers died in less than 50 minutes in less than two square miles.

(Day 3 Map)

After the Battle

As stated before, the Union soldiers (Army of the Potomac) won the battle on July 4th when the Confederates retreated back to Virginia. It was Lee's last major attempt to invade Pennsylvania and the Northeastern U.S. It came to be known as "the high water mark for the Confederacy." When the war was over, in a town of 2000 people, 54,000 soldiers and 5,000 horses were dead (which the townspeople were responsible for cleaning up). More men died in the battle of Gettysburg, PA than any other battle before or since on North American soil. As a matter of fact, it was the largest battle ever waged in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this battle led to the famous Gettysburg Address. It took place during the fall of 1863. Lincoln came for the dedication of the military cemetery at Gettysburg. Edward Everett, a religious speaker, was the scheduled speaker who gave a two hour speech. After that, President Lincoln gave a short "few words" he had prepared during the journey. Since he was not a good public speaker, only the people in front could hear what he had said because he spoke in a soft voice. His words were as such:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in
liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so
dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle field of that war. We have come to dedicate a
portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.
It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate -- we cannot consecrate -- we cannot hallow this ground. The
brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or
detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they
did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought
here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining
before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave
the last full measure of devotion;
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall
have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, and for the people,
shall not perish from the earth.

People really didn't think anything of the Gettysburg Address at first. It had no news coverage, and it really wasn't known until several years later.

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