The Battle of Gettysburg

After General Lee’s victory in Chancellorsville in 1863, he received permission from his government to invade the north, in hopes of forcing a northern peace resolution or at least disrupt the Unions war effort. Currently leading the Union army is General Hooker. Not sure of the Confederate Armies intentions, General Hooker sent out the cavalry under the command of Alfred Pleasonton. Their objective is to scout out the Rappahannock River. It was here that the 11,000 Union cavalry bumped into Stuart’s cavalry of the Confederates. Thus beginning the largest cavalry battle the war ensued.

Now the Federalist knew of the Confederates army in movement and started to act upon it. Hooker withdrew his army from the Rappahannock River an

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He began to shift his attack toward the center of the Federalist lines on Cemetery Ridge. Lee wanted to bombard this area with 140 cannons and then send Pickett and other generals with 12,000 soldiers on a charge to burst the lines. The battle spread north, when Jubal Early’s division of Ewell’s Corps arrived and started to attack Harrisburg Road, crushing the flank of XI Corps, around 3:00 p. Meade was criticized for not pursuing Lee, while he had his tail between his legs, but Meade was still known as a Great War hero. The result, while being attacked, required reinforcements from the other corps. The Confederate army continued to move north unchecked by the Union army.

With not much ground gained Lee’s resolve stood strong. On June 25, 1863, General Lee agreed to Stuart’s plan to take three units of cavalry and cut across the rear of the Federalist. Seeing that his plan was coming unglued, Lee began to modify things. , the Confederates had the Union army running across Gettysburg to Cemetery Hill ending the day’s battle. The Federalist strategy was the same as well, hold their position, with yet again a minor alteration. Shortly after arriving, Reynolds sent for reinforcements from General Howard, ordering him to march to Gettysburg right away.

Common topics in this essay:
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Approximate Word count = 1313
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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